Flowers bring color and vivacity to garden spaces, providing visual relief from hardscape. When creating flower beds, it’s crucial that plants selected are compatible with your USDA growing zone.
Planting flowers of various heights, colors, sizes and shapes will bring year-round interest. Also pay attention to foliage as this will persist long after blooms have fallen from view.
Location
Flower gardens add color and interest to the landscape while providing pollinator habitat. A garden full of blooms can enhance curb appeal while serving as the ideal setting for lawn games or garden art installations. Designing your own flower bed is also an invaluable opportunity to gain knowledge about different plant species as well as design principles.
Find an ideal spot for your flower garden by considering the amount of sunlight the area receives. In an ideal world, gardens should receive at least six hours of direct sunlight per day; otherwise consider planting flowers with partial to full shade coverage.
Prep the site for your new flower garden by clearing away any existing grass or weeds, amending the soil with compost, adding mulch as a moisture retainer, and designing around a focal point that stands out. Color combinations also play a large part in successful gardens; hues near each other on the color wheel (such as red and pink) often make beautiful combinations.
Soil
Flower gardens should typically be planted in spring once all threats of frost have passed. When planting a new bed, add well-rotted manure or garden compost to enhance soil structure for best results.
Evaluate the site’s lighting conditions and test the soil pH level to see if any adjustments are required (more below). A good rule of thumb for planting flowers in their original nursery soil type – learn this information by inspecting their leaves and roots!
Think carefully about how you would like your garden to appear all year, incorporating both showy plants and less fussy perennials. Achie a stunning flower garden by mixing heights, colors and shapes keeps a flower garden visually engaging all season round – for instance renowned Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf suggests grouping similar flower shapes together such as spires or plumes to give a natural and relaxed aesthetic in his designs.
Sunlight
Flowers require ample sunlight in order to thrive, so if you want your flower garden to look its best, select a site with full sun throughout the day. Some exceptions might include shade-loving hydrangeas and drought-tolerant succulents which require partial shade or less direct sun.
Choose flowers that provide nectar for honey bees and other pollinators to visit, as this will complete the cycle of life by depositing pollen from male reproductive organs (stammen) into pistils of female plants (ovules). Without this process we wouldn’t be able to grow crops or enjoy beautiful blooms!
To create a stunning flower garden, mix heights, colors, and textures for maximum visual appeal. Consider including shrubs as focal points or filler plants; these will bring texture and color during winter when flowers have faded. For an informal meadow feel in your flower garden incorporate pathways so visitors and yourself can freely stroll between plantings; avoid working the soil when wet as this damages its structure and becomes less conducive for plant roots to take hold.
Water
Flower gardens that thrive are those which combine preparation of soil with careful plant selection to provide adequate amounts of water – about one inch per week should suffice.
To create an eye-catching garden, choose flowers with different shapes and colors that complement each other, then incorporate foliage for year-round interest. Experienced garden designers also consider bloom time and staggered color so that their gardens remain full year round.
If you are starting a flower garden from seeds, soak the packets for half an hour in water in a bucket before planting them to ensure a successful start. Plant once frost danger has passed for best results; or transplant seedlings from pots and containers as soon as conditions allow if conditions permit; be aware that transplanted seedlings tend to be less hardy than established plants; ensure you water thoroughly afterwards!