How to plant flowers in 5 simple steps for a colorful garden

Flowering plants always make your garden more attractive (and can keep the neighbor in their tracks). Perennial fruits dazzle year after year, while annuals bloom quickly. You can start with seeds or take transplants at the garden center, but once you have selected your plants, there are some basic steps to get your flowers off to a good start in your garden. Before you start digging, read the tag that comes with your plants or the instructions in the pocket of your seeds so that you can match the needs of the plants with the best places to grow them. Then, if you have already installed flower beds, you can easily place fresh annual or perennial fruit in places where you need to fill some holes. Or you can always create a new flower bed to fill in all the beautiful flowers you want to grow.

Step 1: The right place, the right plant

Do the plants you choose need sun, shade, or both? Start by arranging your plants so they are where they get the light they want (plants like the sun should be outdoors, plants that need shade should go where they are. Some cover). The full sun is six hours or more of direct sunlight a day and does not have to be continuous. Partial shade usually means four to six hours of sunlight a day. Shadow definitions vary depending on how deep the shadow actually is. For example, a double shade gives more light than a deep shadow.

Step 2: Dig the soil

Beautiful flower gardens start with healthy soil. In general, most flowering plants work best in loose and well-drained soil with organic matter. You do not need to dig a large area to plant flowers, but you do need to dig enough soil to improve soil structure and add a little fertilizer to add nutrients. Avoid digging or manipulating the soil when it is wet. Plants need a certain amount of space between soil particles to grow roots. A test to see if the soil can work is to dig a small sample of soil out of a 3-inch hole. Squeeze it into a ball and then throw the soil on a hard surface like a rock or pavement. If the soil is together, it will be too wet to plant, but if it is broken, it is time to plant.

Step 3: Plant your new flowers

The steps on how to plant flower seeds are slightly different from plants in the nursery, so follow the instructions in the seed pocket to find out how deep and how far each seed should be planted. With garden plants in the pot, you should usually plant with the soil at the same level as the soil in the pot, but read the plant tag. Some flowering plants, such as irises and peonies, prefer to plant their rhizomes and roots more deeply. When removing the plant from the pot, gently tease some or all of the soil from the roots and place the plant into the hole you made. Push the soil back into the hole and gently stabilize it, but do not seal it down.

Step 4: Add water and mulch deeply

Soak the soil around your newly planted flowers well. Garden flowers need 1 to 2 inches of moisture each week to function well, so water if there is not enough rain. The roots of the plants grow deep. Avoid stagnant water in the soil or the roots of your flowering plants may rot. Shredded mulch around your new plants will help slow the evaporation and reduce the amount of watering that needs to be done.

Step 5: Decorate the deadhead and your flowers

When your flowering plants start to bloom, you can prune them for bouquets. Remove spent flower heads to encourage the plant to expend more energy on its foliage and winter survival. Some flowers, ginseng, dahlias, and others, will bloom again when you remove the flowers. Clip or pull off any brown leaves for a clean look. Dahlias in particular benefit from the removal of old leaves.