Making a flower garden takes time, effort and practice. It requires thorough planning before the planting part even begins. If you want to create your own garden flower, but don’t know how or where to start, don’t worry. Follow this guideline and check out natural dwellers, soon you’ll be able to enjoy sunny days in your own flower garden.

Getting the Ground Ready

Before you get to gardening, there is something very important you need to do. You need to prepare the ground. These tips will help you prepare the ground as best as possible. 


Check the light levels

Firstly, you need to check the light levels. Even though you might already have an idea of where you want to place your flowers, you can’t just begin planting without any plan. You need to make sure that all of your plants will be getting the right amount of light. That is why making an arrangement in advance is very important.

Try to observe your garden throughout the day, checking to see from which sides the light hits the most. See which parts are getting the most light throughout the day and which are partially shaded. Making a chart of these areas can be very helpful to determine where to place your plants. Plants like azaleas need full sunlight, so place them in an area that gets a good amount of sunlight.


You also need to ensure that there is enough space between your plants so that you can perform maintenance such as deadheading and separating flowers. Leaving space between them will make it easier for you to access them.

You need to take baby steps when you’re building your garden. Start with something small like placing small flower beds around your garden.

You want to place your garden in a very noticeable area. Placing it somewhere within your reach will make it easier for you to take care of your plants and keep the regular maintenance. Don’t put your garden in some faraway corner that you will keep forgetting to check regularly. 

Remove the grass if you have any


Another thing you need to do before planting the flowers is to remove the grass. In order to give your flowers room to grow and thrive you need to clear up some space first. All you need is a shovel. Use it to get under the grass and roots and dig it out by pulling out the top layer of grass.

There is, however, one slightly easier way to do it too. You need to place layers of cardboard all over the area you plan to use. Then, you need to cover the top of the cardboard with a layer of compost. Make sure that the soil covering is at least 3 inches thick. Lastly, just leave the covering on the ground and give it about four months and the sod will die off eventually.

Till the soil

The next thing you need to do is to till up the soil. You need to make a loose and crumbly consistency that you will be able to use for planting. In addition to that, this will also help you kill any weeds that are starting to grow. Make sure you also break up any clods with a rake. In case you stumble upon some rocks that are in the way, remove them. Then, smooth out the top level of the soil. 


Make your soil more fertile

In order to make your soil suitable for your plants, you first need to enrich it and make it more fertile. All you need to do is add a little bit of compost, shredded leaves, or peat moss into about 6 inches at the top. Any organic material will do the job. You can also opt for using all manure.

Leave the organic layer at the top, in case you can't dig into the soil and give it a few months. After a while, it will get merged and become a part of the soil.

Create raised beds in difficult soil

Lastly, you need to be prepared for complications. Your soil might turn out to be difficult to work with. In that case, you need to create a raised bed. Raised beds are particularly beneficial for soil areas that are high in clay content. This also works well for soils that are extra rocky or sandy. Simply get a kit from a local garden store and you're ready to make your own raised garden, and then fill it with soil.

Obtaining Flowers

Once you’re done prepping the ground you are ready to move on to the next stage. The next thing you need to do is to obtain the flowers you want to use for your flower garden. 

Pick what you want to grow


You first need to think about what you want to grow. You need to consider how much shade and light the plants you are getting will need. If your garden is mostly in a shaded area, you need to find the type of flowers that are able to thrive in those kinds of conditions.

Another thing you need to consider is the amount of time and work you are able to put into maintaining your flower garden. If you don’t have much time to dedicate to them, you should get some flowers that are easy to maintain. Depending on what you want, you can choose annuals, high-maintenance flowers that you need to plant each year, or you could go for perennials.

You also need to make sure that the flowers you are picking are suitable and zoned for your area. You can either look up your zone on the Internet or you can even ask about it at your local nursery.

Some of the perennials you can try to grow are pansies, daylilies, lamb's-ears, black-eyed Susans, Russian sage, and roses. When it comes to annuals you can choose from zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, and sunflowers. However, you don’t have to strictly choose just one or the other. You can mix and match perennials and annuals to get the best of both worlds.


