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How to Start a Flower Garden: In-Depth Beginner’s Guide

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by Gretchen McKenzie

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Are you wondering how to start a flower garden? No doubt, it’s a brilliant activity that fills your soul with joy, happiness, and tranquility. I constantly see on the internet that many people are completely lost when they try to start their little garden. I feel that something should be done, so I wrote this article to help beginner gardeners better navigate this wondrous activity. In this guide, I am looking at how to plant a simple flower garden and giving tips, tricks, and ideas for planting a small flower garden. No detail important for any beginner is left out!

As a rule, some preparation has to be made before one can start doing anything. The same goes for gardening. Before this point, you imagined and played with small flower gardens ideas. Now, you’ll be assessing and solving problems.

? How to Start a Flower Garden in Your Front Yard or Backyard?

how to start a flower garden infographic

I am not talking about how to start a flower garden in your backyard in general nor about the design specifics relating to the house’s side. I am referring to the site and the soil in which your flowers are going to live. Regarding the place, the amount of light your plants will be getting is critical. The smaller the amount of sunlight is, the fewer flower types you can plant in your garden.

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The quality of the soil is critical too. Is it moist? Is it fertile? Most garden soil is not very suitable for flowers, which means you’ll have to deal with this problem. You can test your soil in various laboratories to make sure whether you need to leave it as is, amend it, or even make a compromise for a flower container garden. Familiarize yourself with your garden! This is essential.

? Simple Flower Soil Garden or Flower Container Garden?

This will depend on the results of the assessment described higher in the article. You have to know what type of soil will suit the various kind of flowers. This will dictate what plants you’ll be able to grow. However, in my opinion, as there are no best flowers for a garden that will magically suit any soil, you should base your flower choice upon the desired color palette and your flower preferences. The soil can always be treated or completely avoided via the use of pots.

Whether you’re going to have container flower gardening also relies upon the specific traits of the flowers you chose. If you decided upon low maintenance garden flowers, then they can withstand bad soil conditions. The amount of garden and flower bed preparation you’ll have to do will be less. If your flowers are very susceptible to bad soil, then always look for amending soil solutions. Of course, you should know how to plant a flower pot garden, but this should be your last resort because filling your garden with container garden flowers is rarely aesthetically pleasing.

? Do Not Go on Gardening Without Knowing Your Frost Cycle!

Are you wondering how to plant a flower garden that blooms all year? Then you should know about the frost cycle. Knowing the warm and cold periods of your area is vital. Without this knowledge, your flowers will be continuously dying.

By learning the frost cycles, you will be able to smartly combine various perennials so that you would always have something blossoming in your garden. This is how to plant a year-round flower garden. Also, by knowing the frost cycles, you can outsmart nature and give your flowers a jump start by beginning growing the seeds ahead of the last frost, and then quickly replanting them into the soil after the last frost.

Before Planting a Flower Garden, Discover It!

House in the flower garden

I know, most of the tutorials say that you must start to rely on the conditions of your existing garden in the amendment of it. However, I believe such an approach is highly constricting. So, I propose to concentrate on constructing the perfect garden in your imagination first, and only then, you should look to realize your dream.

See the Garden As More Than Just Flowers Garden Beds!

Too many beginning gardeners make a severe mistake, concentrating on the question, how to plant a flower garden (with the emphasis on the plant).

This kind of attitude usually results in dull and intriguing gardens, consisting only of rows and rows of flower beds. I like flowers as much as anybody, and I am probably growing too much container garden flowers myself. However, I think that gardening should be tackled smartly and with taste.

Although I am focusing solely on the flower part of the garden in this article, I still encourage you to imagine more than just flowers. Incorporate architecture! Think of all the small passages you’ll have. Consider various garden elements. If you don’t have any ideas, browse any popular internet shop of your choice for patio décor elements. Remember to include shapes, repetition, and layers in your design!

Thinking up your small landscape first will make your future garden very tasteful and not overbearing on the eyes.

Starting a Flower Garden for Beginners: Don’t Forget Your Color Schemes

By this step, you should have some outlines of your garden. Why? Because now, you should be thinking up color schemes for your garden. Of course, color palettes are one of the most important aspects of the flower, as they define the general feel and mood of the garden. So approach this task with great care! Do you want to give off a summer feel? Then opt for bright contrasting colors, like yellow and blue, with some increments of red and orange. You could opt for one dominant color and choose only its shades. The sky is the limit here!

I highly recommend browsing the internet for some interesting color combinations ideas you can implement in your garden. Also, don’t forget about the other elements of your imaginary garden! Pretty much anything will blend with stone elements, but if you found some interesting patio chairs or tables, then you should make sure that all colors will blend well.

Here’s How to Start a Flower Garden from Scratch

Gardener planting flowers

Now that you’ve decided upon a design, flowers, and considered all of the possible aspects of gardening, you can start preparing your flower bed. Don’t you worry that I’ve started to talk about beds all of a sudden, a flower bed is an area in the ground in any garden where the soil is prepared for and has flowers.

? How to Start a Flower Bed Garden

To prepare flowers garden beds, you will have to:

  1. Remove the grass in the designated area.
  2. Till the soil.
  3. Make the soil more fertile (if needed).
  4. Create raised beds (if the existing soil can’t be treated and a new one needs to be put atop).

If you’re wondering how to plant a flower garden with mulch, then don’t sweat it! It’s rather easy, don’t forget about fertilizer too! You apply them to the ground, and they, in combination, conserve the soil moisture, improve the soil texture, and diminish weeds.

? How to Start a Flower Garden from Seeds

Planting a flower garden from seeds goes a little like this:

  1. After picking what you want to grow, buy the correct seeds.
  2. Buy seeds containers and put a seed-starting mix into them.
  3. Plant the seeds into the containers 4-6 weeks before the last frost by placing one seed in each bowl.
  4. Put containers in warm and well-lit spot.
  5. Add time-release fertilizer to the garden before transferring flowers.
  6. After the last frost, dig holes for your flowers and place plants into the holes, watering them as needed.

This covers how to plant a low maintenance flower garden. With the high maintenance flowers, I would recommend researching the web on how to make the conditions right for them.

Find Inspiration For Starting Your Garden

So, this article was my version of how to plant a flower garden for beginners. We’ve learned how to start flower gardening with only your imagination, how to prepare flower beds and fill them with plants, and how to plant container garden flowers. I described my methodology of approaching garden creation. I hope that you discovered a lot of new and interesting information with the article.

Now, I would love to hear back from you! Did you like the article? Do you want me to go over some points on this topic in more detail? For example, would you like me to expand on how to plant a flower garden in a small space? Maybe you would like to discover how to plant a container flower garden? Please let me know in the comments below!

About
Gretchen McKenzie
Hi! My name is Gretchen. I used to work as an accountant at a small Jacksonville real estate firm. I was always involved with some kind of gardening. I’ve always been learning something new and searching for effective tools to help keep down the weeds, enhance the quality of plants and generally improve the efficiency of my garden. Read more about me and my husband.
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2 thoughts on “How to Start a Flower Garden: In-Depth Beginner’s Guide”

  1. My mom has been thinking about growing a flower garden because she would really like to have something to do. I liked what you said about how they can start a flower bed garden. Getting some help from a professional could allow them to be more effective.

    Reply
  2. Loosening the soil in new beds before sowing or planting helps roots to grow more easily and access the water and nutrients they need.

    Reply

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