Flower gardens require an eye-catching focal point that draws people in for further inspection, whether that be an eye-catching grouping of plants or something more permanent such as a birdbath or other piece of garden art.
Other considerations to keep in mind when creating a flower garden include your USDA growing zone, mature height of plants at maturity size, bloom time, and color combinations. Also decide if you would like your garden to provide bee, butterfly and hummingbird-friendly habitat.
Location
Flower gardens are integral components of their surrounding environments; thus, the first step should be deciding where it will be placed in relation to other elements in the landscape.
Consideration should then be given to lighting conditions at your site, whether direct sun or shade, as this will have an impactful impact on what plants grow there.
Retired garden designer Donna Hackman suggests installing rectangles of flagstone around beds so gardeners can reach their mower blade without treading on flowers, and incorporating small cultivars for reduced pruning work as well as shrubs for year-round structure and height.
Focal Point
Garden designs shouldn’t stand alone; rather they should blend in seamlessly with their surroundings and integrate harmoniously into the surrounding greenery. Accurate measurements and an expert layout will guarantee that your flower garden forms part of a unified whole.
Focal points draw visitors’ eyes toward specific parts of a garden and help guide their exploration. A focal point might be an eye-catching plant or grouping of plants; even something as inanimate as a bench or sculpture could work well as a focal point.
As your eye naturally follows lines, when selecting a focal point remember that the eye follows lines as well. Therefore it’s essential that plantings be aligned based on height; taller flowers should be placed towards the back or center, medium height plants in the middle, and shorter ones at the front and edges for visual interest. Furthermore, use flowers of various shapes and sizes such as round blooms like roses as well as airy spikes like feverfew for added interest – odd numbers of each type are more pleasing to the eye than even numbers when selecting their types as focal points!
Background
Flower gardens provide you with an opportunity to showcase your floral art. Their design depends on factors like location, color palette and flowering times; however, certain principles remain constant across garden designs.
For optimal rose performance, keep other early summer flowering perennials to a minimum (unless your goal is an all-pink garden). This applies equally to peonies and daylilies.
Make sure you select flowers that will flourish under the conditions you provide, especially in terms of sunlight and soil type. Plants with holes or sticky leaves could indicate they’re root-bound and won’t thrive when transplanted to your garden. Select blooming flowers at different times so there will always be color in your garden throughout the season; additionally, adding foliage diversity like different leaf shapes, colors and textures can add dimension and interest when flowers aren’t in full bloom.
Color
Selecting flower colors is an art that many gardeners aspire to perfect. Some choose monochromatic schemes with multiple shades of the same hue for an unifying aesthetic, while others opt for vibrant combinations to create more dynamic vignettes.
Time of Year Flowers Will Bloom is also an integral element in designing your garden’s layout. Try including plants that bloom throughout the season for added visual interest; white blooms make a good choice to provide brightness in summer heat or as color begins to dwindle at season’s end.
Before beginning to plant a flower bed, it can be helpful to draft up a rough sketch in order to visualize and make any necessary modifications. Be mindful of any slopes that require special consideration; steep ones might require terracing as protection from soil erosion.