Flower gardens can add vibrant colors and life to any garden. However, several factors must be taken into account when planning a flower bed – including soil types and sunlight conditions.
Begin by selecting a location with adequate sunlight and irrigation capabilities, followed by choosing flowers which are both easy to grow in your climate and ideal for it.
Location
Flower gardens add color, beauty and charm to any landscape, yet creating one can be a complex undertaking requiring careful planning.
As part of creating a flower garden, selecting an optimal location should be of primary concern. Preferably, this should be a sunny spot that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight daily.
Furthermore, it should be located in an area with excellent drainage and soil conditions to ensure optimal plant growth and bloom. Otherwise, plants may rot in the ground without producing blooms.
Experienced flower garden designers make sure their gardens include plants with staggered bloom times to cover each season, such as shrubs for spring blooms and winter structure, summer perennials, and fall annuals.
Flowers come in almost every hue and can make a bold statement while complementing other elements in the garden. Repetition of core colors, shapes, and plant species throughout will create cohesion in your flower garden space and give it an air of permanence.
Soil
Your flower garden’s soil has an immense influence over what flowers you grow, so taking the time to properly prepare the ground is worthwhile. Dig it over at least to one spade’s depth, adding organic matter such as compost, leaf mold, peat moss or manure will greatly improve moisture retention as well as provide air pockets for your blooms.
For optimal flower gardening soil conditions, loam or sandy loam soil types are preferred; however, you can add small amounts of inorganic amendments such as compost tea to improve drainage and aeration. A mix of equal parts of organic matter with inorganic amendments works well for larger beds; two to one ratios between organic matter and inorganic components work best when it comes to smaller beds or containers.
As a beginner, look for soil with a pH level between 5.5 and 7, as this will give your plants the best chance at absorbing nutrients.
Sunlight
Planning the ideal flower garden requires carefully considering its lighting conditions. While most plants prefer full sunlight (at least six hours daily), others will flourish even under partial shade or filtered lighting conditions.
Spend some time studying how much sunlight hits the site where you intend to plant your flowers, paying close attention to how the sun casts shadows over it and keeping an eye out for any trees, fences or buildings which might cast shade onto it.
Add an eye-catching flair to your garden or flowerbeds by using LEDs to illuminate certain areas. LEDs are especially helpful in providing orientation in low light conditions and the best ones come equipped with motion detectors so they only activate when something moves; plus they protect plants by alerting to any intruders who attempt to steal your investments while simultaneously serving to highlight their finest blooms.
Water
Selecting the proper water source for your flower garden is key to keeping plants healthy and beautiful. Finding an optimal balance is crucial; too much or too little could result in root rot or fungal diseases that compromise its viability and even kill off the entire garden.
How much water you require for your flowers depends on a range of factors, such as soil type and weather conditions, but there’s one rule of thumb you can abide by for most flower varieties: about half an inch to an inch per session will suffice to keep your blooms healthy and beautiful.
Watering at dawn is ideal, according to McConnell, as this allows time for absorption before sun rises and leaves have time to dry off, she stated.
Midday watering should be avoided to save on resources and avoid leaving plants vulnerable to rot or fungal growth, particularly for summer blooms which require constant irrigation despite evaporation from heat waves in the afternoon sun.