In order to facilitate easy harvesting and efficient maintenance of your cut flower garden, planting it in rows is best. This allows for effortless upkeep throughout the season without worry over weeds or maintenance needs.
Select a combination of annuals and perennials with long bloom times – annual flowers like zinnias and sunflowers don’t return every year, yet still produce stunning blossoms all summer long.
Planting Dates
Cut flower gardens provide an easy and sustainable way to enjoy beautiful bouquets all summer long. When planting your cutting flowers in wide rows with shorter plants towards the front and taller ones at the back, make sure they’re planted in bright, sunny locations with rich, well-drained soil that doesn’t contain weeds – sketch out your garden design on grid paper first; it will help keep track of where to place each one while giving each one its individual care needs. It is best if weeds don’t invade, either! When planting cutting flowers it is best to plant in wide rows – shorter plants should go towards the front while taller ones lining back rows – to give each one its individual care needs as you plant each plot in turn.
Select an array of annuals and perennials with varied bloom times, flowering shrubs and filler plants like Veronica or sweet peas for filler plants; in addition, add fragrant flowers, foliage or plants that dry well to extend your cutting season into winter.
Preparation
Organization is key for a thriving cut flower garden. A well-conceived plan makes it easier to tend, harvest and arrange gorgeous bouquets.
Begin by selecting an area with full sun. Most cut flowers need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day for optimal growth.
Decide the soil type and add compost or leaf mold to improve drainage and nutrient retention, thus helping to decrease weed competition. This will also serve to minimize competition with neighboring gardens.
Add year-round color with perennials and annuals planted together, such as cosmos, larkspur, snapdragons and sunflowers that rebloom as well as those that last longer like zinnias and celosia.
Group your plants based on their cultural needs, such as maturity height and bloom period. This will ensure each receives exactly the right conditions to thrive.
Sowing Seeds
Once all the vegetables have been planted and harvesting is winding down, take some time out of your day and sit down with a cup of tea to plan next year’s cut flower garden. Evaluate its successes and failures from last season, think about new varieties you want to try, and create a list of what varieties need to be grown.
Start seeds indoors to ensure fast germination and early blooming of cutting flower varieties that need full sun. Check the back of the seed packet to determine how much direct sun they require.
Direct sowing outdoors during winter can also be used for quick-growing flowers such as zinnias, cosmos and sunflowers; and also works well for cool-season annuals like sweet peas, snapdragons, foxgloves and calendula. This method saves both cost and space compared to starting seeds indoors but requires some additional planning ahead of time.
Watering
Choosing plants suitable for cutting flowers requires selecting plants with long vase life and drying abilities; you also must consider climate and environment when making this selection.
Make sure that the area where you intend to create a cut flower garden receives full sun. Only certain varieties thrive when exposed to partial shade conditions.
Your soil must be loose and offer proper drainage if you wish to grow flowers successfully. Conduct a soil test, amend with organic material as necessary and incorporate companion flowers that deter pests while serving as pollinators into your cut flower garden – this will keep bugs at bay and increase harvest levels!
Harvesting
An effective cutting garden requires proper harvesting to prolong vase life of blooms. To do this efficiently and reduce water loss and wilting, harvest flowers first thing in the morning or late evening when temperatures have had time to cool off, giving the blooms enough time to cool off and reduce water loss and wilting.
Cut flower gardens are typically organized in rows or grids for ease of maintenance, enabling easy harvesting of stems as well as weed control and pest management.
Plants that grow quickly should generally be planted closer together so they can compete for nutrients while producing longer, straighter stems suitable for cutting. Pinching (cutting the growing tip just above a set of leaves) is often done to encourage branching and the production of more flowers on fast-growing species like zinnias and celosia.