Establishing an attractive flower garden requires careful planning, but once digging begins it will pay dividends in form of an immensely satisfying hobby!
Begin by becoming acquainted with your USDA growing zone; this will enable you to know which flowers and when.
Mix heights and colors in your flower garden to add variety. Repetition of shapes and colors provides continuity to the design, adding visual interest.
Choosing the Right Plants
To ensure the success of your flower garden, it is imperative that you select appropriate plants. When selecting plants for your flower garden, take into account their bloom color, foliage texture and shape, growing requirements and care needs, number of times they bloom each season – annuals can provide quick color while perennials will bloom reliably through summer and fall months.
Experienced garden designers know to design flower gardens with staggered bloom times and year-round interest by selecting shrubs and flowers with spring, summer, fall and winter color displays. It is important to evaluate your USDA growing zone to determine which plants can thrive there.
Begin by compiling a list of flowers you want to plant, including their planting time and space requirements. Before digging holes, place each container-grown bloom on the ground where you intend to place it before digging any holes.
Choosing the Right Location
Before purchasing flowers, be sure to research their growing requirements and match them up to those of your garden site. For instance, its height at maturity and space needs should fit within available sunlight within your yard.
Be sure to inspect the area you’re considering for several days to assess its sunlight exposure; many flowering plants need at least six hours of direct sun light daily in order to bloom successfully.
Another important consideration for garden planning should be soil type and drainage conditions. Poor drainage can lead to waterlogged roots and root rot disease; too sandy or clay-like a soil may not support flower plants successfully. Ideally, your garden area should feature well-draining loam soil; otherwise amend it with organic matter amendments in order to enhance its quality.
Preparing the Soil
One of the key ingredients of success in any flower garden is having good soil conditions. Good soil can help the plants flourish while decreasing water needs.
Locate an area in your yard which receives at least six to eight hours of full sun per day – this will allow your flowers to bloom fully and create beautiful displays!
Focus on creating rich, loamy soil that drains well. If your sandy or clay soil lacks this characteristic, enhance it with organic matter such as manure, compost or decomposed leaves to improve it.
Add 2-3 inches of compost to your flower beds each fall or spring and work it into the soil, to improve soil structure, retain moisture, and provide nutrients. Or plant a cover crop of clover, wheat, red rye, field mustard, alfalfa or wooly pod vetch as an organic matter-rich source to add organic material and nutrients back into the soil when turned under in spring: when harvested again this crop will absorb excess moisture while returning nitrogen and other essential elements back into its original place in nature.
Planting
As soon as your plan is underway, dig or till the soil until it becomes loose, adding plenty of organic matter for richness and structure to benefit your flowers. This will enable them to flourish more readily.
Knowing your growing zone when selecting plants is of utmost importance; otherwise, certain flowers that may not be hardy enough in your region won’t thrive or produce blooms. Furthermore, it is vital that you are familiar with both the first and last frost dates in your region.
An attractive flower garden requires minimal upkeep once planted: simply ensure it remains free from weeds, water and fertilize as specified on its label, and remove spent blooms (unless you intend for them to regrow).
Mixing heights, colors and textures make a flower garden more visually striking. Repetition of certain key shapes or colors throughout the garden helps create unity and coherence; shrubs and evergreens add structure as well as four-season interest; consider including trellises or arbors as focal points to add further interest and diversity to the space.