Establishing a cutting garden requires thoughtful preparation to guarantee enough flowers for bouquets. The first step should be preparing the soil.
A great cut flower garden should feature both annuals and perennials that bloom throughout the season. Look for flowers with long vase life, such as dahlias or roses, as well as those that “return” each year like yarrow and larkspur.
Choose Your Flowers
Selecting flowers is the first step in planting a cut flower garden. Select colors and varieties that look good when combined in bouquets while adding plants with interesting foliage for extra flair in arrangements.
Your cut flower garden needs to serve its intended use, then choose easy-to-grow annuals and perennials that fit with your climate and can thrive there. Remember that most flowers need rich, well-draining soil.
Many flower gardeners choose a straightforward, visually appealing layout when planting their flowers in rows or blocks for ease of harvesting and maintenance. You might consider planting different bloom times sequentially so you have access to fresh cut flowers throughout the year – for instance dahlias bloom quickly in spring when their buds open for harvest, but will fizzle out by summer heat so new seeds must be sown at another time for another flush of blossoms.
Lay Out the Bed
An elegant flower garden adds beauty and provides shelter for essential pollinators species, making your home landscape even more picturesque. Proper soil preparation is key for making sure that your blooms thrive!
When selecting a location for a garden bed, opt for one which receives six to eight hours of sun each day. Flowering plants need full sun for optimal performance; poorly lit gardens quickly become overrun with weeds.
If your garden will be located in an area currently covered by lawn or another form of ground cover, begin by clearing away the existing vegetation. A sharp and clean bed boundary makes edging and maintenance much simpler; marking out this boundary before beginning work helps ensure an even gradient across your bed; it also prevents low spots or drastic slopes from hindering water penetration into its intended destination.
Sow the Seeds
Cut flower farmers typically plant their gardens in rows or grid patterns for several reasons. Rows make harvesting and weeding simpler, while providing uniform spacing of different flower species.
If you don’t have room to add a separate cutting garden, try intermixing flowers and vegetables or herbs for companion planting – it will draw pollinators while encouraging growth, controlling weeds effectively and adding interest.
Annual flowers such as sunflowers and zinnias bloom throughout the season, while perennials like larkspur, yarrows, garden phlox, and peonies will come back year after year.
Before sowing seeds in your soil, add compost or rich organic material such as mulch. By providing nutrients in advance of sowing, your flowers will flourish more. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to conduct a soil test to assess its fertility and make any necessary adjustments – this can either be performed yourself or through professional soil testing labs.
Fertilize
Making cut flowers yourself can be both rewarding and beneficial to the environment. Flowers attract pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds; attract pollinating toads; provide food sources to toads; amphibians and amphibians as well as squirrels for winter sustenance; provide bee shelter, while seed yielding flowers provide sustenance throughout winter for many wildlife species.
When selecting seeds to plant, it’s helpful to read their seed packets and evaluate their requirements for growth. Grouping plants that share similar requirements together will ensure you give them all of the resources they require for success.
Your cut flower garden should be regularly fertilized with organic compost or material such as manure. Furthermore, watering the plants early morning rather than during the heat of the day helps prevent evaporation while simultaneously soaking deeper into the soil. Finally, when cutting flowers it’s recommended that they are given lukewarm water so they absorb it faster and remain fresh longer.