Planting your own cut flower garden is an easy and rewarding endeavor, enabling you to harvest fresh bouquets throughout the summer season. With proper planning, your harvest could produce stunning bouquets.
Most cut flowers require full sunlight in order to thrive, so be sure to inspect your garden hourly throughout the day to make sure it receives enough sunshine.
Plant flowers you plan to cut in rows wide enough for easy reach, grouping plants together according to cultural needs such as growing conditions, bloom time and height at maturity.
Choose the Right Plants
For optimal results in a cut flower garden, seek varieties specifically bred for cut flowers. These varieties typically boast longer vase life and longer stems than more general annual or perennial varieties, so read descriptions in seed catalogs or at nurseries carefully.
Think about planting a combination of perennials and easy-care annuals like zinnias and sunflowers for an eye-catching mix. To add interest and variety, include flowering shrubs like hydrangea and lilacs as well as aromatic herbs with beautiful foliage or those boasting interesting flower colors like the violet.
Once you have determined what kind of space is available to you, group flower plants with similar growing conditions – soil type and light requirements, in this instance. This way you can provide each with what they require without accidentally overwatering or underwatering them accidentally; sunflowers require rich soil with full sunlight while sweet peas are more suited to shade environments. Furthermore, keep in mind if any tall blooms like hydrangeas may need support via netting or trellis support structures.
Plan Your Garden
Cut flower gardens can be an enjoyable addition to any garden, yet successful ones require careful planning. Start by considering why you want to cultivate flowers; are you interested in creating elaborate arrangements or simply adding color? Are there specific varieties that dry well or would make for good beginner plants?
First, determine where you will place your cutting garden. A designated bed is ideal; if that isn’t feasible for you, consider planting flowers among existing perennial beds and vegetable gardens instead – just be sure to spread out their blooms evenly rather than clustering them together, which would leave noticeable gaps when harvesting flowers.
Plan out your flower varieties, noting their bloom times and heights on paper or in your garden journal. Additionally, take note if any are vining like sweet peas or climbing nasturtiums that require support such as trellises.
Prepare the Soil
Start your cutting flower garden off right by selecting healthy and well-draining soil. Mix in some organic matter such as compost or leaf mold for improved moisture retention and soil structure.
Since cut flowers don’t last as long, it is wise to include various plants with different bloom times into your bouquets throughout the growing season. This will guarantee fresh and vibrant blooms to fill them.
Succession planting is another way to extend bloom time by sowing seeds several days or a week apart. This strategy works especially well when cultivating cool-season annuals like sweet peas, snapdragons, larkspur and foxglove. You can even sow some of these seeds directly outdoors during winter; just follow the germination schedule specified in their seed packets and water and fertilize regularly once planted for steady growth and abundant blooms!
Water
Planting a cut flower garden may seem daunting, but it can actually be very simple to achieve beautiful results that you can bring into your home. The key is planning ahead and following through, giving each bloom the correct amount of water and care it needs.
Grouping your plants according to their cultural needs will help ensure each is receiving what it requires for optimal growth. For instance, fast growing annuals like zinnias and cosmos should be planted among other fast-growing annuals rather than slow growing perennials.
Add organic material to your planting soil in order to improve water retention and nutrient levels, such as compost or manure, before you plant. Doing this will allow moisture retention longer and less frequent watering needs, thereby decreasing the frequency of frequent watering sessions. It is best to water early morning so as to minimize evaporation while still allowing the water to seep deeply into the ground where it’s most needed, helping decrease risks related to overly wet soil such as fungal disease outbreaks that arise as a result of excessive moisture retention – thus helping reduce potential issues caused by overly wet conditions that arise in overly wet environments.