Flower gardens are a great way to add color and joy to your home or garden. Whether you are starting from seed or buying bulbs and cuttings, there are a few things you need to know before you plant your flowers.
First of all, choose the right flower. Read the label carefully and find out if it is an annual that blooms only once a year, or a perennial that comes back every year without having to be replanted.
Choose the Right Plants
Whether you’re planting a small garden, flower beds or borders, choosing the right plants is an essential part of any successful flower growing project. The plants you choose will determine their appearance, year-round interest, bloom time, and how they interact with other plants and landscape features.
Experienced flower garden designers know that a mix of different types of flowers with staggered bloom times is critical to providing color in all seasons. It’s also important to consider the full height of the plants you select, as some can block windows and doors if they grow too tall.
Many flowers are also excellent food sources for pollinators, and others deter pests such as aphids and whitefly. Plant them alongside your fruit, vegetables or herbs for added benefits to the soil and garden ecosystem.
Create a Landscape Plan
A landscape plan is a visual tool that helps you materialize your vision of your flower growing needs. It also helps you avoid making mistakes.
Using graph paper or an online design tool, create a landscape plan for your property. Use symbols to represent the plants, hardscape materials, trees and architectural features you want.
The landscape design should flow together in a harmonious manner. Unity is achieved by repeating similar colors, forms or textures in a number of areas of the landscape.
Another way to achieve unity is to select plants with a common rate of growth and mature size. This reduces maintenance and pesticide use, and encourages longer-lived plants that are more appealing to the eye.
A well-planned landscape can increase the value of your property and improve the enjoyment of your family. It can soften spaces between buildings, provide links between spaces and functions, and enhance your sense of connection to nature.
Dig the Soil
Healthy soil is the key to a successful flower garden. It’s teeming with microorganisms and other beneficial organisms that improve the structure of the soil, add nutrients to it, and help plants thrive.
Most flowers are happy in loose, well-drained soil with lots of organic matter. The best way to start is to dig a trench as wide across as you want the bed to be, and fill it with several inches of organic material.
Once you’ve removed the topsoil, double dig (see technique below) to expose a deeper layer of subsoil and break it up, adding organic matter as you go. This helps the roots of the plant to grow deep, reducing the need for watering and providing better drainage.
Once the soil is broken up, you can then add a good layer of compost. I recommend 5cm as a mulch, or 15 – 20cm thick if you’re using a brand new bed. This helps keep the weeds at bay and also adds nutrients to the soil as organisms break down the compost.
Plant the Flowers
Flowers are one of the best ways to add beauty and elegance to your home or garden. They can also improve your mood and make you feel good.
Before planting flowers, it is important to choose the right location for them. Flower gardens must be able to receive sufficient sun or shade so that the plants grow properly and produce flowers.
A great place for a garden is an area that gets 6 hours or more of direct sunlight every day. Some flowers require more or less light than others, so be sure to check the labels of the plants you want to plant to find out their requirements.
If you’re planning on growing different types of flowers, it is a good idea to plant them in a variety of locations so that each one will get the proper amount of exposure to the sun or shade. This will ensure that you have a great show all year round.