Plant, care and cut cranesbill

Cranesbills are versatile perennials for every garden. Everything you need to know about planting cranesbill and how to care for it is here.

Cranesbills (Geranium) are adaptable and robust perennial plants that are suitable for every garden and even for the balcony. We give helpful tips on choosing a location, planting and caring for cranesbills.

Plant cranesbill

When planting cranesbills, it is important to consider the optimal location, the correct planting distance and the cultivation of the soil. We have put together the most important aspects.

The right location for cranesbills

Depending on the species, cranesbills have completely different demands on the location. In general, a good place for cranesbills is in partial shade to full sun on well-drained, well-water-storing and humus-rich soils. For most species, good drainage is necessary for planting cranesbills in pots and on very heavy soils, as waterlogging cannot be tolerated. Incorporating compost can improve both sandy and clayey, compacted soils. A high content of organic matter is crucial. Because the admixture increases both the water storage capacity and the soil aeration. If there is no ripe compost available, we recommend using a compost-rich, high-quality potting soil like ours

Plantura organic potting soil. It is specially designed for flowering plants and is therefore ideal for planting cranesbills - whether in a pot or in a bed.

Combine cranesbills: Low, ground-covering cranesbills can be ideally combined with gypsophila (Gypsophila), Feather carnation (Dianthus plumarius) and low grass, but also with verbena (Verbena) combine. Tall perennials such as the magnificent cork's beak (Geranium ibericum x platypetalum) thrive particularly well in front of trees or in combination with white flowering ones Roses (pink), Lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and prairie shrubs such as rudbeckia (Rudbeckia) and mock sun hat (Echinacea).

Instructions for sowing and planting

Cranesbills are available in garden centers or garden centers as container plants in various sizes. A few Cranesbill species and varieties like the blood cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) are also available as seeds. Since most cranesbills sow themselves generously, the cultivation of cranesbills by sowing is hardly necessary. Cranesbill seeds are Cold germ. They can only germinate after a cold spell of several weeks. After cold treatment in the cooling compartment or outdoors, the seeds are sown about 1 cm deep in a nutrient-poor growing medium on the window sill between January and March. We recommend ours for this Plantura organic herb & seed compost. The whole thing is kept moist and germinated at 15 to 20 ° C. The young plants can be planted out in spring after they have hardened. The ideal time to plant cranesbills is in spring or late autumn between October and the first frost. Young and sensitive plants should be planted in the ground in early spring from March.

Cranesbills are easy to plant in small groups of 10 to 15 plants, which later develop into a dense stand. In the case of ground-covering, small-growing varieties, one reckons with 15 to 25 plants, with larger individual perennials about 4 to 8 plants per square meter. The planting distance from the cranesbill to other perennials is 30 to 50 cm. If you want to plant cranesbill, you should first prepare the soil well. Weeds on the future planting area should be removed and the soil loosened over a large area and about as deep as a spatula. Now dig a planting hole for each cranesbill, which is about 1.5 times the size of the root ball. Carefully lift the perennial out of the pot, loosen the root ball a little with your fingers and put the cranesbill in the ground. The perennials should sit on the same level of soil as they were in the container before. Now fill the planting hole with substrate, press lightly all around and then water extensively. If cranesbill is placed in buckets or plant troughs, there should be a drainage layer in addition to good water drainage in order to avoid waterlogging. A 5 to 10 cm high layer of expanded clay, gravel, larger stones or sand allows excess water to drain off quickly after watering or rain.

tip: Transplanting cranesbill may be necessary for self-sowing varieties. First prepare the planting holes for the young perennials before carefully lifting them out of the earth with a hand shovel and with as complete a root system as possible. Now move the young cranesbills to the new location.

Summary: sowing and planting cranesbills

• Sowing: sow 1 cm deep in potting soil between January and March
• Time: transplant in spring or late autumn
• Plant spacing: 15-25 plants per m² with small-growing varieties; 4-8 plants per m² with larger individual shrubs; 30-50 cm from other perennials
• Cranesbill in a pot: fill in a drainage layer made of expanded clay, gravel, stones or sand

Maintain cranesbill

So that the adaptable and vigorous perennials quickly feel comfortable in the garden, you will find the most important tips for caring for cranesbills below.

Watering and fertilizing

For the first few weeks after planting and in the pot, you should water your cranesbills regularly. Once the cranesbill has grown, it only needs watering in hot and dry summer months.

Cranesbills are frugal perennials and wild plants that also thrive on poor soil. Fertilization is only necessary once a year and makes sense in spring to sprout the leaves. We recommend a mainly organic long-term fertilizer like ours Plantura organic flower fertilizer. Thanks to its special composition, it promotes flowering and strong green foliage. The granules are spread around the perennials in spring and worked into the surface. In the course of three months, soil organisms release the nutrients they contain and slowly and gently feed them to the plant roots.

Cutting cranesbill

Fall is the right time to prune the cranesbill, with the exception of the evergreen species and varieties. The leaves begin to wither and die off completely in late autumn. For aesthetic reasons and to avoid fungal infections, it is advisable to cut off the dead leaves. Alternatively, leave the leaves to stand until early spring as winter protection and only cut back shortly before the new shoots.

Should one cut cranesbill after flowering? Some species and varieties of the cranesbill can develop a second flower a few weeks later if they are cut back after flowering. They are called remounting perennials. In the case of tall cranesbills such as the magnificent cranesbill, pruning back after flowering can increase the stability. Uncontrolled seeding can also be prevented by cutting immediately after flowering. The plants should be completely cut back to a hand's breadth.

Common pests and diseases

Cranesbill is rarely affected by diseases. In wet years and with more sensitive varieties, however, occurs more frequently mildew on. Leaf-eating pests can, however, cause greater damage to cranesbills. These include leaf bugs (Heteroptera), the furrowed vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) and the larvae of the cranesbill sawfly (Protoemphytus carpini).

Is cranesbill hardy?

Most cranesbills are hardy. Depending on the species, however, the hardiness of frost differs significantly. While the meadow cranesbill (Geranium pratense) Withstands temperatures down to -40 ° C, some tender hybrid varieties can only survive temperatures down to a maximum of -12 ° C. Therefore, pay attention to the demands of your plant and cover sensitive varieties with a protective layer of leaves if necessary. The cranesbill in the bucket should be given insulating protection with fleece, jute or coniferous branches around the pot so that the root ball does not freeze through. Cold-sensitive varieties can be overwintered frost-free in the cellar or shed in harsh winters. In the winter time, watering should only be reduced to a minimum and no fertilization should take place until new growth.

Adaptable, ground-covering perennials for the shade or partial shade are not only cranesbills but also the gracefully flowering ones Elven flowers (Epimedium). We present the most beautiful species and varieties and give tips on planting and care.