How to Start Your Own Cut Flower Garden

cut-flower-garden

Image: iStock

It’s going to be beautiful, it’s going to be therapeutic, and it’s going to give you flowers for fabulous bouquets any time you please.

Learn the basics of starting your own cut flower garden now

Choosing Flowers to Plant

Decide on what flowers you want to grow in your cutting garden. Ideally, your candidates should be a mix of perennials and annuals. To have colorful flowers blooming all year round, that is the dream.

Here are a few factors to consider when choosing which flowers to grow for your cutting garden:

Select long-stemmed flowers.
They’ll make excellent for your DIY handmade bouquets and other flower arrangements.
Go for low maintenance and drought-resistant flowers.
Prioritize those that are known to successfully bloom in your area.
For instance, in Los Angeles, where summer seems to last forever, birds of paradise, daisies, cosmos, roses, and zinnias are highly recommended by gardening experts due to their endurance and reliability in producing colorful blooms.
For starters, you can kick off with at least six varieties first. This way, you won't be overwhelmed. Add more plants, as you get the hang of it.
Don’t forget to include some filler flowers, such as statice and baby’s breath, and attractive foliage of all kind to complement your florals. Fern, eucalyptus, dusty miller, and euphorbia are some of the most popular filler leaves you can add.

Selecting the Perfect Location

When seeking a location for your cut flower garden, remember the sunnier, the better. Scout a spot that gets at least four to six hours of sunlight every day. Make sure there are no high walls or tall trees or shrubs blocking it, too.

Planning and Prepping

Visualize your dream cut flower garden and put it on paper. Draw and layout how you want it to look like and mark where you want each flower variety to grow.

It’s a smart strategy is to group your flowers and foliage according to:

Care and nourishment needs, so it’ll be easier for you to remember.
Height, so taller flowers won’t block sunshine from shorter ones.
Blooming time, so you’ll know when to expect each to flower.

Plant your flowers in rows with ample of space in between to allow you to move and work around the area freely, without accidentally stepping on a plant.

Give the soil a little boost of nutrients with an organic fertilizer. Vermicast (the poo of earthworms) is a superb, slow-release option you can try. The best thing about organic fertilizers and the reason why it’s what we suggest, especially for flower gardening newbies, is that there’s no risk of overdosing and killing your plant in the process.

Maintenance Tips for a Successful Cut Flower Garden

Now that you’ve got your cut flower garden all set. Below are some easy-care steps you can follow:

Keep cutting, harvesting, and pruning. If you let the flowers mature, they’ll stop blooming. The more you cut, the more flowers it’ll give you.
Water generously and religiously in the morning at least once or twice a week, especially during super-hot days. The topsoil should always be a bit moist, not parched dry.
Mulching is a fail-safe, non-invasive technique you can do to lock in moisture. Simply put dried leaves on top as a ground cover.
Be vigilant against pests and insects.

It’s important to understand that like anything in gardening, creating a flourishing cut flower garden of your own can be a long, trial and error process. It can test your patience and persistence. But one thing is for sure, it’s one that is ultimately rewarding, too.