We all dream of the perfect backyard to present when having friends or family over for the next BBQ. A flower garden is the perfect way to add colour to your garden. It is the easy way to get creative as there are no limits – let your imagination flow free! Flowers will help your garden come to life with butterflies and other insects that are beneficial for your garden and will happily move in. Once you have created the right living space. Don’t know where to begin? A little planning will come a long way – here are 5 tips that will help you begin the project you have always dreamed of!
Border edge
source: pinterest.com
The first thing you will need to consider is the edge of your garden bed. There are many ways to build an edge and which one you choose will depend on your budget, as well as the look you would like to create in your garden. It is of importance to settle the edge lower into the ground to avoid any grass from growing over and in your flower garden. While bricks are a common material to use for Lawn Edging, aluminium is another option – You can see examples here. Bricks allow plenty of room for creativity as you can get creative in their layout. You can choose to lay them out in patterns or keep it simple with straight lines. There is no limit to the height of your garden bed wall!
Choosing a location
source: pinterest.com
To give your Flowers the best chance to thrive in their environment, it is important you choose the right location in your backyard. There are many different types of plants that will have different needs, so ensure to do your research before building your new garden bed. Some plants are sensitive and can grow with minimal sun exposure while others will need a certain number of hours in the sunlight. Most flowers will thrive in full sun exposure, which means at least 6 hours of sunlight is great.
Make sure to consider surroundings when deciding what type of garden bed you build – depending on traffic and other conditions that your plants will be surrounded by, it is important to ensure protection. This will avoid any damage caused by environmental factors.
Choosing plants for the flower bed
The type of plants you choose depend completely on you – how much time are you willing to spend on maintenance? What do you already have in your garden? What colours would you like to add? Below are some examples of flowers that look beautiful all year around and are relatively easy to care for.
Sunflowers
source: pinterest.com
They will tolerate full sun exposure and are happy in most types of soil. I love these because they will attract things like butterflies – although you will want to be careful with insects, some might eat more than they add benefit.
Coneflowers
These flowers are fairly easy to take care of, as long as planted at the right time of the year. They will add beautiful shades of purple to your garden and are a wonderful option for smaller flowers.
Zinnias
Zinnias will vary in shapes and are great to add different textures to your garden.
Give the plants space
source: blogspot.com
Planting too many seeds within little to no space of each other is a common mistake when starting out with your garden – spacing them out and only using a little amount in each row will allow your flowers to grow and root properly. This will benefit slow, long term growth and prevent your plants from sprouting and then dying quickly.
Add compost and sand
Once you are ready to plant your goods, you will need soil and some nutrient dense fertiliser to help your plants thrive. Depending on the soil you have for your garden bed, compost provides the perfect base for your plants to grow. Lastly, you will want “space” in your soil so that water can drain – this can easily be achieved through adding sand to your soil. But be careful not to add too much – doing so might cause your soil to go too dense which would create the opposite effect.
Now that we have gone through the most important things to consider, you are ready to start the project you have always dreamed of!
