Starting a flower garden from scratch or expanding existing beds requires doing your homework first. Get acquainted with which flowers flourish in your climate zone and learn what requirements they have for success.
Add plenty of organic matter to the soil, mixing it in well – especially before planting!
Choose Your Plants
Decide on your flower selection first and think carefully about its bloom time, show-stopping focal points, flower size and color combinations as well as extra features like fragrance or hummingbird attraction. Also take into account whether perennials or annuals would best fit the space available to you.
Be sure to carefully assess your planting site to ensure it can accommodate the plants you select, and conduct a soil test beforehand. When investing time, money, and effort in creating a garden, its success should be top of mind.
Professional gardeners suggest grouping multiple plants of the same species together in your garden to achieve balance and cohesiveness, helping avoid that “clown pants” look while making it easier for bees to find food sources quickly on each foraging trip. To do this, plant mass groups of 5-7 of same species together rather than scattering them throughout your bed bed – experts use this trick to make their flower gardens appear more professional than random.
Prepare the Soil
Starting a flower garden from scratch or turning an existing lawn into beds requires first clearing away its grassy layer. Utilize a shovel or garden rake to carefully dig through all layers of soil to a depth equal to your shovel blade’s length – or you could opt for an electric tiller as another tool if digging manually isn’t an option!
A quality soil will dictate how successfully your flowers grow, with most species preferring loamy, well-draining conditions. If your garden soil contains heavy clay deposits, amend it by mixing in compost and organic materials from outside – conducting a soil test will give you more specific guidance as to which additions to make.
Good soil preparation also involves avoiding areas that puddle after rainstorms, as this makes it more difficult for roots to absorb water. Install an irrigation system before planting so you can water flowers via drip tubing that provides direct access to their roots – this can help lower water usage and weed growth rates.
Planting
Now that you have planned and purchased, it’s time to put everything together. Start working the soil when it is slightly damp, using tools such as shovels/garden trowels/trowels/rakes and hand cultivators as necessary. Also consider adding compost or well-rotted manure into the mix as this will enhance soil structure further.
Most flowers thrive when exposed to full sunlight, so select an area in your yard where the plants will receive six or more hours of direct sun each day. Be mindful to find sunnier spots while avoiding those where full shade predominates.
Flower gardens with perennials and annuals will offer season-long color, adding structure and four-season interest with shrubs with colorful bark or twisty shapes such as boxwood. Also include pollinator-attracting plants for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to encourage pollination and fruit-bearing trees and shrubs to draw wildlife into your garden.
Care
Flower gardens can be an amazing sensory experience. Whether your goal is to add curb appeal, draw pollinators or add color to the back yard, there are countless flowering plants and fillers available that can help create the ideal space.
To maintain healthy and vibrant flower gardens, ensure your site receives ample sunlight. Also be mindful of any non-hardy plants in your zone which may succumb to winter cold and remain non-hardy during planting time. In addition, be familiar with when first and last frost dates occur in order to plant when necessary.
Water plants using a drip system or soaker hose rather than spraying their foliage directly, to save water waste and limit disease risk. Pinch back the tips of single-stemmed flowers early in the season to encourage branching and more blooms; and mulch as an effective method to retain soil moisture and control weeds.