Before planting your flower garden, it’s important to first ensure the area does not contain buried utility lines and how much sunlight the site receives daily.
Remove unsightly weeds that rob nutrients from flowers and take over garden beds, then apply a layer of mulch to preserve moisture and nutrients in the soil.
Location
At the core of all flower gardens is choosing an ideal site, which means considering which areas receive sun or shade throughout the day and whether the air circulation is sufficient – both essential components to helping plants flourish while warding off disease.
Flower gardens should feature an array of blooms to provide color throughout spring to fall. This can be accomplished through including shrubs for winter interest, perennials for summer blooms, and annuals in bloom for autumn blooming. Experienced garden designers may take advantage of staggered bloom times to guarantee continual color in their design.
Before purchasing plants, read their labels carefully to understand any space requirements so as to prevent overcrowding. After this step is completed, use a garden hose to mark out your flower garden bed while clearing away grass and weeds from its vicinity. Furthermore, drawing out your plan on graph paper is also beneficial; this way you’ll be able to visualize how their layout and size change over time.
Soil
Flower gardens rely heavily on their soil in order to thrive, and most flowers prefer loose, well-draining soil rich with organic matter. You can enhance this by amending your site with compost or well-rotted manure several weeks before beginning planting activities; but beware not to work the soil too wet, as this damages its structure and is less welcoming for plant roots.
As most flowering plants need full sun for optimal bloom, which means six hours or more of direct sunlight every day, choosing shade-tolerant species such as Heuchera or Coreopsis is your best bet if sunlight hours are limited.
Mixing annual and perennial blooms together provides color throughout the season. Look for drought tolerant flowers like zinnias and dahlias for low maintenance that also feature drought tolerance; regular watering and removal of weeds should also be carried out to promote further blooms. Deadheading (removing spent blooms to promote further blossoms) will often increase blooming rates as well.
Planting
Once you have selected a location for your flower garden, clear away grass and any existing weeds in its area. Weeds siphon off moisture and nutrients from flowerbeds, preventing them from blossoming to their fullest potential.
When planting your flower garden, group flowers by their sunlight and water requirements. Grouping drought-tolerant flowers together keeps the garden looking healthy while mixing flowering annuals with perennials adds color even after their blossoms have died back.
Experienced flower garden designers understand that color is equally as essential. By including colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel such as purple and red, as well as vibrant pastels with muted tones, such as vibrant pastels with muted tones or brightly-hued pastels like lavender and pink, their combinations create visual contrast in your designs that provides year-round interest and visual balance in a garden design. By including shrubs with winter berries that bloom all season long along with staggered bloom times and adding foliage plants, foliage plants provide much-needed texture contrast while providing much-needed visual contrast while adding foliage plants, foliage plants will add much-needed contrast in design!
Watering
As part of your flower garden planning, be mindful of how much light and soil type each type of plant you wish to grow requires. To learn which ones flourish in your USDA growing zone, do an online search or reach out to a nearby plant nursery employee for help.
Flowers flourish best when planted in loamy soil that drains well, with little clay, silt or other contaminants present. To improve drainage in your yard’s dirt, amend it with compost, manure or another organic source to improve texture and drainage.
Tinkering with color and texture is an engaging way to add interest to a flower garden design. Try pairing blooms and foliage that share complimentary hues – those opposite each other on the color wheel – such as purple and yellow (for instance). Additionally, add decorative touches such as trellises and arbors, which provide stunning centerpieces in any flower garden design.