Planning a cut flower garden requires taking into account its wide range of colors, heights and bloom times. Consider selecting annual and perennial varieties that produce throughout the season.
Amend your soil with organic matter to enhance plant health and increase harvest yields.
Preparing the Soil
Cut flower gardens require well-draining, fertile soil to flourish. Before planting your cut flowers, amend your soil by mixing in compost, organic material or well-rotted manure. A soil test may also help determine its composition and nutrients.
Plan the space in your garden carefully, taking into account sunlight availability and how you want your flower beds to appear when completed. Assess existing garden beds and draw a layout on paper using bloom cycles and heights for productive floral combinations.
Make the most of your climate by selecting an assortment of annual and perennial flowers suitable to your climate zone. Perennials tend to return each year while annuals have shorter bloom duration.
Once your seedlings or plants are ready to be planted, pinch them regularly with either your fingers or clean shears to promote branching and encourage longer stems. Annuals such as sweet peas, zinnias and celosias particularly benefit from being pinched regularly.
Planting Seeds
Cut flower gardens boast an abundant selection of beautiful blooms that thrive under varying climate conditions and garden space conditions, giving you plenty of choices based on personal taste, climate conditions, garden size and care needs. Some flowers require little tending while others might need additional assistance – for optimal results it is wise to plant both annual and perennial blooms so there will be fresh cut blooms available throughout the season for cutting purposes.
Strive for a varied color palette in your garden beds as well. Some flowers thrive best in cool temperatures while others thrive under direct sunlight – ensure that most of your blooms get sufficient exposure by carefully inspecting each garden bed to make sure everyone receives enough sunshine.
Planning out your flower garden before planting can help avoid leaving any empty spaces behind. Once it comes time to planting, take note of what seeds or plant tags say about ideal placement of specific types of plants – tall plants like zinnias should go in the back and middle rows with shorter flowers in between or vineing blooms like sweet peas and nasturtiums could go at the front rows for example.
Establishing the Plants
By planting flowers strategically, you’ll soon have a vibrant supply of beautiful blooms to enjoy. Not only that but your cut flower garden may even draw wildlife into its fold and provide healthy habitat.
First, group together plants with similar growing requirements – those easy to grow from seed like zinnias and sunflowers as well as those that feature long stems like vincas – then arrange them so they’re easy to access for cutting – traditional beds of wide rows are usually the go-to approach but you could also use blocks, trellises or containers.
Some cut flowers, like zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos are annuals that complete their lifecycle in one growing season, while others such as perennials can come back year after year. If you want to prolong their bloom time of annuals such as these ones, pinching their central stems by approximately four inches when they reach six to eight inches high can increase flower count as well as long stems that make your bouquets even more stunning!
Harvesting
Cut flower gardens are an excellent way of growing rare varieties that may be hard to come by in your local nursery. Whether you have specific goals in mind or are just eager to try something different, a cut flower garden provides an ideal opportunity.
Plant the flowers in rows, leaving ample room between each one for easy harvesting. You will likely use a bucket and basket to collect stems as you work within these beds; so ensure navigation is simple.
Pinch young plants like zinnias and celosia when they reach six to eight inches tall to encourage branching and longer stems. You can do this either manually or using clean shears. Deadheading faded flowers regularly extends their season in your cutting garden. Consider succession planting by sowing seeds two weeks apart so as to lengthen bloom times from typically fleeting blooming flowers like sunflowers.