Planting flowers can bring life and color to any yard. Learn how to start your flower garden by preparing the soil, understanding seasonal schedules and creating pathways between plants.
Choose a sunny location. Combine perennials that feature extended bloom times with annuals that produce flowers and seeds all within one growing season, such as petunias, geraniums and pansies.
Location
Flower gardens should be located in sunny spots with rich soil that are easily accessible, enabling you to tend and harvest blooming flowers regularly.
Planting a mixed flower bed offers year-round color and visual interest. Consider mixing colors, heights and textures within the bed design. Repetition of shapes or plants throughout can also help foster unity and a sense of order within your design.
Before planting flowers, conduct research into their light needs and mature sizes in order to select an ideal site. Some perennials like hydrangeas and sunflowers prefer part-sun locations while nasturtiums and sweet peas require full sunlight all day long. Also familiarize yourself with your USDA growing zone as well as frost dates;
Soil
Your flower garden will thrive best in loose, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter. Try to avoid peat-based soil whenever possible as harvesting peat depletes an important natural resource and may contribute to climate change.
Be sure that your new flower garden receives sufficient sunlight in order for it to flourish. Many types of blooms require full sun for optimal blooming and health, so monitor how much light reaches this area from early morning until sunset.
Your flower garden should provide color throughout the year by selecting perennials and annuals that bloom at different times of year, such as zinnias, dahlias and sweet peas. Remember to remove faded blooms as needed to ensure plants look their best – this is especially important with perennials like these perennials whose perennial foliage remains attractive after their flowers have withered away. Also pay attention to foliage that remains appealing after the blooms have passed on!
Water
Assuring your flower garden receives enough water is key to its success. Too little can cause flowers to wilt and die, while too much may lead to root rot or fungal diseases. One tip for effective watering would be deep rather than frequent watering so the soil has enough time to absorb its share.
One great gardening tip is to avoid watering during the heat of the day as this can increase evaporation rates and contribute to water loss through evaporation. A soaker hose or drip irrigation system may be helpful in minimizing this loss as well.
Growing tall annuals like zinnias or sunflowers requires support in the form of stakes or trellises to accommodate their height as they develop. Climbing perennials such as nasturtiums need nets or trellis in order to climb. When adding shrubs to your flower garden, look for easy-care varieties with colorful bark or twisty shapes for four-season interest and structure.
Fertilizer
Most flowers require rich, fertile soil for proper growth. When creating your garden site, add an organic matter layer and work it into the top six to eight inches of the soil prior to planting your flowers. Remember not to work it when wet as this may damage its structure and become less accommodating for their roots.
Strive to keep your flower garden free of weeds and disease by using liquid fertilizer regularly to nourish it. Spread this liquid across soil or an outdoor container without spraying the leaves directly with it; controlled-release granule fertilizers may also be suitable. These products release their nutrients based on soil temperature changes; as such they need reapplied as they run low.
Pruning
An attractive flower garden will bring color and vibrance to any landscape, but you must pay careful consideration to its needs. Choose perennial plants suited to your climate and soil type – perennials will often come back year after year – along with annuals such as petunias, geraniums and pansies for quick summer blooms; cut-flower varieties such as sunflowers and sweet peas may require support netting or trellises as well.
Most flowering plants prefer full sun; however, even if your site only receives partial or shade exposure, you can still create a successful garden by choosing varieties suited for this environment and performing some maintenance tasks to promote healthy growth. Be sure to rake away rocks and large clods of dirt while adding compost for improving soil quality.