Growing a cut flower garden can be both enjoyable and fulfilling. Your flowers will make beautiful bouquets, wreaths and other floral projects when harvested from their beds.
Strive for long, linear beds a metre wide at their bases for easier access and maintenance. Make sure the beds are well-drained before planting with organic compost or slow-release fertilizer amendment.
Location
Shannen Godwin of J Parkers suggests the best conditions for growing cut flower gardens are sunny. She recommends perennial fillers like Achillea (yarrow), Delphiniums and Larkspurs as ‘fillers, while self-sowing snapdragons make great options as self-seeders’ as filler plants for shaded areas.
Assemble taller plants at the back of the bed and shorter ones at the front for easier picking when they’re ready without trampling everything else in their path. Use netting or trellises for tall annuals like certain zinnias and sunflowers if necessary to reach them more quickly when picking.
Extend your season by planting bulbs that bloom from late winter or early spring onward, such as tulips and narcissi. This gives you more picking time, prolonging the vase life of cut flowers in a vase. Just as soon as they’re harvested, plunge the stems in cool water immediately so they can take in fresh moisture to avoid rotting and make sure you pick a vase with fresh flowers every week!
Soil
An ideal cut flower garden soil must include screened soil that has been sieved through a fine mesh to remove large rocks, in order to promote healthy plant growth and extend vase life for your blooms.
Determine the hardiness zones, sunlight requirements and soil specifications of perennials you wish to grow before grouping flowers with similar cultural needs together to avoid being outshone by those with differing requirements.
Bear in mind that certain plants, like climbing nasturtiums or single-stem sunflowers, require netting or trellises in order to climb. Others such as some zinnias may need stakes or supports to prevent them from flopping over as they mature. Be sure to add easy-to-grow annuals as fillers or “thrillers” which add height and interest – flowers such as astilbe, sweet william and yarrow may make wonderful fillers/thrillers! When picking flowers for bouquets it’s best done early morning or late afternoon so they’re less likely to wilt.
Planting
Cut flower gardens differ from regular flower beds by being specifically tailored for cutting flowers. It usually comprises multiple one metre-wide linear beds which offer easy access for planting, weeding and harvesting flowers.
Consider the growth conditions and flowering times for all the plants you wish to cultivate. Group flowers with similar cultural requirements together – sun exposure, soil conditions or water requirements. This will ensure they receive sufficient amounts of nourishment.
Stagger the planting of various flowers so they won’t all appear and bloom simultaneously, keeping a vase full of blooms throughout the season.
For optimal flower health, change the water in your vase frequently and add floral preservative to it. Clean tools should also be used when cutting flowers – use a sharp knife and try to snip stems at an angle so they absorb more water. After cutting, submerge blooms for around an hour in warm bucket with floral preservative before submerging back in cool bucket.
Care
Cut flower gardens require additional care than regular planting beds, including regular watering and fertilizing as well as supporting tall stemmed plants to prevent them from flopping over as they grow, plus regular pruning or deadheading of any unwanted blooms.
Plan the layout of your cutting garden so that it provides easy access for weeding, watering and harvesting. Consider organizing flowers by bloom times and heights so you can pick only those blooms when they are in peak condition for arrangements.
Make your cut flowers last as long as possible by cutting them early morning or evening with sharp, clean shears in order to avoid bacteria that could quickly cause them to rot. Submerge flowers into cool water mixed with floral preservative as soon as you cut them to allow the solution to take hold and rehydrate the cut petals; also place your flowers in an area under cover to protect from sun bleaching.