How to Start A Cut Flower Garden
Do you dream of having fresh flowers in your house weekly? Do you love spending time getting your hands dirty and watching something grow? A cut flower garden is a great way to stretch those creative muscles and create a space that will reward you with endless blooms.
What time of year is best to start
The best time to start a cutting garden is fall and spring. There are a lot of cut flowers that can be planted during fall to ensure you will have blooms early in spring. These include but aren’t limited to daffodils, tulips, larkspur, rudbeckia, and tons more. Annuals such as zinnias, sunflowers, bachelor buttons, snapdragons, and dahlias are perfect for planting in the spring. You can continue planting in the summer to ensure blooms through fall.
Picking the best spot and how much space you need
Light: When picking a spot for your cut flower garden, you will want to choose a place that gets at least 8 – 10 hours of sunlight a day. Most cut flowers love a full-sun environment, although there are varieties of cut flowers that enjoy a bit of shade.
Water source: You will also want to consider how you will water your garden. Pick a spot close to your water source, so you do not have to worry about carrying water out to the garden. Keeping the water source close will ensure simple maintenance of your cut flower garden.
Bed size: Cut flower gardens can be as small or as big as you want. It all depends on how much you want to take care of, how many blooms you want, and how much room you have to work with. I prefer to make beds at most 3 feet wide to reach the center of the bed without stepping in it. This makes weeding, pruning, and harvesting a breeze. Raised beds and containers also make for excellent cut flower beds. These are amazing for small spaces such as patios, small yards, or even porches.
Preparing the soil
Preparing your soil is one of the most important tasks when starting a cut flower garden. Prepping your beds and soil for success will give your flowers an advantage all season. The first step to growing a successful garden is determining what soil you already have. Next, you can take soil samples and run tests to determine what nutrients your dirt lacks. Next, you can buy any number of soil amendments to boost the health of your soil. Compost is a great starting point. The more you work and enhance your soil, the better your blooms will be!
What flowers are best for a cut flower garden
The list is endless when it comes to cut flowers. Look at any seed catalog, and you will find hundreds of varieties of beautiful blooms to fill your garden. Before buying, you will want to think about color schemes, fillers, showstoppers, and greenery to make a complete bouquet. Some of the easiest flowers to grow as showstoppers are sunflowers and dahlias. Basil, yarrow, mint, cosmos, and zinnias make for great filler and greenery for bouquets. Each flower species comes in fun colors and shapes, perfect for adding interest to your bouquets. Flowering perennials make for great low-maintenance cut flowers. Some easy-flowering perennials include Shasta daisies, rudbeckia, yarrow, and chrysanthemums.
Harvesting and Keeping Flowers Fresh
It is best to research each variety of flower you will be adding to your garden to know when is the best time to harvest them. Some flowers, like zinnias, are best harvested when fully bloomed. Others, like sunflowers or dahlias, are best harvested when they aren’t fully bloomed yet. Each flower has its likes and dislikes to ensure the best vase life. Harvesting based on each flower at the correct time will increase the vase life. For example, harvesting during the early morning or late evening hours when the sun isn’t at its peak makes for longer vase life. Some flowers also prefer to be conditioned to get the best vase life. Conditioning means flowers are placed in tepid water and in a cool place out of direct light for several hours before being put in a vase. Adding flower food to your vase water when putting an arrangement together will help keep flowers looking fresh for longer. Be sure to change out your vase water every couple of days to keep blooms looking good.
A cut flower garden is a perfect way to add a little joy to your life. With a bit of time and effort, you will be on your way to harvesting buckets of blooms this summer!
Thanks for reading, and happy planting!
