Flower gardens add color and life to any yard while increasing curb appeal of homes.
Discover your USDA growing zone to select flowers that thrive in your climate. Some blooming plants require full sun while others prefer partial or shade light conditions.
Before planting, remove all grass either by hand or power mower and cover the bed created with topsoil rich with organic matter.
Choose a Location
Your flower garden can add beauty and style to any part of your yard, but to achieve the results you desire it is crucial that careful planning takes place. Consider where and how big/small to make the bed, sun exposure considerations such as exposure (some flowers like hydrangeas and lilies prefer partial sunlight), proximity of watering system (easier for you and water bill!), as well as how close its location should be so as to reduce maintenance needs.
Dependent upon your goals, flower gardens can enhance curb appeal, add colorful borders to patios or decks, or serve as an oasis in the back yard. Flowers also create an inviting habitat for bees and other pollinators to visit and pollinate in. It’s wise to familiarize yourself with your USDA growing zone before getting started; this will affect which types of plants can grow there.
Prepare the Soil
Color is one of the greatest joys of gardening. Creating a flower garden from scratch requires planning, patience, and creativity – easily doable if you mix heights and colors well; planting perennials alongside annuals for season-long blooms; adding shrubs for structure adds depth and four-season interest into any design plan for a garden of blooms.
Before planting flowers, the first step should be preparing the soil in your intended garden plot. You can either dig out existing turf, or use the lasagna method of grass removal without digging using layers of newspaper and compost to gradually build up soil over time.
Once your soil has been prepared, select which plants to include and in which order. Consider which flowers your yard requires according to its sun/shade conditions – some blooms such as peonies, tulips and daffodils bloom during springtime; while zinnias, cosmos and cleome thrive midsummer and early fall.
Select Your Plants
Step two of starting a flower garden involves choosing which blooms you will include, which requires conducting research into which varieties do best in terms of climate and soil conditions at your location.
Consider the mature overall height of plants when making your selection, keeping in mind that taller flowers should be placed at the back while shorter blooms should be showcased up front. Also take into account when each bloom will bloom – perennials with staggered bloom times such as peonies or tulips as well as annuals such as zinnias or impatiens can provide year-round color palette options.
Alter the textures and shapes of foliage used to surround flowers by playing with their textures and shapes, pairing coarse (marigolds) with fine foliage (lemon thyme, canna lilies). Finally, take into account pollinator populations in your area by choosing flower varieties known to attract butterflies or bees.
Planting
Preparing the soil is one of the keys to success for any flower garden. Flora thrives best in nutrient-rich environments such as compost, leaf mulch and other forms of organic matter; you may opt for commercial topsoil if your natural soil is sandy, rocky or clay.
Once you’ve chosen and marked out an area for planting, use a shovel to clear out grass and weeds using a sharp shovel blade that will cut through existing vegetation roots.
As part of your flower garden design, consider mixing up the height and textures of plants for added visual interest and texture. Try including plants with various bloom times so that once one type of bloom fades away another is ready to take its place. Shrubs such as flowering bushes and deciduous trees add four-season interest as do hardscape elements like trellises, pergolas and arbors for four-season interest and four-season interest.