Flower Planting Tips
Flowers add beauty and color to your outdoor landscape. There are two categories of flowers: annuals and perennials. You can decide to use one or the other, or both in your yard. Once you have made sure that you have the right soil pH in your yard, you will be ready to plant your flowers.
Annuals
Annuals last only one season and then they do not grow back. This may appeal to someone who likes to change the look of their garden from season to season. Annuals will display a gorgeous array of vibrant colors during their bloom time. Many homeowners use annuals as edgings and borders for their landscape. They can also fill in a needed space in the midst of perennials in a garden bed. Annuals are a great way to decorate a patio or deck when they are placed in hanging baskets or containers.
Perennials
One of the benefits of perennials is that they return year after year and never need to be replanted. This comes in handy for homeowners that want a fairly maintenance-free yard. Some perennials grow faster than others, but all of them will require some type of trimming from time to time. When you are planting perennials, it is important to make sure that they are strategically placed in your garden. What this means is that different ones bloom at different times so you want to make sure you have a variety so that you always have some color in your landscape.
Flower Bulbs
Bulbs will return every season just the same as perennials do. Also as with perennials, you should plant your bulbs strategically so that you always have an array of colors to display in your yard. You can plant them in patterns or between shrubs and ground coverings.
Soil
Before you begin planting your flowers, you need to make sure that you have the correct pH level for the types of flowers you are planting. You can purchase a kit at your local nursery that will test the soil and make sure it is adequate. If not, then you will need to add some organic matter. You can add some peat moss or ground bark to it. When adding fertilizer, a general rule of thumb is to use 2 pounds for every 100 square feet of soil you need to cover.