How to Grow Flower Gardens
March 26th, 2015
For most people, flowers are the definition of a garden. Whatever be your level of experience, you can create beautiful blooms in your garden.
You only have to take care of the following basics to create a flower garden:
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Sunlight is crucial: Growing a flower needs a lot of energy and the entire energy of a plant comes from the sun. As such for a flower garden, the plants require exposure to sunlight 6-8 hours a day, throughout the growth season.
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Good soil: Neither too sticky nor sandy, the soil must contain sufficient organic matter to drain well and suit the insertion of roots of flowering plants. The pH and fertility of your soil must be tested.
Differences between annuals and perennials:
There are basically two types of flowering plants- Annuals and Perennials
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Annuals- They complete their whole lifecycle in a single growing season, sprouting from seeds, growing roots, leaves, flowers, creating fresh seeds and then die away. They are popular even though they require more care.
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Perennials: Are plants in which root systems stay alive, underground for many years, even decades. The external part of the plant including flowers may die and lie dormant in winter but will sprout again in the spring season. The catch is that the flowers of perennials only bloom for some weeks or months. How long they bloom differs between species.
Other differences:
- Which is best?
Both annuals and perennials are suitable for gardens. Annuals are good for locations where you need a profusion of flowers. But they require more care and maintenance like watering, fertilizing, etc and re-planting them every year is a tiresome chore. On the other hand, perennials provide steady form and structure to a garden. Gardeners wait with great anticipation for their blooming season. They require less care than the annuals.
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Short term Vs Long term: If you plant perennials, it may take a year for them to bloom, but it is a long term investment for several years. Annuals are ideal if you want blooms as soon as possible. But often, there is no conflict of choice; gardeners combine perennials with annuals in their garden.
- Combining both: Annuals allow you to change the look of your garden, year to year. A garden which has a backbone of perennial plants gets wonderful accents from annual flowers. You can combine s annuals with perennials in a common pot or plot if their needs are compatible.
- Plants or seeds? Both the types can be grown by using seeds, but the time period of blooming differs from a few weeks for annuals and almost a year for perennials. Some prefer buying plants that are already sprouted.
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Maintenance cost: The annual flowers are more demanding in terms of watering and fertilizing. The plants also require sunlight as well as regular pruning- getting rid of decaying flower heads. But Perennials are not completely care free; it depends on the climate, soil and species of plants. They may need some watering and fertilizing, but not as much as annuals.
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Sunlight: Typically, the less sunlight a plant gets, the less blooms it produces. In shade, plants may sprout leaves but fewer flowers. Search for species of annuals and perennials which grow with 6-8 hours of sunlight a day. Read instructions carefully before planting flowering plants.
These are some of the considerations while creating a small flower garden. If you wish to share some of the flowers in your garden, look for the best flower delivery. Anyone will love fresh flowers from the garden.