Garden edging will help keep grass and weeds at bay from taking over your flowerbeds, while hardscape elements like trellises can create structure while drawing attention.
Plant flowers that bloom at different times to extend your garden display. Color combinations will please the eye while foliage provides structure when flowers aren’t in full bloom.
Location
Planning a flower garden requires understanding its location. Many flowers won’t thrive if planted outside their natural growing zone or exposed to conditions like extreme heat or cold or poor soil. Furthermore, it’s essential to consider first and last frost dates, drainage rate of soil as well as potential frost dates when making decisions regarding location.
Once you’ve selected a suitable location for your flower garden, map its area and measure how much sunlight it gets throughout the day. As more light hits a bloom’s petals, its health improves and its colors become more vibrant and healthier.
Next, choose flower varieties with differing heights and bloom times to keep the garden visually interesting all year. Also include plants with varied foliage shapes and textures for visual interest; remembering to set out clearly defined boundaries using stones or garden edging so as to prevent grass or weeds from invading your flower beds.
Focal Point
Focal points draw your eyes in, drawing them closer. A focal point may be anything from statues, urns or groupings of plants to garden structures such as trellises arches gates and fences.
Eyes naturally follow lines in a garden, so to keep visitors coming in you should place the focal point near its axis. A gazebo at the end of a long walkway is an excellent example – curiosity will draw people closer and they may want to go take a closer look!
Height is also key when creating a focal point garden, with tallest plants located at the back and shorter ones in front, except for delicate blooms with delicate sprays that may look better when placed near even taller foliage like alliums, heucheras or veronicas. Experienced designers often incorporate staggered bloom times so that when blooms fade other bright splashes of color can take their place and extend your flower garden’s beauty throughout all four seasons.
Background
Care must always be taken when planning the layout of a flower garden to ensure its beds and walks are in proportion, similar to a natural grove (parterre), rather than cramped geometric figures that would look out of place at country residences where visitors and friends are likely to visit often.
A carefully planned flower garden offers continuous color throughout the season. Try to include plants of various heights and bloom times so something is always in bloom. A few annual blooms may help fill any gaps; but your goal should be a fully perennial garden that looks beautiful even after its flowers have died off.
Be mindful when selecting plant combinations of both color and texture when selecting plant combinations. Some gardeners enjoy planting gardens using shades of the same hue; other gardeners might like their garden with colors opposite one another on the color wheel — for instance red and purple — or contrasting textures.
Foreground
The foreground of your design process involves planting flowers. This stage of design is crucial in terms of learning what works and doesn’t work; for instance, planting roses behind your garage might not be ideal if there is shade there. You should also investigate soil conditions; are they sandy, clay or combination? How much sunlight do these areas receive?
Repeat flowers and plant species throughout your flower garden to create cohesion and tie the whole space together. Also try grouping plants in odd numbers like threes, fives, or sevens for added visual interest.
Consider texture and size when creating your flower garden. Experimenting with these elements can make all the difference; experiment by planting an array of fine foliage textures (marigolds) as well as coarse foliage textures (heucheras and veronicas), leaf shapes from round to spear-shaped leaves for added diversity and variety. It makes an impactful statement about who your target market is!