Planting perennial phlox in the fall in open ground

You were fascinated by the beauty of phlox, and you were on fire to plant these wonderful and rather unpretentious flowers in your flower garden, right?

Next, you will learn how to plant phlox in the fall in order to avoid offensive mistakes that can lead to poor survival or even death of the plant.

By the way! When they say “perennial phlox"Usually mean"paniculate phlox", Much less often"subulate» ,

There is also an annual variety - Phlox Drummond.

The article will focus on planting paniculate phlox.

When to plant phlox in the fall: timing

For normal rooting, seedlings of perennial phloxes need about a month, in other words, before a cold snap (first frost) you should have about 4-5 weeks in stock.

Thus, the approximate timing of planting phlox in the Middle Lane is the second half to the end of September. Just by this time, the seedlings ripen well the buds of renewal.

How to plant phlox in the fall in open ground

Selection of seedlings

Most often on sale you can find seedlings and cuttings of perennial phlox, grown from cuttings or propagated by dividing adult bushes.

A good seedling (delenka) should have a relatively developed root system, well-ripened buds renewal and one stem.

As a rule, the stem has already been cut, if not, then you need to leave a purely "symbolic" stump.

Actually, in the future you yourself will be able to propagate phlox by cuttings or dividing the bush.

For example, using the tips from the video below:

Note! If you got adult cuttings that also bloomed, then after planting you will definitely need to cut off all flowering shoots.

Suitable place in the garden

Phlox, as a rule, are classified as rather unpretentious plants that grow quite well in sandy loam relatively poor soil.

However, if you carefully prepare the soil, make the soil nutritious, namely, fill the planting holes fertile and moderately light substrate, add more organics (humus or compost), then the plant will take root faster, it will feel as comfortable as possible, which means it will bloom abundantly and luxuriantly.

If there is a desire and opportunity, then for digging, in addition to organic matter, you can make autumn fertilizers (potassium-phosphorus)... Organic is great wood ash, in which there is a lot of potassium, there is phosphorus, and besides, it is an excellent soil deoxidizer.

Important! If your soil is too heavy and clayey, then it is advisable to add more of any other loosening agent to it, for example, the same sand.

And with high acidity (pH below 5.5) - you need add one of the soil deoxidizers, eg, dolomite flour or lime.

Video: how to plant phlox in the fall (refueling the planting pit)

Concerning places in the gardenthen it should be sunny (well lit), but also light partial shade.

Remember! The shade from trees or shrubs at lunchtime is a boon for all plants (even the most sun-loving ones).

It should also be borne in mind that phlox is enough moisture-loving culture, which means that if you plan to plant it with other flowering plants, then they should also have similar watering requirements.

Direct planting of seedlings in the ground

Step-by-step instructions for planting phlox in the fall:

• Choose and prepare a site for planting, add organic matter and phosphorus-potassium (autumn) fertilizers for digging.

Phlox are planted at a distance of 40-60 cm and more centimeters apart. Over time, the bushes grow very well.

• Dig holes according to the size of the root system (20 - 25 cm deep).

In general, you can add organic (humus, wood ash) and mineral (superphosphate, potassium sulfate) fertilizers directly to the hole, but be sure to mix everything thoroughly.

• Pour a small mound from the garden soil in order to spread the roots of the seedling (delenki) on its sides in the future.
• Plant the seedlings in such a way that the upper buds (from which shoots are formed in spring) are buried no more than 2 centimeters. Do not deepen it deeper!

When you put the seedling in the hole and cover it with earth, be sure to hold it lightly so as not to deepen it.

• Cover with earth, compact slightly.
• Spill abundantly with water.

Note! If the seedling has an aerial part, especially flowering shoots, then they must be cut off. But, as a rule, they sell already cut seedlings (delenki), especially they are sent by mail.

Winter sowing of seeds

If you could not purchase ready-made seedlings, but found a pack of seeds, then you can immediately sow the seeds of perennial phloxes in open ground, so to speak, grow the seedless method.

Although most often phlox are sown on seedlings in spring.

According to the sowing rules before winter, it is necessary to sow only on frozen soil (i.e.already in October-November) and cover with dry soil (prepared in advance) without watering.

Advice! It is advisable to increase the sowing rate in winter compared to sowing seeds for seedlings in spring.

The advantage of sowing perennial phlox before winter is the fact that the seeds will undergo natural stratification.

Phlox perennial care after autumn planting

In general, after watering, you can forget about your phloxes until spring.

Of course, if the autumn turns out to be very dry and hot, there is no rain at all, then you will have to water it a couple of times.

Phlox does not actually need any preparation for the winter.

The fact is that perennial phlox is a fairly frost-resistant crop that does not require any shelter for the winter (except in Siberia).

Important! In no case should newly planted young phloxes be piled up for the winter, covering them with earth. In this case, it is very likely that your plants will simply rot and rot.

As for future measures for caring for phlox during the new season, they are all standard: regular and abundant watering, loosening (after watering) and weeding from weeds, feeding as needed, removing faded peduncles, pruning for the winter, mulching (shelter).

Advice! The site has a separate article about how to care for phlox after flowering and in autumn.

Well, if you did everything right, then next spring the phlox will definitely wake up and delight you with beautiful flowering.