Planting dahlias

Luxurious dahlia flowers are a real pearl of the flower garden. This thermophilic flower pleases with its lush and bright flowering only in the summer season. After the end of flowering, with the onset of autumn, dahlia tubers must be dug out of the ground and sent to a cool dry place for the winter.

Planting perennial dahlias

In the spring, as soon as the warm spring rays thoroughly warm the earth, it is time to plant these beautiful flowers. In order to understand how to plant dahlias, it is recommended to read the detailed rules:

• It is necessary to find a suitable landing site. Dahlias are planted in well-lit, ventilated areas where the flowers will grow and bloom comfortably. However, there is no need to go to extremes and plant plants in drafts - dahlias will be sick and will not be able to please with their luxurious flowering. It is best to plant on an open sunny lawn or on the southern side of the site, protected from strong gusts of wind by dense bushes, hedges or fences. Since dahlias are mostly perennials, so that this flower culture does not "degenerate", it is advisable to change the landing sites every spring and return to the previous site only after 2-3 years.
  

  Dahlias

• The soil. It is known that almost all flowering plants are planted on light nutritious soil, perennial dahlias are no exception, they also love "tasty" soil. The tubers are planted in neutral soil or slightly acidic soil. If the acidity level is lower than the pH value of 5, then liming of the soil can be carried out; at a higher acidity level, peat is added to the soil. In the fall, when digging a flower garden, half a bucket of compost or humus is added to 1 m². During the spring digging, the soil of the flower garden is fertilized with compost with a small amount of ash.
• Tuber preparation. Growing flowers begins with the spring preparation of planting material. For this, in mid-April, a visual inspection of dahlia tubers is carried out in order to remove dry, damaged parts of the rhizome and disinfect. The prepared planting material is planted in pots or containers filled with a nutritious soil mixture. The tuber is positioned so that the tops of the plant protrude slightly above the ground.
  

  Planting dahlias in the ground

• Tuber care. Containers with planted rhizomes are placed in the light in a warm room, moisten the soil and observe which of the tubers begins to release buds. The root is divided in such a way that on each bulb there is a new shoot sprout. After dividing, parts of the tubers are placed back in the ground and covered with transparent glass or pvc film.
• Before planting on the site, on each seedling specimen in the central part, one most regrown bud is left, and the remaining lateral shoots are removed. Cut shoots can be used to create new dahlias. To do this, the sprouts must be rooted in a pot or box with wet sand, covered and removed to a dark place for germination. After rooting, new specimens are planted in a flower garden.

Landing rules and schemes

It is difficult to give a clear date when to plant dahlias outdoors in spring. It is best to focus on weather and climate conditions. In the regions of central Russia, dahlia flowers begin to be planted in early May, and in the Urals and Siberia, the planting time is chosen after the earth warms up well enough and the threat of return frosts has passed.

Perennial dahlias, planting and preparation for it:

1. Preparation of planting holes. Prepared seedlings are planted in pits measuring 40 x 40 x 40 cm, on the bottom of which a layer of compost or rotted manure is laid. Fertilizer should be lightly sprinkled with earthy mixture.
2. Laying planting tubers. The rhizome is lowered into the hole and covered with earth in such a way that the lower parts of the shoots are in the ground for several centimeters. High grades for fixing the stem are tied to pre-installed wooden pegs. Such a simple measure will protect the trunk and leaves from breaking under strong gusts of wind.
3. Watering. The planted plants are abundantly watered with cool water, the planting site is mulched with a layer of at least 5 cm.
   

   Watering

4. Care. Taking care of flowers is not difficult at all: timely watering, weeding, loosening the soil, applying top dressing - such a standard set of agricultural techniques is familiar to every florist.

The dahlia flower culture is an undemanding plant. The flower can be planted even in a shady place in a garden or flower garden. However, the lack of adequate sunlight significantly affects the size and color. But in such a shady location there is also a plus: you can enjoy the beauty of flowering for a longer time, a slight partial shade does not significantly affect the decorativeness of the plant.

There is a fair interest in the planting scheme and how to properly plant dahlias in a flower garden, depending on the height of the plants:

• Tall varieties are planted according to the scheme 1 plant per 1 m², with such a planting thickening of the plantings will not occur, and the plants will not interfere with each other.
• Low-growing varieties can be placed more densely. Plants are often grown "in a row", placing flowers more densely, while significantly increasing the distance between rows.
  

  Dahlia garden

Dahlias take root well, they can be grown on any type of soil: on loam, sandy and black earth soils. That is why dahlia "beauties and favorites" adorn flower beds and gardens throughout Russia.

The only condition for the full development and flowering of dahlias is compliance with a moderate level of humidity. Root tubers plants are prone to decay, therefore, in places with a high level of groundwater and in low-lying areas, they will not actively grow. Florists with extensive experience in the cultivation of flower crops are advised to lay drainage from brick battle or expanded clay crushed stone in the planting holes at the bottom.

Is it possible to transplant flowering dahlias

Sometimes a novice florist, for some reason, incorrectly or unsuccessfully planted plants in a flower garden, then the question becomes quite clear: is it possible to transplant blooming dahlias in the summer, at the height of flowering?

Dahlia seedlings

As a rule, during the flowering period, the rhizome begins to actively overgrow with new shoots, through which the plant assimilates food from the ground. Digging up a flower for transplant, some of these roots are destroyed, and the plant, instead of blooming luxuriantly, will spend its internal reserves to restore the integrity of the root system. Such a decrease in growth activity leads to a loss of decorativeness and a decrease in color coloration. The plant will appear sick and stunted.

If there is an urgent need to transplant an adult flowering plant, then in this case, the flower can only be transplanted with a large earthen clod, to prevent damage to the delicate roots.So the answer to the question "is it possible to transplant dahlias in the summer" depends on the degree of importance of such a transplant and on whether it is worth risking a flowering plant for this procedure.

Features of planting dahlias by region

Growing dahlias in the harsh climatic conditions of Siberia and the Urals has its own difficulties associated with the thermophilicity of this flower culture. For this reason, it is important to know how to plant dahlias in such risky farming and floriculture zones.

The first serious spring frost can cause irreparable harm to the plant, it may die. To avoid deceptive weather surprises and prevent the beloved dahlia from freezing from the cold, the heat-loving beauty in the Siberian region is planted in open soil no earlier than June 10. With a short-term change in weather and a sharp cold snap, the plants are covered with pvc film or agrofibre.

Annual dahlias

In the Moscow region, as in the middle lane, warm weather sets in much earlier, the earth warms up well by May and, starting from the third decade, dahlias are planted in a permanent place in open ground. In a cold spring, when the ground has not warmed up properly in May, the landing dates are shifted until the onset of stable heat.

You can decorate a flower garden with lush and luxurious dahlias only if you know the rules of proper planting and proper care of plants. Annual varieties that are grown from seeds are less demanding to care for, and perennials are more capricious and require more attention. Annual crops are usually undersized and do not need support. After flowering in the fall, they are dug up and destroyed, and new ones are planted in the spring.

Growing bright and elegant dahlias does not require knowledge of special agricultural techniques and is not difficult even for novice florists. Decorating a garden or flower garden with bright large flowers of various shapes and colors is quite within the power of anyone who loves beautiful dahlias.