Getting the Most From Your Flower Garden
Flowers add a splash of color to your garden. When choosing a flowering garden spot, make sure the area gets enough sun to allow for the plant's growth and blooms.
Think about the height of the plants you would like to plant. If your flower garden is situated near your home, the largest plants must not hinder access to windows or doors.
Location
The location of the flower garden is vital as it determines what kind of flowers will thrive there. Selecting a location that has the proper conditions for sun and shade will ensure that flowers thrive. It is also important to know your USDA growing zone to avoid planting plants that will not survive in your climate.
Planting flowers with different blooming times in your garden will yield the most effective results. So, when one flower starts to fade, another type of flower will be in place to take its place. You should also incorporate various types of foliage into the garden to add color and interest even when flowers aren't blooming.
The flower garden was highly praised by nineteenth-century writers for its educational value. They believed that women should participate in gardening for fun. Fessenden declared that "flower gardening transcends class distinctions and is a great exercise for all the family." Sayers praised it as a healthy pastime as well as Elder suggested that it could remove the noxious odors of urban life.
The location of the flower garden is vital as it will affect the amount of sunlight and heat that the garden receives. Insufficient sunlight can cause the leaves of plants to burn, whereas the absence of sunlight can hinder the flowering plants from developing fully. Find a location that receives at minimum six hours of sunshine every day. It's also recommended to play with how the sun's rays hit different areas at different times of the day in order to better understand the lighting conditions that work best for your garden.
Sun/Shade
Plants can grow in the shade or the sun, depending on the amount of light they get to carry out photosynthesis. Overheated sun can kill the plant, while too little causes it to struggle to grow and flower. Because of homes gardens , many plants are marked with information about their shade or sun preferences. A tag might say "full sunlight," which means that the plant needs a lot of light to thrive. It could also say "sun part shade" or "full shade" to indicate the plant thrives in a combination of sun and shade.
A full-sun plant requires at least six hours of direct sunlight every day. This can be divided into shorter periods of sunshine that add up to the six hours. Some sun-loving plant can tolerate some shade. However, the amount of shade shouldn't be too much or it will hinder the growth and blooming.
Certain plants must be planted in full sunlight to produce flowers, such as Lilacs and the majority of roses that grow in gardens. If a lilac isn't able to produce flowers, it could be due to nearby trees having grown and are blocking it from getting the sun it needs. They also block the sun during the hottest times of the day.
The good news is that a lot of flowering plants, such as Astilbe (fuchsia) and hostas thrive in shaded or dappled conditions. Shade-loving plants are available with bright colors and long flowering seasons. They can add a splash of color to a garden that is otherwise dull. Astilbe is available in a variety of shades and hostas' leaves are available in different shades of green, in addition to gold, purple and white.
Water
The best method to maximize the value of your flower garden is to ensure that it is hydrated. Whether it's new plants that require regular watering until they grow roots, or mature flowers requiring regular, less frequent watering, keeping your blooms healthy is the key to a stunning garden. Kip McConnell director of the Southern Living Plant Collection at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Terry Ettinger, greenhouse manager for the garden center located at Montgomery Place in Stonington, Connecticut, offer their tips to simplify your watering routine and ensuring that your flowers are well-hydrated throughout the growing season.
If you can it is best to water your garden in the morning to ensure that the plants can absorb the water before the sun heats up. Doing this works with the plants' natural development cycle, allowing them to drink in the water only when they're ready for it and help them better withstand extreme heat. The watering of your plants in late afternoon or evening could cause them to become dehydrated, since sunlight causes the water to evaporate quickly.
Avoid using a sprinkler to water your garden, as this can disturb the soil's structure and lead to erosion. Instead, you should use drip irrigation, which is gentler on the soil and helps keep the runoff from becoming excessive. Additionally, you should seek out plants that do not require a lot of water to thrive. The excessive water consumption of plants can oversaturate the soil and cause root rot. Drought-tolerant plants, however are able to thrive with just a little watering.
While you are working on perfecting your garden, be sure to guard against fungal disease, like leaf spot and blight using fungicides such as Daconil Fungicide Ready-to-Use or Daconil Concentrate. This will keep your plants healthy and make your flowers will look even more stunning. Follow the instructions on the fungicide very carefully.
Fertilization
The plants require nitrogen during the growth phase of flowering. Nitrogen is needed to produce chlorophyll and leaf growth in photosynthesis. It also aids in the development of roots and assists in the development of flowers. It also assists plants to use phosphorus, which is a vital nutrient for the development of plants. Test your soil to determine whether you require a lot of phosphorus in your garden. The UMass Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory will conduct a simple soil test for you.
"When connected to country homes, where a suitable extent of land is available for it, nothing more agreeable and appealing can be incorporated than an American flower garden. The sloping shape of the ground, which it is usually formed, will not only allow the borders to be larger than those of a parterre, but will also allow for an intelligent introduction of plants."
Loudon suggests "beds that are oblong in shape that are three or four feet wide, with alleys between them two feet wide." They are more suitable for the layout of a flower garden than square ones. He suggests that beds be trimmed with a neat, box-like plants, like thrift and moss pink.
For perennial flowering plants, apply general fertilizer in early spring before the growth begins. This gives the plants an extra boost for a prolonged period of time and reduces the chance of tender new growth being destroyed by frost. If you have annuals that flower well into the fall, apply a second dose of the same amount of 6 to 8 weeks after your first application. A third application at the same rate in late summer can aid in prolonging the blooming period.
Pruning
In contrast to the vegetable garden, which carried connotations of utility, flower gardens were a display of skill and beauty that represented the wealth and social status. They also strove to establish a connection between gardening and moral behavior. As such, they became a teaching tool in the landscape. Fessenden for instance recommended that young women plant flower gardens to acquire "a tidyness and a good taste and concepts."
The flower garden was often thought of as an extension of the home space, forming a rich setting for the architecture of a house. Loudon outlined four types or kinds of flower gardens. The first, called the general or mingled flower gardens, included flowers of all kinds and sizes arranged in a loose quincunx pattern to allow taller species to rise up behind shorter ones. The second type, the natural or gardenesque flower garden, contained plants that were grouped or arranged in beds following the natural or Linnaean method.
In the third type of artificial or arranged flower gardens the flowers are placed in groups or compartments that look like an elegant parterre. The fourth kind, the secluded or secret garden, tended to be more like an interior garden in terms of design.
When planning a flower garden it was crucial to think about the arrangement of the walks and beds and their relationship to each the other. The beds should be wide enough to allow two people to walk in a straight line, and it was important to alternate the height and color of plants. It was also important to trim the plants so that they do not overcrowd or smother one another. This is best done in late Winter or early Spring to prepare the plant for Summer growth.