Designing Your Flower Garden
To have a garden of incredible beauty, you have to start with a good design. The choice of plants, placement and care of them depends on how well the space is planned. Plant and design a flower garden that will deliver the results you’ve always dreamed of. It will be well worth the effort.
The most important factors are your hardiness zone and the sunlight conditions. It’s possible to use perennials that are outside of your zone, but they should be considered annuals and won’t last more than one season. Whether you have dug the garden out yet or not, make a note of where the sun shines in the yard, especially which areas get full sun and which are shady all day long.
Before you decide which flowers to put where, consider the type of garden you enjoy. Is it whimsical English country gardens or ordered Japanese types? Will you want all of the plants to be spaced well or can they grow into each other with abandon? How about a purpose? Would you like to include herbs for smell and culinary use? Or are you hoping to attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife? Decide what the overall goal and feel is that you are looking to achieve.
Plant size makes a big difference when learning how to design a flower garden. When you’re starting a bed from scratch, you may be tempted to fill every spot in an effort to have maximum impact in the first season. This will backfire and cause you much more work in the end. Space out your perennials following the instructions on the plant tags and fill in the gaps with annuals. You’ll have color and beauty for the first year and leave your perennials plenty of room to grow into their spot next season.
Normally you plant taller types of flowers in the middle of floating beds and against the back of border gardens. Shorter, smaller species fill up the area to the edge of the beds. Why not shake that rule up a little as you open the season? Try planting spring bloomers like bulbs or violets near the middle or at the back. They will be beautiful as the other plants just wake up and then the dying foliage will be covered later on. Experiment and see what works for your space.
Most gardeners aim for a three season show, with something blooming from April to October and even into November if possible. Choose your plantings with bloom time in mind and group flowers that will follow each other together. Spring bulbs like tulips and daffodils are covered well by daisies, perennial geraniums and other summer bloomers. Then aim for those late fall bulbs or colder weather bloomers, such as the obedient plant or English asters.
Butterflies are attracted to bright, open face blooms like daisies and Echinacea. Hummingbirds go for the elongated, trumpet-shaped blossoms, especially in bright red colors. Scatter these flowers throughout your garden in the proper spots to bring these fanciful visitors to your home.
To plant the flower bed you’ve always wanted, be sure you take the time to properly design a flower garden. You won’t be disappointed with the results.
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