Houseplants now and later
Houseplants aren’t just for, well, the house.
The plants sold in the houseplant sections of garden centers and home centers might be intended for indoor use, but they’re all tropical or subtropical species that happen to be reasonably tolerant of living-room habitats.
Almost all of them grow well – usually better – outside in our summers than inside in our winters.
That’s why it makes sense to check out the houseplant section this month while you’re shopping for your summer flowers and pot plants.
A lot of these species make excellent centerpieces and fillers in summer containers, and many do just as well planted in the ground.
Consider such beauties as dark-leafed rubber plants and elephant ears, variegated “Triostar” stromanthe, or red/gold crotons for your patio pots.
Spiky cordylines, palms, red-edged dracaena, birds of paradise, and tropical hibiscus make showy, textural upright statements in deck or pool-side pots.
Golden pothos and wandering jew make colorful trailers in a shady pot.
And low-growers such as aluminum plant, moses-in-a-cradle, purple heart, and tender succulents are under-used additions in garden beds and under trees.
Come fall, you’ll have a choice. Since frost or near frost will kill houseplants, either let them die and toss them to buy anew next year, or move them inside in pots by the end of September to do double-duty inside.
You can move houseplants inside and out like this for years.
Just gradually acclimate them to the outside over seven to 10 days in spring, and be careful about giving them too much sun too soon. Moving a houseplant from the low light inside to full sun outside is sure to bleach the leaves and possibly shock the plant to death.
Be aware also that just like here, some tropicals are naturally adapted to sun, and some are more adapted to shade. Plant labels usually give you a clue by telling you suggested indoor light conditions.
You’re almost always safe by growing houseplants in shade to part sun outside.
When moving houseplants back inside for winter, hose them off with a stiff spray of water or spray them with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. This helps prevent taking bugs inside.
One other precaution involves water. When growing houseplants in pots outside, be sure you have plenty of drainage holes in the bottom of the pots. A good way to kill most plants is to let them sit for a few days in saturated soil.
The exception is if you’re growing the plants under an awning, patio roof, or similar covering where rain won’t reach the pots. Then it’s up to you to deliver water as needed (just like inside).
When moving houseplants from outside to inside, either transfer the plants to pots without holes or sit drainage dishes under pots with holes to prevent water from leaking all over your furniture.
You might also need to increase pot sizes if you’re keeping plants for several years.
Always water new plants
The first thing you’ll always want to do after getting new plants safely in the ground is give them a good soaking.
This is true even if the plants were already damp when you planted them, and even if the weather forecasters are calling for a can’t-miss rain.
For one thing, that first watering settles the soil around the roots to make sure you have good soil-to-root contact.
Second, immediately moistened roots help the plant better cope with “transplant shock” – the stress of moving to a new location and adapting to new soil and new growing conditions.
Third, if you plant into dry soil, that surrounding soil will immediately start wicking away moisture from the damp little root balls. Those new plants will dry out quicker than if the surrounding soil were damp.
Planting on a cloudy day and/or just before a soaking rain is good strategy. However, don’t count on forecasted rain to always show up – or to show up in quantities that sufficiently wet the soil down to the just below your plants’ roots.
Take away all chance by doing the deed yourself – right after planting. Then keep your new plants consistently damp throughout the critical first growing season to help establish a healthy new root system.
Free and instant grass
If you’re digging a new bed this spring, don’t throw away dug-up grass. This is a valuable resource that garden centers call “sod” and get very good money for.
One good use for your dug-up sod is to patch bare or thin areas in the lawn. Strip off the grass in 2- to 3-inch-thick sections and tamp it back down in bare areas after loosening the soil.
Keep the patched areas damp, and in a few weeks, the pieces will root themselves in their new home – giving you an instantly improved lawn faster than planting new grass seed and at no cost.
If you don’t have any bare lawn spots, ask around because a neighbor may gladly come by to take this free sod off your hands.
Another use for dug-up lawn is as mulch.
Save and pile up the pieces as you dig your new bed, then return them to the bed after you’ve loosened and improved the soil with compost. Flip the pieces upside down on top of the prepared soil, and cover with an inch or two of bark or wood mulch.
The pieces will break down in place and gradually add organic matter to the soil while holding down weeds in the meantime. Make sure the roots are facing up. You don’t want the saved grass patches to re-root themselves in what’s now a garden bed.
At the very least, add the dug-up grass to your compost bin – again, preferably, with the root side up.
If you’re a chemical-using gardener who kills turf with the herbicide glyphosate (i.e. Roundup), till the dead grass into the bed instead of removing it.
It’ll keep that organic matter in your soil and won’t re-root since the herbicide kills the blades and roots both.
- More when-to-do-what tips: George’s “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” book