Your flower garden adds color to any season! Select flowers that require minimal care to create an eye-catching display in your yard.
Prepare the soil for planting by mixing in well-rotted manure or compost and raking to an even surface, before planting once all risk of frost has passed.
Location
Your garden’s success hinges on its location. From window boxes and garden beds to planters on your porch, spend some time studying how much sunlight reaches each area throughout the day as this can impact which plants thrive there.
Expert gardeners take into account all year-round interest, staggered bloom times, show-stopping focal points and foliage colors and shapes when selecting plants to add depth to their garden’s design. Shrubs with winter interest provide structure while spring-blooming perennials add summer color while easy repeat-blooming annuals give fall and winter blooms for added dimension in any landscape design.
Consider whether your garden will attract pollinators, choosing native flowers over fancy hybrids to ensure it will provide a habitat for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Tinkering with color combinations and textures adds fun flair to flower garden ideas; pairing fine foliage (marigolds) with coarse foliage (canna lilies) provides visual weight and contrast that draws pollinators in.
Soil
No matter if you are starting from scratch or adding on, prepare the soil by working it when it is damp but not wet. This allows for easier digging, handling, composting and other organic material addition that are essential components of flower gardening.
Flowers typically prefer loamy, well-draining soil that’s rich in organic material. However, the type of soil needed will depend on which flowers you intend on growing – for instance some require full sun while others can tolerate partial shade conditions.
Plan your flower garden so it provides constant color and interest year-round. A mix of annuals and perennials can do this; planting focal flowers (such as roses or tulips ) with filler flowers also extends the bloom season. Include foliage plants as well, so the garden remains appealing once its flowers fade.
Sunlight
No matter whether you plan to plant an expansive garden bed or just fill a few pots, take into account how much sunlight each area receives. Most flowers such as coreopsis and coneflower require at least six hours of direct sun each day in order to thrive.
Consider Bloom Times
Selecting flowers that bloom throughout the season adds depth and dimension to your flower garden, giving your guests something fresh to look forward to as the first blooms fade and others take their place with bursts of vibrant color.
Don’t forget to add foliage for year-round interest in your flower garden! Experimenting with textures and shapes, such as placing fine foliage alongside coarse, can add visual interest and create visual contrast within a space. Mixing shapes, colors, heights and designs together can result in beautiful, eye-catching designs; experimentation will lead to finding your ideal garden!
Water
A well-watered flower garden will produce more blooms and last longer. Aim to provide one inch of irrigation per week (including rainfall). In the first week after planting, water each plant daily; thereafter water every other day until soil moisture content reaches optimum.
Watering is essential to any garden, but especially so for newly planted flower beds. Otherwise, grass roots could compete for moisture with your new blooms and cause them to wilt or fail altogether.
Consider mixing annuals and perennials together for year-round color. Also pay attention to plant height and texture – for instance combining tall lupines and bushy marigolds will add visual interest and create visual contrast; experiment with foliage textures such as sword-like gladiolus or fine lacy iris to further add dimension to your flower garden ideas.