With flowers, your garden can get an instant boost of vibrant color. Mixing annuals, perennials and flowering shrubs together provides season-long color and gives the space a sense of structure.
As location and conditions affect which flowers can thrive there, it is crucial that one considers this when planning their garden.
1. Decide on a Design
Before beginning planting, it’s helpful to create an overall vision for what your garden will look like. Cowan advises thinking in layers and creating an hierarchy of plant sizes in your garden; larger plants should be placed towards the back so as not to obscure smaller blooms from view.
Consider which colors you want in your flower garden when planning the design. Utilizing a color wheel will help you choose complimentary hues while avoiding clashing hues, while plantings with varied bloom times keep the space interesting throughout the year.
Consider what kind of maintenance you are willing to devote to your garden before selecting flowers for it. Do you want a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant environment or one that attracts pollinators? These questions will guide your flower selection – for low maintenance gardens consider perennial plants that bloom year after year while producing seeds as they do so!
2. Select Your Plants
An inviting flower garden can bring joy throughout the year. To maximize enjoyment and create the most visually striking design possible, perennial bloomers that bloom at different times must be included as part of the plantings, and they must come in different heights and colors so as to add variety in blooming times and heights.
Before choosing plants for planting, carefully evaluate the area in which you intend to place them and identify how much sunlight or shade is received each day. This step is crucial as some types of flowers require full sun exposure while others prefer partial or even full shade conditions.
Ideally, when planting in the shade it is important to choose plants that will flourish under such conditions and consider their maintenance requirements to ensure they receive all of the water, nutrients and space they require – for instance drought-tolerant flowers pair nicely with companion plants that thrive in dry soil conditions. Furthermore, mixing heights, sizes, colors and blooming seasons keeps plantings interesting year round.
3. Prepare the Soil
No matter if you’re working with existing flowerbeds or starting an entirely new garden from scratch, soil quality plays a critical role. Most flower varieties require full sunlight exposure and require well-draining conditions.
Before digging, double-check to ensure there are no buried utility lines near where you intend to build a flower bed. Call your local utility company for instructions on how to do this safely.
Once you’ve established your boundaries and selected which flowers you plan on growing, prepare the planting area by clearing away any clumps of sod or vegetation and loosening up topsoil. Many annuals and perennials prefer loamy soil that’s been amended with compost.
If your site contains heavy clay or rock soils, adding commercial topsoil may help improve texture and drainage. Layering organic matter such as compost or shredded leaves also helps control weed growth while providing essential nutrients for plant life growth.
4. Plant Your Flowers
Once your plan and soil are in place, planting flowers is time! From seeds and seedlings to transplanted plants, each must be placed into holes of their proper size before being covered with dirt and firmly pressed down firmly to help retain water absorption by roots. It’s best to avoid handling wet soil as handling it could cause compaction that inhibits root absorption by roots.
Remember that planting and maintaining a flower garden is an ongoing journey, with each year offering new opportunities for improvement and adjustment. With some careful planning, persistence, and creativity you can design a garden that reflects you in terms of color, whimsical design and return on investment – perhaps up to 1,000% or even higher! Happy gardening!