We get many visitors this time of year who ask variations of the ever popular question, "I want to make a flower bed. How do I start?" It's really not that difficult. Here is a simple procedure for starting a bed of herbaceous (soft stemmed, die down i n winter) perennials.
Choose the site: The site characteristics will determine the plants you can successfully grow there. Amount of sun, prevailing winds, soil type and slope should influence your choice of plants. A sunny, flat area sheltered from the northeast win d is almost perfect.
Start small: If this is your first ‘homemade' garden make a plot about 100 square feet. You can always made it bigger, but if you take on too much at the start it can turn you off altogether.
Lay out the perimeter of the bed: The site will be a governing factor in this also but for our purposes we will say its a area of lawn. Take a garden hose and lay it on the ground in the shape of the bed you want. Try and avoid square and rectan gles which are boring and unnatural in appearance. Try a oval or kidney shape or anything else you like. Now take a edging tool or a sharp spade (you can sharpen a spade just as you would a axe) and cut through the sod all along the hose. Remove sod with digging fork (and grunts and groans). Try and protect the newly cut edge from getting trampled.
Prepare the soil: This is important, and some hard work and a little expense now will really make the difference later. Soil should be worked and the rocks removed to a depth of about a foot, and if possible the ground below should be loosened u p with a pick or digging bar. Don't kill yourself doing this; gardening is supposed to be fun and relaxing! Most gardening books will tell you that a granular fertilizer should be worked into the soil at this point, but I confess I never do. Lime and orga nic matter in the form of compost, peat moss or leaf mould (the best) should be added at this time. Many books will advise a soil test to determine soil acidity before adding lime but take it from me, around here you need lime. About 4 lbs. per 100 square feet should do it. Spread the lime and an even layer of organic material about 4 inches thick and dig in with a fork. Poorly drained soils (water pools during light rain) should be amended with sharp sand or small grit to improve drainage. If you have ac cess to a rototiller, so much the better. What we want to achieve here is a moist but well drained soil mix with a pH of about 6-7.
Draw a plan, choose and arrange plants: Make a sketch of the area and use it to place the plants. Keep in mind the spacing requirements and sizes. If the bed is to be viewed from one side only, arrange the taller plants at the back, mid-height o nes in the middle, and smaller plants along the front. If bed is to be walked around then place the taller plants in the middle. Try and arrange plants according to flowering period, form and texture of foliage and colour. You should avoid having all the early flowering plants in one end or all the spiked flowering types placed together. What we want is a range of color and forms flowering throughout the bed over the whole growing season. People can get hung up on what colors go with what. Don't worry ab out it too much: it's your garden, plant what you like. Primary colors (red, yellow, blue) can be used alone or in combination to create a striking contrast. Harmonious colors are those that blend together (orange and yellow, red and orange, blue-green an d violet). Use vivid colors in front of evergreen trees and masses of dominant colors in large areas.
Planting: Follow your plan and lay out the plants. Allow enough room for the roots to grow without interfering with the neighboring plant. Make a hole large enough to spread out the roots and use a little bone meal in the planting hole. Plant a t the proper depth. Container-grown plants should be set at the same depth as they were grown in the pot. Firm the plants in the soil (hands for smaller, feet for larger) to avoid air pockets and water well to settle soil and make firm contact with the ro ots.
Mulching: Although not really critical, mulches are wonderful. A covering of compost, peat , leaf mould or any combination of them placed over the soil (2 inches thick) after it has warmed up in the spring will help to keep moisture in and weeds out. It shows off the flower color against the dark mulch and the next spring you can dig it in to add organic matter to the soil.
See, just like I said, nothing to it!
| Memorial Home Page | Communicator Home Page | June 1998 |