Spring is almost here, and soon your neighbors' yards will be full of the fragrances and beauty that only a flower garden can bring. You don't have to envy your neighbors--why not add a flower garden to your backyard landscaping this season?
Flower Gardens: Choose Any Shape, Any Colors
Plant a flower garden to suit your personality - any shape or size you desire. If you prefer neatness and order, plant an English-style garden with each flower type in a well-defined row. Free spirits may be happier with a large flower garden of no particular shape, and all types and colors of flowers spread about. Whatever your preference, there are a few flower requirements to consider before planting:
- Sunlight. Some flowers require full sunlight to thrive, while others need only partial sunlight. When choosing a location for your garden, consider the types of flowers you'd like to plant, and their optimum sunlight requirements.
- Drainage. Very few flower types do well in saturated soil, so have sufficient drainage for the garden.
- Avoid the base of trees. As nice as planting a flower bed around the base of a large tree can look, it is difficult for flower gardens to thrive when they are in the tree's shade and competing for water.
- Blooming season. If you want three-season color, choose flower varieties that bloom at different times of the year. Start with early spring and continue through the first several weeks of fall.
The University of Illinois and Cornell University offer tips for selecting flower varieties and a location for your garden.
If you have little patience waiting for seeds to sprout, try using bedding plants for your garden to see blooms right away. The University of Vermont has recommendations for the types you should choose.
