Window Box Soil Mix For Trailing Versus Upright Plants
Window Box Soil Mix For Trailing Versus Upright Plants The bag of "potting soil" at the hardware store is a starting point, not an answer. A trailing sweet potato vine cascading three feet down the side of a porch and an upright dwarf snapdragon standing twelve inches above the rim of the same box have wildly different root architectures, water needs, and nutrient draws. Filling both halves of the box with the same generic mix is the most common reason mixed plantings look great in June and ragged by August. The good news: matching soil to plant type is not complicated, and the small effort of building two slightly different mixes pays off in roughly three weeks of better appearance during peak summer. What Do Trailing Plant Roots Actually Need? Trailing plants such as bacopa, calibrachoa, sweet potato vine, ivy geranium, and lobelia produce extensive shallow, fibrous root systems. The roots tend to spread laterally near the surface rather than driving deep, which...
