How to Create a Flower Garden from Scratch

Posted on 13/01/2016

If you are a huge fan of flowers and enjoy the looks and smells they bring to your home, it is worth it to consider starting your own flower garden. Gardening is truly a great activity that will keep you occupied when you have nothing else to do. The best part of it is that when you have decided to start a flower garden, you will very soon be rewarded with the beautiful fruits of it.

You may be completely inexperienced and new to gardening, but there is one thing you should know: it really doesn’t take much to get started. Garden care and maintenance is not something that requires a ton of skills and tools. Anyone with enough free space in their backyard can do it. Look into the following tips if you want to learn how to start your very own flower garden:

- Decide what you want to plant - it all starts with an idea. After all, you cannot just randomly pick flower seeds and start planting them. You need to have a vision of what you want to achieve and what you want your garden to look like. Apart from what flowers you want to grow, you need to decide on how big your garden will be and which part of your backyard it will occupy. While it is true that you may easily get lost in dreams of having a huge garden, it is a good idea to start off small, especially if you are not an expert gardener.

- Pick the location - one of the most important factors for choosing a location for your flower garden is how many hours a day the place is exposed to sunlight. Keep in mind that most flowers require at least six hours of unobstructed sunlight every day. In order to determine if your chosen location receives enough sun, spend a day in your garden and observe how the light moves. Additionally, you want to have your garden near a water source so that you can easily care for your flowers. Last, you may want to display your garden - after all, nothing looks more beautiful than a well maintained flower lot.

- Clear space for your garden - what you have to do next is to get rid of the sod that is covering the area of your choosing. Digging the sod out is the fastest way of getting the area ready for your future gardening efforts.   

- Add organic matter - to boost the soil of your garden, you can add some organic matter. Adding a layer of decayed leaves, old manure or dry grass clippings is great for making your soil rich in nutrients. That way your gardening efforts will be easily rewarded as your flowers grow fast and strong.

- Dig the soil - in order to loosen the soil and allow for easy root penetration, you may want to dig it. The trick is to do this when it is not too wet and not too dry. You will know the conditions are ideal for digging when you can form a ball in your hands, but that ball falls apart when you drop it. If you want to feature annual flowers, you should turn the soil once a year, usually in spring. For perennial flowers, you need to consider double-digging. In essence, double-digging means removing the top 10 inches of soil, adding organic matter to the newly exposed layer of soil and replacing the top layer of soil. While this gardening procedure may seem complicated, it is necessary as it can make a huge difference.

- Choose your flowers and plant them - pick flowers that are well suited for your climate. There are many types of flowers that are easy to grow, but the best way to go about this is to pick what you like. Your gardening care will feel that much more rewarding if you get the flowers you want.

- Water your flowers - seedlings and transplants require constant watering. Once they get larger, you have to determine how often you water is mostly based on your soil and climate. If the weather is hot, you have to consider watering in the morning so that the water doesn’t dry out quickly. Consider adding mulch to keep the water in.

- Be on the lookout for weeds and diseases - apart from watering, your garden care should include dealing with weeds before they grow and inspecting your flowers for diseases. Remember to deal with problems before they escalate.

Starting your own flower garden is not that difficult. All you need is some free space in your yard, some basic tools and to follow these tips in order to get started. Soon enough you will be able to pick beautiful flowers from your very own garden.