For the Love of Flowers

Flowers create an atmosphere of beauty wherever they bloom. My first attempts at becoming a green thumb weren’t always successful. As with most things, the more you practice the better you become. Nothing makes you feel closer to nature than digging in the soil. I love flowers and when they open in all their glory, you can take pride in the splendor.

This year we had a lot of rainfall. The weeds grew so fast in a new area of my garden I had to do something to stop them from overtaking my plants. Regrettably, it was at the expense of my husband’s tattered cardboard figure of Dale Earnhardt. I’m glad he had a sense of humor for my approach to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Tips on Growing Flowers

1. Find out what type of soil you have by figuring out the percentages of silt, sand and clay. “Today’s Homeowner” has step-by-step directions for this process. Some plants need specific types of soil to grow and you may need to add nutrients for them to survive.
2. Know your planting zone to be sure your flowers flourish. If the zone is a variation of only one, sometimes mulching or covering up for the winter will be adequate for the plant to survive. You can check your zone by your zip code on the “USDA” website.
3. To cut down on the weeds invading your flowers use a preventive such as Preen. Additionally, peat moss works well to keep the soil moist and add acidity to the dirt. Mulch is another good way to cut down on weed growth.
4. Take care of garden pests as soon as possible. Remember that some bugs are helpful in controlling other harmful pests. Remove larger pests by hand without the use of any chemicals. Keeping your garden weeded protects your plants along with selecting disease resistant plants.
5. When you’re ready to plant, plan your garden on paper. Try grouping the same plants together in odd numbers of three, five or seven. If your garden is large, do the same groupings together in several areas. Be sure to vary the placement of the plants so they are not all the same. Having the plants not in the same design shape will make it appear natural. Keep in mind the placement of your plants so there is a blooming succession of color fluctuating throughout your garden.
6. Choosing which colors should be next to each other in your garden goes back to the thinking about the twelve pure hues on the color wheel from art class. Complementary colors, those opposite on the wheel, will be bold and exciting visually. Analogous colors, ones that are side by side on the wheel, make a peacefully pleasing scene. Additionally, whites and pastels will look better in shaded areas than darker colors.
7. When starting a new garden, cover the ground with cardboard or newspapers. It will break down and provide good brown elements for your soil and the material underneath will decompose. Spread dirt over the papers and you’re ready to start planting. I’ve used this process on an area of a lawn to create a new garden and it works well.
8. Bulbs should be at a depth of 2 ½ times more than the diameter of the bulb. If your soil is heavy or light, then the bottom of the bulbs planted are either shallower or deeper respectively. Be sure to note which bulbs need digging out before winter if you’d like them to flower again next season.
9. Use compost yearly to replace nutrients into the soil your plants have used for growing. Either purchase the compost or you can make your own from green and brown elements. The website at “Planet Natural” will give you a lot of information on home composting.
10. Share flowers with your friends. Divide perennials when the plant is at its fullest and healthiest. This will ensure the new plant will grow well. I like to divide plants at the end of the season in cooler weather.

Prairie Flowers

Next year my plan is to create a prairie garden to attract wildlife, birds, and butterflies. These are natural gardens made up of roughly sixty percent grasses and the remaining are native prairie flowers. The design is similar to a regular garden in the grouping, placement and color masses. Choosing the right plants depend upon the condition of the soil whether it is dry, medium or moist.

The good news for a natural established garden is it should be minimal maintenance. This is due to grasses having a shallow root system, which will help choke out the weeds. An added benefit of grasses are in the fall and winter, they’ll be showy when all the other blooms have faded away. Another technique to keep the weeds from popping up is non-evasive ground cover.

I’d love to hear if you have any added tips for planting and maintaining flowers.