Well, now is the chance to start sowing those lovely flowers. Putting in a flower garden is a fun and rewarding endeavor. Work.it; a beginner guide and you are on your way!
Step 1 – Know Your Garden
- Understand Your Site: Before creating the perfect flower garden, research the spot where you plan to plant. Landscape architectural designer Mary Ellen Cowan says, “Know your site well. Let Mother Nature tell you about your land. Write for which light, moisture conditions, topography, etc. — > Be brutally honest with the nature of your site.
- Know your soil: One of the most important tips to grow flowers is to have a successful garden is to have your soil tested. Owner of Floret Flower Farm, Erin Benzakein, says, You want to take a core 1 foot deep then collect two tablespoons, do this in different parts of the garden/landscape until you fill a quart-sized jar. You may also send your soil to a testing lab like the UMass Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory to analyze the results and correct your soil before planting.
- Know your flowers: Cowan likewise exhorts, “Determine which plants succeed in your soil From there, you know what to do design wise. “Explore natural areas near home that replicate your wild conditions to identify which flowers you are attracted to,” said Carol Bornstein, director of horticulture at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Not sure where to start? You can see the list: 21 easiest flowers for beginners.
- Know your frost cycle: In order to ensure that your new garden is capable of surviving the winter, you will need to learn the average dates of your area’s first and last frost. Benzakein says this will change when you sow seeds and provide you with varieties that will grow into the autumn. 4-6 weeks prior to the average last frost date is a good time to start your seeds. TL;DR: Your plants will grow quicker and the weeds will be lessened. No greenhouse to sprout your seeds in, you can use a covered seed tray inside with grow lights
- Know your limitations: In the book of A Beautiful and Easy-Care Flower Garden, Stacy Ling taught us that “co-ordinate your garden zones with your way of life – at that point begin the plan, planting, and adorning inside your nursery to suit. It’s easy to want to do it all every spring, but keep your time availability in mind for garden maintenance. Next Year You Can Always Add More.
Step 2 – Create Your Color Palette
- Create unity: When deciding on a color palette, Bornstein advises choosing colors that will “tie the landscape together.” Different shades of the same color will be effective but will not take over the room and subtle, minor variations can have a slight and subtle impact.
- Create excitement: While using consistent shades will give the appearance of unity, pair opposite colors on the colour wheel to create a visual contrast. As an example blue mixed with yellow is crisp, lively and summery. Yellow, orange and red are warm colors and really capture the light in a sunny spot, particularly during the ‘golden hours;’ the times of day when the sun rises and sets. But hot colors can be kind of blah by themselves. Yellows work really well with the blues and are more complementary, adding contrast and pop. Hot orange and red splashes jolt occasionally — Keith Wiley, Wild side, Devon, England
- Create peaceful areas: The Wiley also suggested that moderation is key – too much gradient tends to become very tiring. In the garden, Sharon says, “You can’t have everything screaming at you. If a region is attracting a great deal of intense color or high drama, use neutrals to divide areas,” advises Bill Thomas of Chanticleer. Most of all, landscape designer and author, Jan Johnsen says put the colours you love in your garden!
Step 3 – Design Like a Pro
- Design with shape: When plotting out a flower garden, prominent Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf advises beginning with shapes. Perennials come in several basic flower shapes: spires, plumes, daisies, buttons, globes, umbels, and screens. What happens when you jam different shapes together? Others may present as jarring and conflicting in combination. Creating a line of flowers of similar shape can help to enforce a particular impression.
- Design with repetition: Repeat the shape of key elements or colors to create congruence and to maintain order. Repeat plants should: Ideally, you should repeat a plant with a long season, a plant that doesn’t look shabby after flowering, and a plant that does well in the conditions of your garden, advises Wiley. Repeating some of the flowers strategically ties the garden together moving from one part of the garden to another.
- Design in layers: Matt James in his How to Plant a Garden book suggests, ‘When planting, aim to meld one layer gently into the next – or the other way around – so it does not look laboured by having the layers stacked like a staircase. Oudolf cautions that “you lose plants in the back,” so it is vital to retain sightlines to observe blossoms at the rear of a border.
- Design in combinations: “Design in combinations, in masses,” says Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery, near Portland, Oregon. These varied garden elements add depth to the garden throughout the year in a mix of heights, sizes, colors, scale, and texture. Loose plantings will add colour, texture and a meadowy characteristic to it.
- Design with fragrance and movement: We can read articles like Dan Hinkleys and design with fragrance and movement, but we are also able to view the garden essays he publishes, telling us what he likes and not just goes with the rain plants. The design seldom includes these elements of a good garden. Open windows based on natural patterns of the breeze so the scents of flowers drift your way or toward outdoor living spaces, he says.
Bonus Flower Garden Tips
- To grow a fuller flower garden and inspire longer stems (useful for cut flowers and floral design), Benzakein suggests planting more flowers in tight spaces. It will help with weed control and increase the flowers you produce.
- For anyone growing flowers for cutting, Benzakein says, “Grow foliage and filler plants for arrangements!”
- Rectangles of flagstone around the beds will work great as long as you don’t mind them overflowing at times and aren’t concerned about the mower chopping their toes off. Donna Hackman, former garden designer Furthermore, an extensive pathway among blossom beds to diminish the quantity of strides among and garden and not cover the bloom by strolling.
- Hackman also advises selecting smaller cultivars so there is less pruning to do, and placing shrub borders through plant beds, giving your garden some structure and height year-round.
From the many ways you can lay out those flowers to the variety of flowers you may be considering, these tips will help you make the choices that will allow you to sit back and enjoy the fruits — or is it the blossoms? — of your labor on a warm afternoon.