It’s Not Too Late to Plant a Cut Flower Garden. Here’s How

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We love houseplants, but having fresh flowers around is good for the soul! And though you could easily order in gorgeous blooms via a great delivery service, how satisfying would it be to cultiavte your very own cut flower garden at home? “Growing flowers you love is a way to express your own personal style,” says garden historian Jenny Rose Carey, author of The Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Guide and former senior director of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Meadowbrook Farm. “It’s a creative process that offers a sense of accomplishment as well.” You’ll also make pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds feel happy and welcome.

No matter how much (or how little!) space you have, you can grow your own flowers. “You can interplant flowers into existing garden beds or plant in containers,” says Carey. “Snipping even a single stem allows you to bring the intricacy and beauty of each bloom up close to enjoy on your desk, nightstand, or kitchen counter.”

If you do have an area where you can create a new garden bed, a dedicated cutting garden is a gratifying way to make productive use of the space. “If you plant an area that’s about the size of a picnic table, about 3 feet wide by 10 feet long, you’ll harvest so many flowers that you’ll have enough to give away,” says grower Lisa Mason Ziegler, author of the upcoming The Cut Flower Handbook and Cool Flowers. “The more you cut, the more your flowers will produce.”

Whether you’re a new or experienced gardener, here’s how to start your own cutting garden.

Choose the Perfect Site

Find a spot that receives full sun, which is considered six or more hours of direct sunlight per day. “Most flowers need full sun. This is where a lot of us kid ourselves and try to cheat, but flowers that don’t get sufficient sun will not bloom well,” says Carey.

Watch your yard for a few days to evaluate how much sun each area receives; this also changes during different times of year. For example, an area that’s full sun in spring may be shaded by deciduous trees during the height of summer.

Also, you’ll need a convenient water source. “You may not want to drag a hose 100 feet every day when you need to water, and hauling watering cans during the heat of summer is not ideal,” says Ziegler.

Start Small

You can add flowers to existing beds. Or if garden space is limited, plant in large containers, such as a half-barrel or several large pots grouped together on a deck or patio. Just ensure all containers have drainage holes because no plant likes wet feet. Containers also are ideal for gardeners with accessibility issues, such as achy knees or backs, says Carey.

If you’d like to start a new bed, you can prep the area in a hurry for instant gratification, says Ziegler. For grassy areas, start by cutting and scraping away the sod. Full disclosure: This is hard work and the most challenging part of the preparation!

Once you’ve removed all the grass, use a garden fork to poke holes in the soil to aerate the surface. Now soak five or six layers of newspaper or sheets of thin cardboard in water (you could use a wheelbarrow). Once saturated, lay them out across the cleared area.

Top the paper or cardboard with large bags of potting soil mixed with any type of finished compost to create a planting bed layer that’s six to eight inches thick, says Ziegler. Mix in some extended-release granular fertilizer. If you’d like to finish the bed edges, border it with large rocks or edging. Voilà! You’re ready to plant.

Plant Annuals

Annuals are the most prolific flowers to plant in your cutting garden because they have one purpose in life: to flower and go to seed in order to reproduce.

Ziegler has a few favorite annuals that have proven reliable and that last long in a vase with minimal messy pollen drop. Her recommendations include zinnias (especially Benary’s Giant Mix and Oklahoma), sunflowers (especially the ProCut series), and cockscomb or crested celosia.

These annuals are all easy to grow from seed and can be sown directly in the garden. Read the seed package to know when it’s safe to plant them outdoors in your region of the country. For a dedicated cutting garden, you also should space them close together, about six inches apart in all directions, says Ziegler.

Many annual herbs, such as dill, cilantro, and basil also make wonderful fragrant cuttings for bouquets, especially if you allow them to go to flower.

Plant Perennials

Perennials don’t have as long a bloom time (typically only a few weeks per season), as opposed to annuals, which bloom all season long. But they will come back year after year, which is a long-term investment in your garden, says Carey. Good cutting perennials include coneflowers, salvia, veronica, and lavender.

Also, make sure perennials are suited to survive winters in your USDA hardiness zone (find your zone here). If possible, choose plants, as opposed to seeds, because perennials take several seasons to mature and won’t do much the first year or two in the ground.

Plant Bulbs

Spring-flowering bulbs, which you must plant in the fall for blooms the following spring, are another lovely choice for bouquets, says Carey. Many types, such as alliums, daffodils, and hyacinths, will return for many years. Tulips typically are treated as annuals and planted every fall because most do not perennialize or bloom well in subsequent seasons.

Nurture Your Garden

Of course, you’ll need to keep your seeds and plants watered, especially when they’re first planted, says Ziegler. Most flowers need watering deeply at least once a week, or more often if it’s super hot and dry. Water at ground level, rather than from overhead sprinklers, if possible, to help prevent disease. A light layer of organic mulch, such as bark chips or pine straw, also helps prevent weeds and retains moisture, says Ziegler.

Finally, most flowers bloom more profusely with regular feeding. If you added extended release granular fertilizer to beds at planting time, you’ll need to feed again in a few months. In containers, feed more frequently because water flows through, washing out nutrients more rapidly, says Carey.

Cut and Cut Again

Once your flowers begin blooming, start cutting! The more you cut them, the more they will push out flowers, says Ziegler. A dedicated cutting garden area needs harvesting every week or you won’t get the abundance of flowers you want.

If you’ve planted flowers interspersed within existing beds, it’s fine to cut as you wish. You won’t get the same yield, but you still can create unique bouquets on a regular basis.

Supplement your bouquets by clipping small branches from flowering shrubs such as weigela and hydrangea, leaves from foliage plants such as hostas and perennial geraniums, evergreen pieces, and twigs and autumn leaves. “Forage to see what speaks to you,” says Carey. “Even if it lasts only a day or two, the most important thing is that you find beauty and joy in your creation.”

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