Notes

It's Time To Upgrade Your Flower Garden Options
Getting the Most From Your Flower Garden

Flowers add a splash of color to your garden. When choosing a flowering garden site, ensure that the location is able to receive enough sunlight to sustain the plants' growth and blooms.

Think about the height of the plants you want to plant. If your flower garden borders your home, the highest plants must not hinder access to windows or doors.

Location

The location of a flower garden is important because it determines the kind of flowers that will grow there. The proper combination of sun and shade will allow the flowers to thrive. It is also important to know your USDA growing zone to avoid planting plants that are not able to survive in your climate.

Planting flowers that bloom at different times in your garden will yield the best results. So, when one type of flower begins to fade, a different kind of flower will be ready to take its place. raised garden beds is also important to incorporate different kinds of foliage in your garden to provide color and interest even when flowers aren't blooming.

Nineteenth-century treatise writers praised the didactic value of the flower garden, suggesting that tending a flower garden was a perfect option for women to engage in. Fessenden declared that "flower gardening transcends class and is a wonderful exercise for the entire family." Sayers praised it as a healthy hobby, while Elder suggested that it could help eliminate noxious vapors from urban life.

raised garden beds of the flower garden is important as it will affect the amount of sunlight and heat that the garden gets. A lot of sun can cause the leaves of plants to burn, whereas the absence of sunlight can hinder the blooms from fully developing. Find a location that receives at minimum six hours of sunshine each day. It's also recommended to play with the way that the sun hits different locations at different times of the day to understand the lighting conditions that work best for your garden.

Sun/Shade

Plants thrive in the sun or the shade, dependent on the amount of light they get to photosynthesis. Too much sun can overheat the plant, while too little causes it to struggle to grow and bloom. Many plants are marked to indicate their sun/shade preference. A tag could read "full sunlight," which means that the plant requires a lot of sunlight to thrive. It could also say "sun part shade" or "full shade" to indicate the plant is thriving in a mixture of sun and shade.

A full-sun plant needs at least six hours of direct sunlight every day. This can be divided into shorter periods of sunshine that add up to six hours. Certain sun-loving plants can withstand some shade. However, the amount of shade shouldn't be too high or it will hinder growth and blooming.

Some plants, like the garden roses, lilacs, or even most require full sun to bloom. If a lilac does not produce flowers, it could be due to nearby trees having been growing and are preventing it from getting the sun it requires. They can also block out sunlight in the hottest hours of the day.

Many flowering plants, like hostas and astilbes (fuchsias) thrive in shaded or dappled conditions. Some shade-lovers feature bright colors and long blooming seasons that can bring an enormous amount of interest to a garden that could otherwise be dull. Astilbe is available in a variety of colors, and hostas' leaves are available in different shades of green, in addition to gold, purple, and white.

Water

Keep your flower garden hydrated to get the best results. Keep your flowers healthy by regularly watering them regardless of whether they're new plants that require daily watering to establish roots, or mature flowers that require less frequent watering. Kip McConnell is the director of the Southern Living Plant Collection, which is part of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Terry Ettinger is the greenhouse manager at Montgomery Place, a garden center located in Stonington, Connecticut. They share their tips on how to streamline your watering schedule to keep your flowers healthy throughout the season of growth.

Water your garden early in the morning, whenever possible, so that the plants are able to absorb the water before it becomes hot. Doing this works with the plants' natural growth cycle, allowing them to drink in the moisture when they're ready for it and help them better stand up to extreme temperatures. The watering of your plants in late afternoon or evening can actually dehydrate them, as sunlight will cause the water to evaporate rapidly.

Avoid using a sprinkler to water your garden, as this can disturb the soil's structure and lead to erosion. Use a drip irrigation system instead, which is less harsh to the soil and helps prevent excessive runoff. Find plants that do not require a large amount of water to thrive. Water-hogging plants can over-saturate the soil and cause root rot while drought-tolerant plants do well with only a little watering.

As you work to perfect your garden, make sure to protect it from fungal disease, like leaf spot and blight, using fungicides such as Daconil Fungicide Ready-to-Use and Daconil Concentrate. This will keep the plants healthy and make the flowers will be more beautiful. Follow the directions on the fungicide carefully.


Fertilization

Plants require nitrogen during the growth phase of flowering. Nitrogen is required for the production of chlorophyll as well as the growth of leaves during photosynthesis. It also aids in the development of roots and flowers. It also aids plants in using phosphorus, a nutrient that is essential for plant growth. The best way to know whether your garden requires a high level of phosphorus is by having the soil tested. The UMass Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory will perform a simple soil test for you.

If it is attached to country homes, in which the proper amount of space can be carved out for it, there is nothing more appealing and inviting than an American flower-garden. The sloping form of the ground, by which it is generally formed, will not only allow the borders to be more than the borders of a parterre but will admit of a judicious introduction of shrubs."

Loudon recommends beds "of oval shape with a width of three or four feet wide, and the alleys that are in between, two feet wide." These are more suitable for laying out the flower garden than square ones. He suggests that the beds are trimmed with boxes or cute dwarfs, such as thrift or moss pink.

For perennial flowering plants, apply a general fertilizer in early spring before the growth begins. This will give the plants an extra boost for a longer time, and reduce the possibility that the tender growth will be killed by frost. If you have annuals that bloom throughout the fall, apply another dose of the same amount 6 to 8 weeks after the first application. A third application at the same rate in the latter part of summer can aid in prolonging the blooming season.

Pruning

Unlike the vegetable garden, that was associated with utility flowers were a symbol of beauty and skill that signified wealth and social status. They also tried to establish a link between the garden and moral conduct. They also became a landscaping feature that was didactic. Fessenden for instance recommended that young women plant flower gardens in order to learn "a neatness and a proper taste and concepts."

The flower garden was often considered to be an extension of the domestic space, creating a lush backdrop for the design of a house. Loudon outlined four types or classes of flower gardens. The first, the general or mingled flower garden comprised flowers of all varieties and sizes arranged in a loose, quincunx-like pattern to allow taller species to rise up behind shorter ones. The second type of garden, which is the natural flower garden, contained plants that were grouped or arranged in beds following the natural or Linnaean method.

In the third type, the artificial or arranged flower gardens the flowers were arranged in more regular compartments or clumps that resembled an elegant parterre. The fourth kind of garden, the secret or secluded garden, is more like an indoor one in terms of design.

When setting up a flower garden it was crucial to consider the arrangement of the beds and walks and their relation to one and each other. The beds should ideally be wide enough to allow two people to walk together and it was essential to alternate the height and color of the plants. It is also important to trim the plants so that they don't overcrowd each other or choke. This should be done in late Winter or early Spring, to prepare the plant for summer growth.

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