How to Care for Cranesbill

Cranesbill, which is also called Geranium Sanguineum, has bright magenta or pink flowers. Fall cranesbills have red foliage and are often called bloody cranesbills. Cranesbill geranium is a favorite of English gardeners. It is a frost-tender flowering perennial, and ideal for any garden. The cranesbill blooms beginning in mid-spring and continues through fall.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garden gloves Garden snips Water soluble fertilizer Garden rake

1. Deadhead your cranesbill geranium after the flowers fall to encourage new growth. Remove 3 inches off the ends of each branch.

2. Keep the soil evenly moist. Too much water causes root rot. Overly dry soil causes the cranesbill to wilt. If your soil is well draining, you can water every day; the water will drain and not pool around the roots.

3. Shear the cranesbill back after flowering, usually in the middle of summer. Cut off the extra legs to prevent overgrowth. Cut the plant back 12 inches, once a year, and thin out the center to allow sunlight inside the plant.

4. Expose the cranesbill to full sun and then to partial shade in the afternoon. Avoid full, all-day sun. If your plants are growing in an area without shade, cover them with a garden net, purchased at any home and garden store, when the sun is very hot.

5. Apply a water soluble fertilizer, purchased at any home and garden store, every 2 weeks during the growing season. Add the fertilizer to the soil and work it in with a small garden rake.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the wild geranium growth of the cranesbill to hide the leggy stems of your rose bushes and asters. Do not over-fertilize your cranesbill to avoid a leggy plant with few blooms. Do not let the roots stand in water to prevent disease.

References

• Perennial-plants.suite101.com