An attractive flower garden can add life and colour to any yard. Accurate measurements and planning are key in crafting one that suits you perfectly.
Step one is defining your garden boundaries using edging or stones to prevent grass and weeds from invading flower beds, followed by choosing plants with varying foliage and bloom colors for year-round color.
Plan your layout.
An attractive flower garden makes an impressive visual statement. By taking accurate measurements and creating a sketch of your space, utilizing accurate measurements to guide plant selection and arrangement. Consider paths or access aisles between flower beds so both yourself and guests can easily traverse it and admire your creation.
Try pairing flowers of complementary or contrasting colors to create an eye-catching display in your garden. Pairing shades of purple with yellows or pinks for example can create an eye-catching display, drawing visitors’ eyes. Furthermore, foliage provides dimension even after flowers have withered and died in your yard.
Experienced garden designers commonly include shrubs in their designs to provide structure and four-season interest, according to Wiley. Choose shrubs with colorful bark or twisty shapes for added character; flowering shrubs provide summer color before perennial blooms take over in autumn. Repeated key colors, shapes and plants also lend unity.
Plant your seeds.
No matter if you’re starting seeds indoors or scattering them directly onto the garden soil, follow the planting instructions on their seed packet to determine their optimum depth. Avoid working in too wet a soil as this can cause compaction that smothers young roots and limits growth.
Experienced flower garden designers know the key to designing a successful garden is incorporating plants with year-round interest and staggered bloom times, such as shrubs, perennial flowers and annuals. By creating a lush display that provides color from spring through autumn you can ensure lasting beauty in your landscape design.
Add visual drama to your garden by playing around with shape and size. Renowned Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf recommends arranging flowers by silhouette; placing tall perennials at the back and low plants nearer the front of the bed. Or you could mix delicate foliage (such as marigolds) with coarser ones (canna lilies). Contrasting them adds visual depth. Finally, plant those seeds! If using transplants be sure to check your USDA growing zone to ensure that all your chosen flowers thrive in your region!
Prepare the soil.
Once your garden is laid out, the next step should be preparing its soil. Clear away any grass or weeds before adding compost to enhance its quality for planting your flowers. It is wise to do this several weeks prior to so that time allows for beneficial bacteria in compost to do its magic on the earth’s surface.
Once your planting site has the optimal conditions for your flowers, ensure that the proper amount of sunlight reaches it. While full sun locations tend to work best for most flowering plants, shade or partial sun settings can still provide enough light.
Once you understand your sun situation, plan to arrange your plants accordingly to provide maximum sunlight coverage throughout the day for all. Arranging taller plants in the back, medium height ones in the center and shorter flowers nearer to front will create depth while assuring all plants receive ample sunshine throughout. To add texture to your garden further and keep things interesting add coarse or fine foliage with groups of various plant sizes arranged around a central point.
Plant your flowers.
Accurate measurements and an intricately planned layout are essential for creating a garden that appears balanced and harmonious. Before you plant, fertilize your planting area with some buckets of bokashi compost; when working with soil that has some moisture but isn’t overly wet it’s ideal to work in.
Select a location with at least 6 hours of full sun to help ensure the flowers thrive, without obstructions, so watering and maintenance tasks can be completed easily.
Dig holes that are the same size and slightly wider than the container your plants came in, then position your plants carefully into them while gently packing soil around them – remembering not to compress too tightly! As blooms fade away, be sure to remove them promptly to encourage your plant’s energy into producing new leaves for winter survival and avoid unsightly weeds from detracting from its beauty! Lastly, remember to weed frequently so as to keep unsightly weeds from overshadowing its beauty!