Info about Annuals and Petunia

[yasirbbutt]

AOA. Being a newbie in gardening, i have a lot of questions and i will be asking them very frequently. Hope to get great answer from the experts and the community.

1. Annual Plants: I have read they have a one year life cycle (eg. pansy/petunia/antirrhinum). Does it mean that it will flower and give bloom for one season and then die. And i will have to plant new seedlings next year.
2. Are there any flower esp. for bedding/landscaping which does not need yearly planting.
3. I live in Lahore but am posted in Shakargarh which is 70kms from Sialkot. Winters and summers are like Lahore but more rain in monsoon than in Lahore. I have got seedlings of petunia with me. What is the best time for planting it in ground.
4. What is the difference between Mulch and Bahl. As viewed in the forum, the problem of grass growing in flower beds is a problem, i am planning a flower bed. So would like to get an experts opinion on this.
5. I have attached a pic of one of my lawns with scanty grass. I plan to convert this in to a flower bed. So please advise me how to prepare it, i.e., whether first removing 2-4 inch of soil and replacing it wit bahl availabe to me (sand 20% and clay 80% - mix)

Thanks and Regards.

[Farhan Ahmed]

You are right about annuals.

"2. Are there any flower esp. for bedding/landscaping which does not need yearly planting."
Such permanent plants are called perennials, they can be herbaceous as well as woody.

Petunia can go in now...infact they can handle light frost and can be planted November onwards as per your area.

Mulch is top covering of non soil material for moisture retention and stopping weeding, its not a growing medium. Bhal is type of soil (river silt).

As per my opinion, you can not convert the entire area into flower bed as you need access to beds for various gardening chores. You can have beds on the perimeter of lawn and then leave some waking space and then again a broad border in center. You can design it as you like but the key remain that every part of border should be assessable.

For bed preparation, work up the soil about 1 foot, add bhal, compost, manure whatever is available to you. Mix it up. Water well, once the weeds show up, uproot them and then plant whatever you like.

[yasirbbutt]

Thanks a lot Farhan.

Questions:

1. I have Bhal and cow,horse and sheep manure.
2. Please tell whether to add bhal, manure and compost all three together or a combination of two things.
3. If combination of all then how much, i.e., how many kg/sqft and in what ratio should be the mixture.

I appreciate the advise. Thanks again.