Growing a garden full of fresh, lovely flowers is an enjoyable experience if you don’t mind getting down and dirty. Sure, it’s easy to go out and buy a potted plant or a bouquet for the table, but you won’t get the same sense of wonderment, pride and joy as you do from growing your own. Garden guides will tell you that the first step to creating a successful garden is to look at your space and determine how much garden you can muster. Many homeowners will go with a front yard display to improve the look of the house, while more zealous gardeners will spread the joy into their backyards too. If you live in a condo, townhouse or apartment, you can still experiment with patio and windowsill gardens.
Those with little gardening experience will often opt to transplant annuals that have already been grown at a nursery. This is a quick-fix garden for the front yard if you’re hurrying to catch up with the neighbors. You may also try container gardening from seed as an experiment. Once the containers fill with blooms, you can bring them out to the front yard. Some people garden rather extensively with containers and place them all next to one another, so you see a full garden, rather than the individual pots. Petunias, marigolds, begonias, geraniums, impatiens, pansies, petunias and salvia are popular varieties. A good place to start is at www.backyardgardener.com/annual/index.html, where you can learn which annuals will endure in cold weather, endure in heat, grow in poor soil, have a short bloom season, can be sown in the fall and are best for your soil type.
Some people enjoy growing a garden that will magically come back each year, without replanting. This is called a perennial garden. You can gather more information and perennial flower gardening tips at www.backyardgardener.com/pren/index.html. You’ll learn about perennials for backgrounds, for edging, for hardy environments, for long blooming seasons, for old-fashioned gardens and for semi-shade gardens. Some popular perennials include peonies, bleeding hearts, columbine, daffodils, crocuses, irises, asters, chrysanthemums, daisies, violets and black eyed Susan. You’ll need to pay special attention to color, height and bloom period are all equally important when dealing with perennials.
A gardening expert will tell you that soil preparation is the most important part of growing a garden successfully. Without the proper nutrients, aeration and soil composition, your flowers will surely flop. Each flower has different soil requirements, whether it is acidic or alkaline, so it’s best to test your soil before you begin so you know what you’re dealing with. For instance, marigolds, verbenas and calliopsis will tolerate acidic soils, whereas impatiens, zinnias, nasturtiums and candytufts prefer a more neutral, alkaline soil. To ensure that your soil drains well, you will need to assess whether your soil is composed of clay, sand or loam. You’ll need to add a mixture of compost and manure to your soil, working it down about 4 inches to create a healthy ecosystem for your plants and their beneficial microorganism pals.
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