Arrange your cut flower garden into wide rows to facilitate easy access, taking into account whether certain plants, such as zinnias or climbing nasturtiums require support through netting or trellises.
Choose perennial and annual flowers to extend the harvesting season and include fillers and blooms that dry well for winter arrangements.
Planting
If space is at a premium, consider planting cut flowers in containers for easy harvesting of blooms throughout the season. It provides easy care while giving an abundance of blooms for viewing pleasure.
Before you begin planning your garden, evaluate how much sunlight each area receives and assess available space. Most flowers require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily for proper growth.
Group plants with similar growing requirements together so you can ensure they receive exactly what they require for optimal growth and reduce stress in cutting flower beds, which could otherwise become overcrowded and result in poor plant health and decreased yields.
Your cutting garden should feature both annual and perennial flowers. Annuals such as cosmos, larkspur, sunflowers and sweet peas produce ample blossoms throughout summer while perennials such as yarrow and garden phlox provide longevity but may have shorter bloom times.
Watering
An established cutting garden can be more productive than harvesting from borders or garden beds, if space allows. Arranging cut flower gardens in rows makes weeding, staking and harvesting easier.
Consider selecting perennial and annual flowers with similar cultural needs together – for instance sweet peas and climbing nasturtiums are two examples that bloom throughout the seasons.
pinching can help cut flower plants gain from pinching to reduce staking and encourage branching, increasing flower production while lengthening stems for bouquets. New roots will eventually form, so be patient as this process takes several days!
Fertilizing
Starting your own cutting garden from seed is an incredibly fulfilling endeavor, whether choosing annual flowers or perennials. Watching small seeds develop into sturdy plants bursting with fragrant blooms is truly amazing and alchemical gardening magic in action.
As soon as you’re ready to plant, take great care when choosing where and when to place your cut flower garden. Most cut flowers require bright sunlight for proper development.
For an orderly and productive garden, try cultivating all of your cut flowers in rows or blocks for easier weeding, staking and picking. With flowering plants like zinnias and celosia, pinch back the central stem when they reach 10-12 inches to encourage branching and longer stems.
Pruning
A great cutting garden features flowers that bloom at different times throughout the season and includes filler plants for bouquets and arrangements.
Cutting flowers require full sunlight; therefore, select an area which receives at least 6 to 8 hours of sun each day. Since cutting flowers tend to be sensitive to wind when young, consider providing your cutting flowers with some protection from its harsh conditions.
Once your plants have become established, pinch back their height by about four inches using clean shears or fingers. This encourages branching and long stems that make cut flowers desirable as well as height control and overall vigor of the plants.
Deadheading
To increase the longevity of cut flowers, consider using a preservative that contains carbohydrates, bleach and acid as well as flower food; it has similar properties.
Mulching soil helps prevent evaporation and retain moisture, keeping temperature consistent across the ground – an essential factor for most cut flowers.
Before planting your garden, make sure it receives adequate sun. Consult the back of a seed packet or research online to ascertain how much sunlight each variety of flower needs before placing them where appropriate.
Attracting Pollinators
For optimal results, combine easy-to-grow annual flowers like zinnias and sunflowers with perennials that come back year after year. Arrange them according to your garden design with shorter varieties placed closer to the front while taller varieties placed further back.
Keep this in mind when planting seeds or cuttings: most cut flowers complete their lifecycle in one growing season and must therefore be replanted annually.
To maximize bloom production in your flowers, pinch (cut above an individual set of leaves) them when they reach four inches in height – this also encourages longer stems! This practice should help your buds bloom better.