Let’s Talk About Flower Gardens
When many people hear the word “garden,” the image that immediately pops into their heads is an arrangement of brilliantly colored flowers. These flowers may differ in terms of their types, textures, sizes, and patterns of growth, but they are arranged and cared for in such a way that they give maximum pleasure to all of the senses that a garden delights.
Whether they are large or tiny, straightforward or intricate, flower gardens may bring a lot of pleasure into your life. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a modest container garden on a balcony or a concealed dining area built up in the woods; odors, colors, forms, and textures all play a part in the process of creating a beautiful location that you can enjoy.
Types of Flower Gardens
However, garden effects may be produced in a variety of different ways. There are both formal and informal gardens, and both types of gardens may benefit from the added benefits that blooming shrubs, evergreens, trees, or vines can give. These gardens might be very large or quite little, adjacent to the home or quite far away, and at any location in between.
One definition of a flower garden is a small, private collection of blooming plants, sometimes arranged in such a way as to highlight an important piece of sculpture. It is possible to have it open to the public so that neighbors and those walking by may appreciate its beauty, or it may be a private hideaway that is hidden from view by walls, fences, or plants.
Blooming Plants Selection
Perennials, annuals, and bulbs and tubers are the three primary categories of blooming plants that are used in the construction of flower gardens. A perennial plant is one whose roots continue to exist from one year to the next, and which typically sends forth new growth above ground in the spring. Some perennials exist for a much longer period of time than others; the peony is an example of a perennial that will last many generations. Others, such as the volatile delphinium, only exist for a brief period of time.
An annual plant, of which the petunia is a well-known example, lives for just one growing season, beginning its life as a seed in the spring, producing flowers in the summer, and eventually withering away in the autumn. Some annuals, such as the snapdragon, may act like perennials in temperate climates and throughout mild winters in colder regions. This allows their roots to survive, which results in the second-year plants being more bushier and more abundant in their flower output.
The number of plants that belong to the category known as biennials, which are grown from seed, is far lower than that of both perennials and annuals. They have a lifespan of two years, during the first of which they form roots and produce leafy growth above ground. The next year, they will produce blossoms, and then they will slowly pass away. The pansy, the hollyhock, and the foxglove are three of the most well-liked biennial flowers. Again, one can’t be too rigorous in defining their development patterns; similar to the snapdragon, they may have more of a perpetual habit under specific conditions. For example, certain biennials may survive an additional year or so beyond the typical length of their two-year growth cycle.
When you have a knowledge of the numerous types of plants that comprise a flower garden, you can rationally go to the next phase, which is to decide what type of flower garden you want to have. Once you have this understanding, you may advance with the following step.
Cheap Flower Garden Ideas
There are a few different approaches one may use in order to create a beautiful flower garden without having to spend an excessive amount of money. If the soil in your yard is in bad condition, you may attempt to improve it by mixing in grass clippings, well-chopped dead leaves from your yard, and horse manure that you can get for free from a nearby farm. A word of caution: if you want to gather grass clippings from neighbors, you should first check to see whether or not they have used a “broad leaf herbicide” on their lawns. In contrast to grasses, the “wide leaf” plants are the kind of flowers that you will want to cultivate in your yard. Therefore, the flower garden that you have will be unable to benefit from the herbicide that works so well on the grass since it will stop any blooming plants from growing or prospering there.
There are many different methods available to get flowers for cheap or no cost. Bare root plants may often be purchased from catalogs and websites for far less money than the cost of a fully developed plant. If you have a friend or neighbor who grows plants, you may ask them for cuttings of ivy, forsythia, honeysuckle, lavender, or any other kind of plant. The purchase of seed packets is yet another low-cost option for cultivating lovely flowers. In most cases, the price of a seed package of coneflowers is far cheaper than the cost of a single fully developed plant.
When shopping, you’ll find that annuals are often less costly than their perennial counterparts. Perennials, on the other hand, will continue to grow in the same location year after year, making them the more cost-effective option in the long run. Waiting until the end of summer to purchase perennials is one strategy for cutting costs. The costs will be more affordable, and you won’t miss any planting time by doing it in the autumn rather than the spring. If the rootstock is strong enough to survive the winter, the plants should develop and blossom the following year. This is assuming, of course, that the rootstock was healthy enough to survive the previous year.
Fall Flower Gardens
The spring and early summer months are often the times of the year when most people think about flower planting. On the other hand, autumn is a great time to plant perennials, particularly those that will bloom the following year. It’s also a fantastic time for flowers that bloom in the autumn, including hydrangeas and asters. In addition, autumn is often the time when tulip and daffodil bulbs, in addition to a wide variety of other bulbs, are available in gardening shops.
Use the bottom half of a huge wine barrel and fill it with high-quality soil to create a simple autumn garden. Ivy should be planted around the inside rim of the barrel in such a way that it will trail down the side of the container (see our tips for planting container gardens). Then, just within the rim of the barrel, plant a variety of blooming cabbages and kale. Adjust the angle of the plants so that they hang over the edge of the barrel and display their blossoms in a manner that is not limited to the vertical plane. Up the end, fill in the space with perennial mums of varying heights and hues. If you want to incorporate a pumpkin or a few colorful gourds, all you have to do is set them on the ground so that they are leaning against the barrel.
Your usual flower garden may also benefit from the addition of plants that bloom in the autumn, such as mums, asters, and fake sunflowers. These will continue to provide life and color to the garden long after the summer blossoms have passed.
Shade Garden Ideas
Shade gardens were traditionally made up of little more than a ring of plain green hostas that were planted around a tree. Today, there is a much greater variety of options accessible for shady regions. To begin, hostas themselves have undergone significant transformations. They are now available in a variety of colors, including blue, white, yellow, and, of course, green. Hostas are available in a wide range of sizes, and their appeal is enhanced when a variety of leaf shapes, colors, and textures are combined.
Flowers such as Lenten roses, astilbes, ferns, coral bells, and even certain varieties of lilies thrive in gloomy areas such as beneath trees or other overhanging vegetation. The attractiveness of the foliage, in addition to the blooms, is something to take into consideration. For instance, the leaves of coral bells may be any one of a number of colors, including green, blue, pink, and orange.
There are a variety of annual plants, in addition to the perennials, that thrive in the shadow. The easy-to-care-for plant known as impatiens is quite popular. A hanging basket may be hung from a limb of a tree and used to cultivate fuchsia, which produces colorful blooms. Coleus is a plant that thrives in either full sun or moderate shade and has leaves that may be any color of purple, pink, red, green, or even black.
You may grow a flower garden anywhere—in a sunny spot, a shaded corner, a vast yard, or even a little balcony—to give yourself something beautiful to look at and enjoy. Why not get started right away?
