Planting a flower garden is an enjoyable endeavor that adds color and fragrance to your outdoor environment. Curating an ideal garden is both rewarding and challenging – the latter will prove especially true for beginners!
Combining different heights, shapes and colors is essential to creating an eye-catching garden design, according to world-renowned Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. Replicating plants and shapes ensure continuity within the flowerbed.
Location
Locating your flower garden properly is essential to its success. Choose an area that receives full sun without shade from low-growing plants that could block out light to your desired flowers. Also make sure that its soil drains well; poor soil drainage is one of the leading causes of flowering plant deaths.
Assemble a colorful and varied flower bed to achieve maximum visual impact, says Matt James. Varying heights and textures gives the garden a more natural aesthetic; adding shrubs provides structure and four-season interest while twisty forms, colorful bark and fall color can provide welcome contrast against flowers; repeating key shapes and colors odd numbers provides visual unity within your garden.
Soil
Plants require three key nutrients for proper development – nitrogen for leafy growth, phosphorous for strong root development and potassium for flower production. If selecting annuals or plants that need deadheading such as zinnias and dahlias, make sure their label clearly states their growing requirements.
Before beginning digging in your flower garden bed, it’s wise to prepare its soil. Remove grass using a flat shovel and till to break up any clumps of dirt.
A loosely planted flower garden appears more natural and engaging than its manicured counterpart. By mixing heights and colors of flowers together, an eye-catching display emerges; repetition adds rhythm. Choose quality screened soil to avoid rocks or any other manmade debris in your soil.
Water
Flower gardens add vibrant splashes of color to any landscape and are an enjoyable way to put your green thumb to work. Whether planting from seed or already-established plants, careful planning is crucial for its success.
If you want your perennials to bloom continuously throughout the season and add annuals for seasonal flair, stagger their bloom times so they provide continuous color throughout. Additionally, make your flower garden more self-sufficient by adding organic material, such as compost or leaves, before planting.
To prepare the site of your flower garden, begin by clearing away grass with a shovel and tilling the soil. Next, incorporate organic matter into the uppermost layers of soil so it can absorb moisture and nutrients as necessary.
Fertilizer
Fertilizing a flower garden after it has established is generally recommended; early fertilizing can damage roots and result in uneven development. If adding fertilizer is essential, choose organic or “earth-friendly” versions sparingly to maximize results.
A shovel and dirt rake are indispensable tools for loosening and preparing soil before planting a flower garden. Additionally, adding well-rotted manure or compost may also help loosening and conditioning it for most soil types.
No matter if you start from scratch or take over an established perennial bed, for an appealing design it is important to mix heights and colors for maximum impact. Repeated flowers, shapes and colors throughout your garden add rhythm while shrubs add structure as well as four-season interest.
Pruning
Experienced gardeners know the joy of seeing bees swarm your flowers for nectar on a summer’s day is one of those blissful gardening moments. To help these important pollinators thrive in your region, select native plants which produce ample nectar and pollen sources – they provide essential sustenance for these insects’ sustenance.
Once you’ve chosen your plants, get your hands dirty! Dig over your soil at least to a spade’s depth to remove weeds and smooth its texture into fine tilth. Consider adding well-rotted manure and compost to improve drainage and fertility in the topsoil layer; this will help improve drainage and fertility as well as drainage and fertility in general. When handling soil make sure it’s not too wet to work; avoid digging or raking when wet to prevent compaction of its structure.