Flower gardens add beauty, fragrance, and fresh blooms to any home. To ensure they meet all of your needs successfully.
If you want long-lasting cut flowers for arrangements, choose varieties that can handle being without water for extended periods.
Learning your USDA growing zone helps you select plants that will thrive in your environment.
Choose a Location
Floral gardens can add beauty and enhance curb appeal in many ways; whether that means increasing curb appeal for potential buyers, or simply adding color to your yard. Not only are flower gardens easy to build but they can provide many advantages as well – pollinators love them, providing lush habitats for wildlife, as well as adding points of interest throughout your landscape.
Step one in starting a garden is selecting an ideal site. Preferably, choose somewhere that gets at least six hours of sun per day, with well-draining soil in a sunny location.
Familiarize yourself with your USDA plant hardiness zone. This will allow you to choose perennials that will survive winter and subsequently create a planting map with tall plants in the back and shorter ones in front. Don’t forget shrubs for added structure and four-season interest; include foliage plants for texture and color even after blooms have faded!
Soil Preparation
Before starting to cultivate flower garden plants, conducting a soil test is vitally important. A soil analysis will reveal any nutrient deficiencies and give an idea of how much amending needs to be done – specifically targeting the top 6-8 inches where most flower roots reside.
Consider growing flowers that require cutting (ie: flowers that will be used decoratively by being harvested and cut at various points throughout their bloom). A location receiving at least six hours of direct sunlight per day would be optimal, particularly those grown for cutting.
Plan your garden around annual and perennial flowers to provide year-long color. Additionally, bulbs and shrubs add structure and interest while mixing plant heights, sizes and colors creates movement in the space – for instance balancing tall (peonies and dahlias) with shorter plants (tulips, daffodils or alliums) offers visual harmony for a cohesive aesthetic.
Planting
Now that you understand your growing zone and desired plants, it is time to get planting!
To plant your flower garden, first remove any grass or weeds that already occupy the area and loosen up the soil using a hoe or rake. Next, incorporate organic matter such as compost or manure into the existing soil to enrich it further.
Make sure your new flower bed is within easy access of a water hose so you can quickly water its plants. Also be sure to layer organic material, such as mulching with several inches, in order to halt weed growth and promote flower health. As you go through the planting process, keep this advice from world-renowned Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf in mind: design with shapes or colors repeating throughout your garden to provide visual unity and promote peacefulness.
Maintenance
Maintaining your flower garden requires regular care and upkeep for its aesthetic appeal. Remove weeds as soon as they appear during the growing season – these unwelcome plants consume vital water and nutrients that contribute to keeping desired flowers thriving, taking away water needed by these valuable blooms. Furthermore, by eliminating potential seeds before they set seed this reduces how many you’ll need to deal with next year.
Keep the right plant spacing and height. Too-close-together plants look untidy; mixing flower shapes, sizes and colors to add visual interest can also add visual flair.
Choose native perennials to create bee-, butterfly- and hummingbird-friendly habitat. Incorporating shrubs native to your climate offers greater adaptability with less need for upkeep or pampering needed – these four-season bloomers add structure while colorful bark or twisty shapes provide four-season interest – as well as dwarf conifers or hedges provide winter interest!