Need a few tips on flower gardening? Every flower gardener wants to grow the best, most beautiful flower garden. Healthy plants give the best performance and the most flowers with the least work. Follow these five proven tips to flower gardening and watch your flower garden grow and bloom!
Plant smart. Plant sun loving flowers in a sunny location, shade loving flowers in a shady location. If you are a beginner, start with easy to grow annuals such as marigolds, salvia or petunias for sun, try impatiens for shade. Or, plant a few easy perennials. Space the plants to allow for their mature size.
Good soil means good roots. Your flowering plants need healthy roots to support and nourish the stems, foliage and flowers. Loosen the soil down about six inches for annuals, ten to twelve inches for perennials. Mix in organic matter such as compost. Check the pH to see if you need to add lime or sulfur to adjust the pH. The time to remove weeds is before you plant.
Organic mulch such as shredded bark, half finished compost, or chopped autumn leaves benefits the flower garden in many ways. Mulch helps hold down weeds. It moderates soil temperature changes. And it helps the soil stay more evenly moist so you water less. Mulch is your best time saver in the flower garden.
Ideally, gardeners should run basic soil tests to see if they need to fertilize and how much. But as a rule of thumb, you can use a general purpose granular fertilizer or a slow release granular fertilizer with an analysis of 10-10-10 (the three numbers on the label) or similar. Read and follow the label directions for how much to use. Never use more than the amount on the label. Over-fertilized plants are more prone to pests and diseases; if in doubt, use less.
Most flowers prefer soil that is evenly moist yet well drained. This means damp like a wrung out sponge, not sopping wet and not dried out. It is better to water less often — but water deeply. To know if you need to water, dig into the soil with your finger. If it is still damp, don’t water yet. When you do water, apply it slowly and thoroughly. To be effective, the water must soak down to the deepest roots. After watering, wait a few hours and then dig down to see how far it went. Sometimes this is surprising!
Remove faded flowers and discolored foliage promptly to keep your plants looking their best. Monitor your flowers regularly so you can catch any pest or disease problem early, before it develops into something too serious.
Follow the above tips to grow a healthy, beautiful flower garden overflowing with buds and blooms of all kinds all season long. If you found this helpful, you may also like Flower Garden Basics.
All Flower Gardens Articles So Far
All My Flower Gardens Blogs So Far
Most homeowners have probably spent hours looking at the different types of garden seeders. You may have even come across…
When it comes to vehicle lovers, cleaning their cars on a regular basis is essential to maintaining the paint job's…
Gas chainsaws are the perfect tool for a variety of outdoor tasks, including chopping up logs for firewood, clearing brush…
A home can be a daunting project, one that takes some time and energy to maintain. With hard work, determination,…
Today ginger is grown all over tropical and subtropical regions in Asia, in parts of Africa and South America, and…
Onions are one of the most popular vegetables in the world, and growing onions is a snap in the home…