Flowers bring beauty, fragrance and color to any garden. From lush perennials with full-flowering perennials and annuals that bloom all season long – there is an array of choices available to make your garden truly stunning!
Before beginning, first take note of your area by noting how much sun and what type of soil there is present, then select suitable plants for your location.
Choose the Right Site
Cultivating a flower garden adds vibrant colors and dimension to any landscape while providing essential pollinator habitats such as birds and bees. From simple beds of perennials and annuals to more intricate displays, cultivating your own garden provides limitless opportunities to showcase your personal style.
Select a location with full sun, since flowering plants thrive under its direct rays. If your site is shaded or dry, amending may be required before planting flowers there.
Conduct a soil test on your land to see if it’s suitable for growing flowers, and discover any necessary amendments (if any). This test can also tell you which types of amendments should be added – for instance if organic amendments might need to be added later on.
Piet Oudolf, an esteemed Dutch garden designer, recommends designing with shape in mind when creating floral displays. Flowers of similar height and flower types look good together; colors that fall adjacent on the color wheel also look pleasing while foliage provides much-needed structure to floral displays.
Select the Right Plants
Before planting a flower garden, select plants that will thrive under the conditions of your site. Different flowers have different needs when it comes to lighting and water requirements; group plants with similar requirements together such as shade-loving perennials together or full-sun flowers for greater year-round color. Consider mixing in shrubs and annuals among perennials to add variety.
Flowers generally do best in sunnier locations; if your yard has shaded spots however, consider planting under trees or shrubs as they will provide light and cover until your blooms are ready to open up. When selecting colors to plant consider both focal plants as well as fillers – some flowers make great focal plants while others work as filler plants.
Most flowers perform best when their soil is rich and well-draining, though this depends on each type. Add organic material to enrich the soil before planting your flowers; dig holes or rows appropriate to their sizes.
Prepare the Soil
Floral gardens require rich, loamy soil in order to flourish and flourish. If the site you’re using lacks these conditions, amend it by digging and adding compost; this helps the flowers’ roots take hold and absorb water and nutrients more easily.
Once your site for your flower garden is marked out, remove all grass and weeds before prepping the soil with shovel or renting a rototiller to dig through, loosening up soil so it’s easier for planting. Add compost when possible as an addition for increased ease.
Determine your USDA growing zone to understand which plants best suit the climate conditions in your region. Selecting non-suitable plants could cause them to die with the first frost, without making an appearance next year. If unsure of what your zone should be, consult local gardeners – this way, time and money won’t be wasted planting things that won’t thrive there!
Plant the Flowers
Once you’ve chosen a location and prepared the soil, it’s time to plant flowers. Use a trowel, shovel or other garden tool to dig holes for each plant while loosening up any compacted soil as you go; as an added step consider including some well-rotted manure or compost in this step as well.
Most flower plants prefer loamy, well-draining soil for optimal performance. Before planting flowers in this kind of environment, it is prudent to conduct a soil test in order to assess its acidic or alkaline nature as well as any necessary amendment materials that might need to be added in.
Pay close attention to both the instructions on each plant tag and your USDA growing zone when choosing annuals or perennials for your flower garden. Annuals offer seasonal splashes of color while perennials bring back plants year after year. Choose native flowers over exotic ones if your goal is creating an area welcoming to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds; evergreen shrubs provide year-round structure and shelter from winds and cold.