Flower gardens add color and personality to outdoor spaces. A carefully designed garden bed will look good from spring through fall and will attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds – not forgetting other beneficial insects!
Choose flowers that thrive in your climate and soil conditions, taking note of how colors combine using the color wheel as a reference point.
Determine Your Soil Conditions
Your garden’s health depends on the quality of its soil. Most flowering plants require full sun and prefer loamy or sandy soil that has been amended with compost, according to gardening expert Matt James.
Dr. Ho explains that healthy soil should contain an equal mixture of silt, sand and organic material that allows roots and water to easily penetrate it. Furthermore, its porosity allows this type of environment to function effectively as well.
Before beginning digging, clear away grass, break up large clumps of dirt, and dig holes that are deep enough to fit each root ball of each plant. A soil test can also help provide insight into your soil’s pH (acidity or alkalinity) levels and nutrient needs, along with what amendments or amendments might be beneficial to it. In addition, compacted soil hinders nutrients from moving freely throughout your garden causing your flowers to suffer as a result.
Select Your Plants
Beginners looking to start a flower garden should start with perennials, as these long-lived perennial flowers add color and texture. Plus, their low maintenance requirements make them easy to care for as faded blooms are quickly removed while trimming is ongoing throughout the season. To select an array of colors that best reflect you, start taking pictures of blooms you like from other gardens or local stores, before using a color wheel as a guide to limit your selections and create an eye-pleasing palette.
Be sure to carefully match each flower’s requirements with those of your growing zone and soil conditions, then take into account attributes like fragrance or whether the flowers attract pollinators. Also keep in mind that plants grow slowly but eventually fill out and bloom – with some planning, you can have a beautiful garden that brings joy all season long!
Create a Plan
Accurate measurements and thoughtful layout are integral to creating a beautiful yet functional garden. If your new bed will replace an existing lawn, make sure that the area receives adequate sun during a typical day before marking its boundaries using garden hose or flour or lime to outline an appropriate bed space.
Once you’ve chosen your plants, consider how they can complement each other for an overall unified effect. Shades of the same hue or colors opposite on the color wheel tend to create harmony while different textures (fine foliage vs coarse round leaves) add visual interest and provide visual interest.
Consider adding blooming bulbs or annuals that provide all-season color for an added splash of vibrancy, and don’t overlook fragrance and movement when designing your garden; breeze patterns can spread the aroma long after blooms have fallen from view.
Planting
Once your plan is in place, prepare the garden site by clearing away sod and weeds from its area and tilling in plenty of compost to improve soil quality and add nutrients.
When planting flowers, make sure they will thrive under your lighting conditions and take note of hardiness ratings, bloom times and any special requirements listed on their labels.
Bring flowers that bloom at different times of the season into the mix so that as one type of bloom fades away, another begins its journey. Add plants with foliage as an eye-catching backdrop for any flowers that emerge during their season.
Searching for native flowers will create an environment more welcoming to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Native flowers produce abundant pollen and nectar for these creatures to feast upon than exotic hybrids; additionally they require less maintenance and tend to be more disease resistant than their exotic counterparts.