Establishing a flower garden is an easy and cost-effective way to add vibrant hues to any landscape, but in order to be successful you need to understand what constitutes an effective design.
World-renowned garden designer Piet Oudolf suggests experimenting with color and shape when designing planting designs. Try choosing hues close to one another on the color wheel for greater visual interest, or combine plants of various sizes for visual contrast.
Choose a Good Location
Flower gardens bring beauty and color into any landscape, but it is crucial that they be placed in an ideal location in order for their flowers to thrive. By creating ideal conditions, the right site will enable growth while meeting all necessary regulations.
Make sure your chosen spot receives at least six hours of direct sun each day; otherwise, your flowers may struggle to thrive.
Knowing your USDA growing zone will be essential in selecting appropriate flowers to grow in your yard. Choose flowers that can thrive in your climate; otherwise they could die due to extreme cold or heat.
Once your flower beds have been properly established, define their borders using edging or stones so as to keep grass and weeds from overgrowing them. This will also help maintain a steady soil level by preventing excess water from pooling in certain spots and leading to drainage issues.
Know Your Soil
Beginning your ideal flower garden requires healthy soil. You can start by learning what kind of soil exists in your chosen location and how best to prepare it for planting.
Create a chart to track how much sun each area receives over an average day to determine whether it receives full sunlight (6 or more hours), partial sunshine (3 to 6 hours), or shade (3 to 5 hours). This will determine what types of flowers can be planted as well as maintenance needs such as watering and fertilizing requirements.
Some plants, like azaleas and certain hydrangeas, prefer slightly acidic soil; other species require near neutral pH levels. A simple soil test will establish your starting point and recommend amendments for meeting each species’ individual requirements. In addition, consider installing a drip irrigation system in your flower garden to keep weeds at bay and avoid overwatering – these systems are easy to set up with minimal maintenance costs, while providing plants with their needed amount of moisture directly at their roots.
Know Your Plants
Before planting flowers in rich, fertile soil, prepare it by adding an all-purpose balanced fertilizer and layer of organic matter in the top 6-8 inches. Avoid working the soil when wet as this causes compaction.
Start the season off right by selecting perennials and annuals that offer season-long color. Perennials typically bloom between early, mid, and late summer; annual flowers add bright pops of color in between. When creating your pollinator garden, keep an eye out for plants that attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators-attracting wildlife such as bees.
Garden edging can help create the boundaries of your flower beds, keeping grass and weeds out while making care simpler. Group flowers with similar water requirements together so as to avoid overwatering or shade; use focal flowers such as roses or peonies in combination with filler blooms such as snapdragon or feverfew to maximize space usage.
Plan Your Garden
Flower gardens come in all forms. From grand entranceways and entranceways to pathways or structures like sheds, flower gardens can add visual impact while serving as natural privacy screens in your yard.
To create an effective garden, it’s essential to take into account how much sun your site receives and which types of plants it supports. Ideally, flowers should receive full sun (6 hours or more per day); however they can still thrive even with less.
Consider selecting both perennials and annuals for year-round color and texture, while adding some easy-to-grow rosebushes or hollyhocks as shrubs for structure and four-season interest, while providing shade. Experiment with shapes: marigolds mixed in with more substantial foliage plants such as canna lilies create contrast, while mulch helps regulate nutrient and water levels in the soil and limit weed growth.