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Here are essential plant-rearing
tips for parenting a successful flower garden.
1. Take the time to prepare
the proper environment before new plants arrive. Good soil
preparation is the single most important thing you can do for
your flowers. Loosen soil to at least 6 inches, add organic matter
(such as peat moss, compost, or manure), and mix well. Rake to
level.
2. Don't smother new plants
with too thick a soil blanket. Most flower seeds should be
barely covered; make the soil layer just 1/4 inch thick. Planting
flower seeds too deep is a common mistake -- just like new parents
who have a tendency to cover a newborn with too many blankets.
Seed depth and planting time, critical to emerging new life,
are cases where you should refer to expert advice.
3. Use fast foods or health
foods, but nourish young plants well during growth spurts.
You can feed fast foods to your actively growing plants by adding
water-soluble fertilizers to the watering can or a hose-end sprayer.
If these fertilizers, heavy with chemical additives, aren't the
way you want to nourish youngsters, you may choose to go organic
and side-dress with slower acting but healthier compost, fish
fertilizer, or manure fertilizer.
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