Buy seeds or flowers

The easiest way to get flowers is to buy them from a nursery, farmer's market, or a local garden store. Try to find healthy plants with a lot of leaf growth. However, you can also choose to grow flowers on your own. In that case, you can purchase seeds from a garden centre or you can even find them online.

Find containers for seeds


If you choose to buy seeds, you need to find containers for them. One simple way to start them is by using a cell flat that has individual spaces for plants. You need to have your plants separated to prevent the roots from intertwining. You could also choose to go for other individual containers or use a simple cardboard egg carton to start your seeds. Just make sure that whatever container you end up using has a hole in the bottom so that water can drain out. Some containers should be placed into the ground along with the plant since they are biodegradable.

Place a seed-starting mixture in the containers

Then, you need to put the seed-starting mixture in. Seed-starting containers rarely contain any soil and drain well. They also don't contain weed seeds that could get mixed up and grow along with the plant. Potting soil is also a good choice, but it might not be as successful as other mixtures.

Plant the seeds inside two to three weeks before the last frost


The time of planting depends on the plant itself. That information can often be found on the package of the seeds but you can also look it up online. You should usually plant your flowers two or three weeks before the last frost in your area. However, you should never plant them too early. There may be a risk of your plants outgrowing their containers before you even get a chance to move them outside. 


Place one seed in each container

You need to follow the directions for planting the seeds. In most cases, you will need to plant a single seed per container. You should be planting seeds at a depth four times the width of the seed you are planting. Smaller seeds will have to be placed closer to the surface while bigger ones will have to be planted deeper.

The easiest way to keep track is to label the seeds and keep the soil moist at all times. That will help your plants grow.

Find a warm spot with good lighting

The last part you need to take care of is finding a warm spot. People tend to make a mistake by growing their plants on the windowsills. The reason why this isn't the best location is that the temperature tends to vary from cold to hot really fast. This can be very damaging to the plants.

You need to find a warm spot that is free from drafts. You can also choose to place a grow light for the plants to stimulate their growth. A heating pad is a great solution too. It gets placed under the containers and it keeps the seeds warmer.


Planting Your Flowers


Last but not least, we come to the planting part. This is where you start taking care of your plants and help them grow into healthy flowers.

Add some time-release fertilizer

When you're getting the garden ready you need to add some time-release fertilizer to the flower bed too. The instructions on the back of the package will let you know how much you need to use.
Plant the flowers outside after the last frost

Once the last frost has passed, you need to plant your flowers outside. If you plant your flowers too early you will most likely lose them. To make sure you know approximately when the time last frost will occur is, you can check this information with the local gardening store or your local cooperative extension. 

Dig holes for your flowers

When you take the flowers from the containers make sure the roots are properly separated. Then, dig some holes that are large enough for both the soil and roots for your plants.

Place the plants in the ground

Gently place your plants into the holes you just dugout. Then, fill the space around the plants with some soil and make the level even. Pat the soil down and water the area around the plant. Make sure you are following the instructions for every plant type you have to know how far you need to space them out. 

Water as needed


With most new flowers, you’ll need to water them every day or every other day. In case you’re afraid you’re going to miss out on watering them regularly, you can always invest in a high-quality sprinkler that will be doing the job for you. 

Compost

Composting is very important. It contains all the nutrients your plants need. You can buy it or learn how to make compost on your own. You will need any food waste or yard waste and that is pretty much all you need. Use the right amount of soil for your plants and you will be seeing amazing results.

Check for Disease

Lastly, you need to be constantly checking for diseases. You need to check if there are any signs such as spots or discolouration. Try to look for any symptoms of a pest or disease on your plants so that you can treat them properly and prevent the issue from getting bigger. Make sure that nothing slips by. This step is very crucial if you want your plants to stay healthy. 

Conclusion

All things considered, many plants require a lot of care and time spent on them. Before you start making your own flower garden make sure you are ready to put in the effort and time to help your plants grow and thrive. Follow these instructions and soon your garden will be covered in beautiful and colourful flowers.


Jasmine Anderson is a lifestyle and beauty blogger based in Australia. She is an incurable daydreamer, who finds inspiration in little, everyday moments. Spending time at her cosy home office with her two cats, writing her blog, is her favourite thing in the world.  


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