Planting a cut flower garden requires special consideration. As many flowers don’t live through an entire growing season, plant them sequentially so you’ll have blooms all summer.
Also ensure your cutting garden is easy to access; you will be reaching over plants with buckets of water or scissors frequently, requiring wide rows and paths in your beds and gardens.
Preparation
Before planting your cut flower garden, take the time to properly prepare its site. This means loosening up the soil using a hoe or rototiller and adding organic matter such as compost or slow-release fertilizer – an open sunny area is preferred as many flowers thrive under direct sunlight.
Plan an efficient layout to simplify watering, weeding and harvesting. Select perennial plants that return every year and group them together; organize annuals by height and bloom sequence with taller sunflowers at the back and shorter annuals like zinnias in front; plant both focal flowers and fillers for maximum visual impact.
Raised beds make maintenance simple; this will keep the soil moist while preventing weeds. Just remember to add flower fertilizer when planting and every two or three weeks throughout the season for best results. Keep in mind that certain flowers, like roses, tulips, dahlias and daisies prefer acidic conditions while others such as sweet peas, snapdragons and nasturtiums thrive best with alkaline conditions.
Planting
To create an effortless cut flower garden, it is best to combine perennial and annual varieties with long blooming seasons – popular options include cosmos, larkspur, sweet peas, sunflowers and zinnias – with perennials returning year after year while annuals only live once before they perish with no guarantees they’ll return next season.
Make sure to plan your space carefully by noting each plant’s height and bloom time on paper, and group them by their cultural requirements such as soil type or hydration needs if possible. This will ensure they all get what they require without competing with one another nearby.
Consider that some annuals require staking (like sunflowers) or vines requiring netting ( like climbing nasturtiums). If space is an issue, consider planting the blocks instead of rows for an easier layout that is also easier to manage – particularly useful for new gardeners!
Watering
Many cut flowers require plenty of water. To ensure that they have access to this essential resource, raised beds provide ideal drainage while also giving control over moisture content in the soil.
Make the most of the limited space you have by mixing perennials and annuals together for maximum color variety and height variations. Perennials such as larkspur, garden phlox, peonies can give long-lasting bouquets; annuals like zinnias, cosmos, sweet peas and sunflowers produce more blooms throughout the season.
To achieve optimal results, plant in a sunny location with well-draining soil. By adding organic matter such as compost to the soil, more nutrients will become available to the plants and overall garden health will increase, as will fertilization with quality products like Agron. Deadheading and watering cutting plants regularly will keep their health optimal, with deadheading as part of regular deadheading routines and submersion of stems in water mixed with preservative prolonging vase life. For best results use clean knives or scissors when cutting flowers as this will preserve their vase life for longer vase life!
Harvesting
Cut flower gardens can be an enjoyable and rewarding project for those who enjoy creating floral arrangements themselves. Growing your own blooms saves both money and effort compared to purchasing those produced overseas or shipped long distances – not to mention it makes your garden more beautiful!
Plan your garden carefully, stagger planting times of different varieties to ensure an uninterrupted supply throughout the season. Select an array of annuals like zinnias that can be harvested multiple times or perennials/biennials like sweet william and snapdragons as your plants of choice.
Consider your USDA hardiness zone when planning which plants to sow in your region and when. Group plants with similar growing conditions together so you don’t accidentally over or under-water one plant while watering another nearby. Furthermore, regularly prune flowering plants by pinching below their second set of leaves so they can focus on producing long stems with multiple blooms, prolonging vase life.