Gardenia

How to grow gardenias in a garden

1. Choose a spot in the garden that gets full sun to part shade, with well drained soil. Enrich the soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. If the soil is clay based, add gypsum and fork in well. 
2. Dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.
3. Position in hole and backfill with soil, gently firming down. Form a raised ring around the plant, creating a well so that water will go where it’s needed most. Water in well.
4. Mulch around the base with organic mulch like bark chips, sugar cane or pea straw, keeping it away from the main stems of the plant.
5. Feed every week with Yates Thrive Roses & Flower Liquid Plant Food.
   
    

How to grow gardenias in a garden

1. Choose a spot in the garden that gets full sun to part shade, with well drained soil. Enrich the soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. If the soil is clay based, add gypsum and fork in well. 
2. Dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.
3. Position in hole and backfill with soil, gently firming down. Form a raised ring around the plant, creating a well so that water will go where it’s needed most. Water in well.
4. Mulch around the base with organic mulch like bark chips, sugar cane or pea straw, keeping it away from the main stems of the plant.
5. Feed every week with Yates Thrive Roses & Flower Liquid Plant Food.

Growing tips

• Mulch over the root system with an organic layer, milled cow manure is ideal but an organic mix such as pea straw will also suffice. 
• Make sure that potted gardenias, particularly, aren’t allowed to dry out between watering.
• In very dry climates it can also be helpful to mist spray water over the leaves on hot days, although not when the sun is directly shining on the plant.
• Gardenias prefer an acidic soil so, if necessary, treat with Yates Soil Acidifier Liquid Sulfur to lower pH.
• Remove spent blooms to encourage further growth.
• If the plant does get leggy and long, tip prune or hard prune in the winter to allow for new shoots and bushier growth.
• You can propagate these plants by soft wood cuttings in autumn and winter. 
• Flowers are often used in weddings or as a fragrant cut flower indoors.
• Great for therapeutic gardens for their lovely scent, soft petals and no tool are required to remove the dead flowers making it easy for anyone to perform this task
• Varieties include:
  
  Gardenia Magnifica – G. Jasminoides ‘Magnifica’
  This Gardenia has a lovely soft bloom and is quite well perfumed. It can grow up to 2.5 metres high and produces larger flowers compared to other Gardenia varieties and cultivars.
  
  Gardenia Florida - G. augusta ‘Florida’
  This plant can tolerate both part shade and full sun. It has large glossy leaves that have a lovely contrast with the soft flowers when they appear. Can grow to 1.5 metre tall and is great for soft and informal hedging.
  
  Gardenia Radicans – G. augusta ‘Radicans’
  Smaller growing variety that grows best in full sun, but can still handle part shaded conditions. This plant has smaller leaves than the ‘Florida’ and grows to about 0.5 metre tall and 1.5 metre wide. Flowers are small, but still fragrant. Great for an alternative low ground cover in garden beds.