Database of plants and their growing info... help?

17 years ago

Ok so before attaching this file, I figured I would ask to see how many of you would be willing to help me out.

My wife and I have lived at our current residence for 3 years. There was little to no landscaping done when we built the house. We have since planted roughly 25+ perennials, some we know about some we don't.

I have done research on them prior to buying and planting all of them of course, however over the past couple of years my wife has complained that we are not pruning or fertilizing correctly.

In the meantime, I am continuing to add more and more plants. So to try and track all of this mess, I decided to set up an excel spreadsheet.

It is actually turning out to be pretty useful, however I am trying to save myself some time researching all my plants that are already in the ground to populate this spreadsheet.

my question is this, If i post my spreadsheet to this forum, would any of you be willing to populate it with what you know (when to fertilize, when to prune, what to fertilize with)?

I figure with the wealth of knowledge on this forum, this speadsheet could be filled out bit by bit over the next couple days as compared to a couple weeks of my time looking each one up individually. My end goal is to get it up to date and then I can add from there.

Its pretty slick, cause you can filter on plant type, water requirments, fertilize time, fertilzer type, pruning time... ect.

Let me know and if so I will post it hear, or even email to those who are interested and willing...

Thanks,

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

a2zmom_Z6_NJ
17 years ago
As fas as pruning requirements, I would buy a copy of The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques by Tracy DiSabato-Aust which gives complete pruning instructions for every major plant species.

Many of us here (me included) never fertilize anything. If I have a tiny plant that looks like it mught need a boost, I might spritz it with fish oil emuslsion, but generally I prep my soil really well, top dress with manure and that's it.
lepages
17 years ago
I would love to see something like that!
Related Professionals
Clark Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Eden Prairie Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Forest Park Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Fort Lee Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Taylorsville Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Alamo Landscape Contractors · Corona Landscape Contractors · Danvers Landscape Contractors · Lees Summit Landscape Contractors · Long Branch Landscape Contractors · Natick Landscape Contractors · San Pedro Landscape Contractors · Wayland Landscape Contractors · West Covina Landscape Contractors · Palos Heights Landscape Contractors
joycewwct
17 years ago
I second the motion on The Well Tended Perennial Garden. A gardener's bible. Other than that I mulch with compost and try to research a plant before planting for proper siting. And of course one can always come here for specific questions.
kcmojoe
Original Author
17 years ago
the problem with using just books is that I have to flip from page to page to get to each plants requirements. The advantage of a database or excel spreadsheet is i can sort by the time period that I am currently in. For example... next year when March/April comes around, I could sort all my plants by ones that have some type of maintenance required in "Early Spring" and it would list all the plants that need something done. This way I can ensure that I dont leave any poor plants out of care.

I understand what you are saying though, and maybe I should buy the book to help populate my spreadsheet. I will post what I have put together tonight when I get back home so that you all can see what I am talking about.
flowerluvr
17 years ago
I made something very similar in Microsoft works. I have too many plants and too many garden books and all plants aren't in the same books. I printed my database out, put them in sheet protectors and stuck them all in two big binders. Now, they can go out on the porch, or I can use it on the computer, sorting according bloom time, height, or whatever.
I'd be happy to help, although my zone 5 experience with a plant might be a bit different than yours. Also, Daves Garden is a great research tool, plus you get comments from people who have grown the plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dave's Garden