Discovering how to plant a flower garden will allow your blooms to flourish – whether from seeds or transplants from a garden center. Perennials add color year after year while annuals provide instantaneous gratification.
Ascertain the lighting needs of your flowers by considering the amount of direct sunlight a spot receives each day as well as nearby trees and buildings.
Choose the Right Plants
Before planting flowers from transplants or seeds, read through each tag that comes with each plant/seed packet to understand their exact requirements for soil, sun and water. Next, clear away grass and weeds from the area you intend to garden; if desired, lay out paths or fences using hose or rope before you dig.
Consider the color of your flowers when planning gardens. Gardens containing shades of the same hue, like pink and purple, can be especially pleasing. Yellow and red colors on opposite ends of the wheel look striking when combined.
Do not overlook plants with interesting foliage and winter interest, like heucherellas. Additionally, trellises and arbors add a unique charm to your flower garden, especially if you grow vining flowers like roses. Furthermore, these structures can help provide extra privacy in the yard.
Soil Preparation
Flower gardens come in all shapes and sizes – from window boxes to entire yards – but one key factor for their success is proper soil preparation.
Before beginning to create your flower bed, it is necessary to clear away all grass in the area where you intend to build one by hand or lawnmower equipped with side-ejection blade. Next, lay landscape edging such as plastic, bricks or wood (even unusual materials like glass bottles may work!). Finally, plan out and plant your new bed.
Next, determine where to plant your flowers. If you are creating a perennial garden, choose an area that receives six hours or more of direct sunlight every day. A shade garden can also be beautiful if chosen wisely with drought-resistant plants that thrive under filtered light such as hosta and heuchera. When planning an island bed garden design, place taller plants at its core with shorter ones surrounding its borders to ensure they won’t block windows or doors as they mature.
Planting
Flowers should always be planted in holes that are the appropriate size and depth, in order to allow their roots to spread and absorb as many of the soil nutrients as possible. It’s also essential that any bulbs be planted properly so as to allow the proper growth conditions and nutrition absorption from soil sources.
Before planting, first clear away all weeds and grass with a sharp shovel. If creating new beds, layer weed-blocking fabric on top and add at least six inches of garden soil or composted manure on top for extra support.
As you choose plants for your garden, keep sun exposure in mind when selecting them. In addition, think about how long you want your flowers to live and the level of maintenance required before making a plan and drawing out a garden layout on paper to help determine where everything goes.
Watering
No matter whether your garden consists of seeds started from seeds or purchased at a nursery, determining when and how much to water is key to its success. Watering provides essential nourishment to plant roots as they take in essential vitamins while simultaneously maintaining proper pressure inside their tissues or “turgor”, or tension within their tissues.
Flowering plants typically need one inch of water every seven to 10 days (through rainwater or additional irrigation) during their growing season, though this varies by region and soil type; heavy clay soils tend to retain more water than sandy ones do, for instance. Furthermore, it’s best to water cooled soil in the evening or at night when less evaporates than during hot, sunny weather conditions.
Once you’ve located an ideal site for your garden, take note of how much sunlight it receives each day. Sunlight exposure is essential to most flowers; a spot with diffused lighting works just as well for shade-loving perennials like hosta and heuchera.