Learning how to build flower garden designs is fun and rewarding. Wildflowers add color, beauty and elegance to any garden, in the same way that deer and other small animals do. They are very easy to maintain. Wildflower gardens have become very popular over the last few years. They are not restricted to a specific kind of flower, as many of the wildflower seeds used to develop flower garden designs can be used to develop virtually any kind of garden.
To begin with, you need to make sure that your wildflower garden has all of the proper elements for growing wildflowers. The soil needs to be firm and well drained; the plants should have good root system with deep roots that go down into the subsoil to absorb water; the flowers should have proper wind circulation; and they will need sunlight. Planting the seeds directly into the soil without covering them with mulch prevents too much sun from reaching the seeds. If you have a large field, you may want to consider container gardening, where you separate the plants based on season or size, then place them in different areas in your garden.
When choosing the seeds for your wildflower garden, choose ones that are for bulbs or seeds and not for ornamental flowers. Bulbs such as sunflowers, daffodils, hyacinths, irises, tulips, and daffodils have long lasting flowers, while ornamental flowers like roses, azaleas, or thymes are more short lived and will flower just once. Choose flower seeds that are low maintenance, such as dwarf irises, sunflowers, and mums. You can plant your bulbs, seed mixes, and perennials together or in various divisions. You can have whole plantings of wildflower in a meadow.
Mulching your wildflower garden helps to protect the roots from being exposed to rain and snow. It also makes sure that no weeds get through to the seeds. You can mulch by hand, using a broom to loosen the soil and brush it heavily. You can purchase pre-mulched bags at any gardening store. Be sure not to put the mulch directly on the seed, because it may harden and become very heavy and do damage to the seeds.
A meadow garden provides good grasses for growing wildflower plants and butterflies. You will need a good source of grasses and an area with no weeds. Purchase your grass seed mixes at a nursery or a home vegetable store. You can mix the grass seed mixes to create your own planting areas.
A wildflower garden doesn’t have to have a mowing machine. You can do it yourself with a sharp lawn mower. The best times to cut the flower patches are late fall through early spring. When you mow, don’t cut too deep. The lower you cut the grasses, the more butterflies and other wild flowers will come back into bloom.
Make sure that you water your wildflower garden carefully. If you don’t, the flowerbeds will drown and you’ll be competing with hundreds of other people for the same insect and flower species. When planning your watering schedule, make sure to water the garden bed thoroughly when it rains. Then do the watering again just as soon as it starts to dry out. Wildflowers like to flower during the coolest part of the day, which is late fall through early spring.
When you’re ready to pull the weeds out of your wildflower garden, use a weed whip or an old broom handle. Try not to pull the plants or flowers so close to each other. That will keep the roots from drying out too much. Most weeds come up through the ground, but some are more likely to come up through the stems of flowers or even the branches. Use a spade to dig them up, or if you have a good sprayer, simply spray them with your lawn care solution to get rid of the weeds.
