Well, yeah, I'm messed up but I've had me 3 beers for pain an' so I'll share a little...
We are in 6-B which is kinda a pain because alopt of palnts we love are 7-A plants but with that said we do trick some of our plants...
Our Camillias aren't supposed to live here but by putting them on the north side of the house we keep the sun off their bloom buds in the winter... Tghis is important because the ice aqctaully portects the bud... Ohter camillias have their very own cages made from dence and micro-foam... These guys spend the winter in these tent/cages and come 'round this time of year are ready to jump the heck out and bloom, bloom, bloom...
But the real secret to keeping plants happy is mulch... No, not that double shredded hardwood stuff but ground up leaves and pine straw... This combination works great... Lets the water in the ground keeps it there...
In veggie gardens we mulch with straw... About 6 to 8 inches of straw and no weeds and no watering... Yerr stuff will grow very well if your soil is prepared right which means: Lime, chicken manure, last years straw which all get plowed in in the fall and then tilled early April...
We have a guy who tills everyone her in the holler... He uses a 6 foor tiller behind his tractor and charges about $40 per garden... Ours is 80X40...
Then the cold crops and poatatoes go in but nuthing else until the soil gets up to 'round 80 degrees... Planting stuff in cold soil just don't work...
Lets see... Did I mention the imporatnce of mulch??? This goees for all plants... My beef with commercial shredded mulch is that when it breaks down it bvecomes hard and won't let water thru... That ain't no good... Plants like water... The shreaded leaves break down and become compost...
Of yeah... Compost... Don't let nuthing organic go into no landfill... Compost it... We use a tumbler composter that will make beautiful compost outta just about any organic matter... But if you don't have one you can just drive three t_stakes in the ground, put chicken wire round three sides leaving the front open and just put yer leave, grass clippings, kitchen scrapes (including shrimp shells) in therr and turn it twiwe a week with a pitch fork and you'll have great compost... NOTE: If you use this method then I would suggest a sheet of T-11 on the bottom 'cause it will keep any surrounding trees from raiding it... Believe me... This stuff is like gold and if start a compost operation in a bin of the ground every tree within a hundred feet will send a root over to steal yer stuff... Put the T-110 down... Okay, yeah, it will be yucky but the object is for you to have the compost for your chosen planrs and not some hoggy maple 70 feet away...