Gardening tips to add colour

Flower gardens

Planting flowers will add colour to any garden. If you buy your flowering plants from a nursery they will often already have flowers so it is a ready solution to perk up a tired looking garden.

Flowers not only enhance the kerb appeal and aesthetics of your front lawn but do double duty to attract pollinators. Planting pollinator-friendly gardens will ensure your garden sees action from a variety of insects and birds.

Flowering shrubs

Having flowers in your garden isn’t just about having lots of flower beds. Shrubs, trees and even vines can give structure to a garden’s design as well as add colour and textured foliage to the garden.

Shrubs are also very hardy and last way beyond just one season. They also attract birds and butterflies and can be used to section off areas of the garden as border plantings, or even provide privacy and security features.

Ornamental grass

Even if you can’t tell them apart, ornamental grasses are an amazing fixture in any garden. The variety of textures they can offer and the ease with which they grow, especially in the warmer wet summers of KZN, can make them a brilliant backdrop for the rest of the garden.

They also are able to bring colour to the garden throughout the year. They’re a great way to extend your garden into the fall when many kinds of grass peak and some even bring you joy well into the winter.

Nature’s litmus paper

The gigantic flower heads of hydrangeas are hardy and thrive in almost all types of soil, but do need moisture.

Something many don’t know is that they are natures litmus paper and the flowers will change colour depending on the pH of the soil. The white variety remain white regardless of how acid or alkaline the soil is, while the coloured variety will turn blue when the pH is lower than 5.5 and pink when it is higher than 5.5. If you want to change the soil pH it is best to remember some basic chemistry.

Technically, all soils with a pH higher than 7.0 are alkaline, or “sweet,” but most garden plants tolerate a pH up to about 7.5. Alkaline soils are generally composed of basic (high pH) parent materials such as limestone (calcium carbonate). Planting Hydrangeas can, therefore, give you an indication of what type of soil pH you have, which will help you decide what else to plant in other parts of your garden. Soil pH affects nutrient availability for plants and in soils with a pH over 7.8, iron, zinc, and phosphorus deficiencies are common.

Lowering soil pH is a slow and challenging process. You either use sulphur to change the pH quickly or go a more gentle route and add organic matter, such as compost or composted manure, to your soil annually and mulch with acidic organic mulches, such as pine needles. Adding organic matter slowly lowers your pH over time, while increasing microbial life and improving the structure of your soil.