Grouping Annuals

Annual flowers grow from seed and live for one year. They do not come up year after year like perennials.

Some of the more popular annuals are geranium, marigold, impatiens and petunia. They come in a variety of colors and make wonderful accents for almost any landscape.

Sometimes it is very obvious that some beds of annuals look better than others even when they contain virtually the same plants. Chances are that one gardener has spaced and grouped the flowering plants correctly and the other has not.

Crowded plants compete with each other for both the space and nutrients needed to produce a fully mature annual. You should also be careful not to plant them too far apart because then the plants won't provide the desired effect.

I had one landscape client who started to place 12 dozen annuals where I had originally told him that four to five dozen would suffice. We placed a friendly one dollar wager that my recommendation was correct. Well, to make a long story short, I stopped by that August to collect my dollar from a very happy man. He had more color in his annual beds; his back wasn't sore and had saved more than the dollar he forfeited to me. His annual beds were beautiful.

In general, you should plant geraniums 14 to 16 inches apart; impatiens 12 to 14 inches and petunias at about one foot intervals as well. If you mix these flowers, you should plant them a bit further apart so they won't overrun each other by mid-summer.

You should avoid planting annuals in straight rows because they will look like little toy soldiers standing at attention. I suggest using a more random arrangement. It is more interesting and natural looking.

You should cultivate the soil for annuals until it is loose and airy, to a depth of about six inches. Apply a good dry fertilizer with either a 5-10-10 or 10-10-10 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil and then water the plants with a water soluble fertilizer solution with an approximate 20-20-20 ratio. The water soluble fertilizer will provide the plants with nutrients immediately and the dry fertilizer will release the necessary chemicals over time

Once annuals have been planted, I recommend pinching their tops off. I know it sounds cruel but you will actually be doing the plants a favor. With the blossom intact, the plant does not always have enough root system to support it. Removing the tops balances the plant. Besides, within two days to 2 weeks, new blossoms will appear and the buds below the initial pinch will sprout giving you a bushier, prettier plant.

If you plant your annuals properly, you will have the full beautiful color you have always wanted and you may even win a wager or two with your neighbor.