How to Build a More Successful Flower Garden

Flowers are the one plant that most everyone enjoys possessing,
either in the yard or in a vase on the table.

The beauty of the flower has held its place in the human heart
for as long as man has loved a woman. Traditionally, flowers have
been a point of beauty in the yard, and they have been used as a
gift to the woman in a dating relationship. While men
traditionally buy a range of flowers for the woman of their
heart, roses are most often purchased to signify real love.

Even in far off countries, flowers hold a place in the culture of
the people. They are used to make garlands that people wear for
special occasions, and they are used to make perfumes for women
to wear.

The flower industry finds peak selling days to be Valentine's
Day, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day, but the rose is the
top-selling flower for the Valentine's Day festivities.

If you are more the do-it-yourself type, you might consider
flower gardening as a favorite pastime.

Here Are Some Tips To Help You Build A More Successful Flower
Garden

Many flower gardens have at least one rose bush in the mix. This
helps add to the beauty of the garden overall, as it produces
beautiful flowers and it adds some contrast to the overall layout
of your garden. Most attractive for most people, the rose bush in
the garden will continue to flower every year, with very little
care.

If you have an interest in making your own flower garden, it is
best to start with only one garden bed, until you have mastered
the techniques of gardening, and until you have made certain that
the time commitment for such a project is not more than you are
willing to commit yourself.

Managing a flower bed requires only a few basic tools: a small
spade, a watering jug or water hose, and a clipper to help you
trim the dead leaves from the bush or plant.

It is recommended that the place you choose for a flower bed has
good drainage. Many plant species will die or become diseased if
exposed to too much water.

It is also recommended to put your flowers into loose soils. If
the soil is difficult to dig, then in all likelihood, the flower
will have difficulty dropping its roots. So, do avoid putting
flowers in soils that are hard to dig up.

It is also important to place your flower bed in a location that
gets a lot of natural sunlight. Flowers tend to smile and stand
up straight when they see the sun.

When you put your plants and flowers into the ground, be sure to
space the plants apart from one another. If a single plant must
struggle to get its own supply of water or sunlight, then that
plant is likely doomed to death. If you are planting from seed or
a pot you purchased at the nursery, then the seeds and potted
plant packaging should have in every case instructions to
describe the amount of soil the plant needs exclusively, how much
water the plant will require, and the best times to plant it into
the ground.

There are certain pests that are common to certain kinds of
flowers. In some cases, pesticides may offer the best solution
for fighting the common garden pests. But in other cases, if you
are willing to do a bit of research, there are most often natural
solutions you can add to your garden to repel the pests that want
to take residence in your garden. To learn more about natural
solutions to garden pest problems, visit this website:
http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_nat_pest_cntrl.htm

Sick plants and flowers can frequently be identified by the
leaves of the plants. When leaves begin to drop off the plant,
when leaves turn brown or black, or when leaves and stems start
to turn moldy, then you will know that you have sick plants in
your garden. It is best to cut away sick leaves when found, which
will often eliminate the need to remove the entire plant. Other
times, you would need to take the more drastic measure of
removing an entire plant from your garden.

If a specific plant variety attracts a lot of disease in one
season, it is recommended not to plant the same during the
following year, because insects and microbes tend to drop their
eggs near their food of choice. Since most pests only feast on
one specific plant type, rotating the plants from season to
season will help wipe out an infestation that may affect your
garden.

Adding decomposing foods to your garden may help your plants
regain some needed nutrients. For example, after using tea leaves
to make your fresh cup of tea, it can be helpful to your garden
to place those used tea leaves into your garden, to supplement
the nutrient gathering of your growing plants.

It is true that adding decomposing food stuffs to your garden
might attract unwanted creatures into your garden. For example,
when I was a girl, my dad always went fishing and after cleaning
the fish, he would bury the remains in his garden. It never
failed. Whenever he buried the fish remains in his garden, a
neighborhood dog would come dig up his garden and scatter the
remains throughout our yard. After several attempts to keep the
dogs out of his garden, he finally gave up the practice.

As mentioned in the above referenced page, deer are also another
animal that can become a pest. And the cure for keeping deer out
of your garden is so simple to do. Simply put a bar of soap into
a cloth bag and hang it from a low-hanging branch in your garden.
The rain and humidity will keep the soap moist, and the sweet
fragrance given off by the bar of soap will keep all deer out of
your garden, as the deer do not like the fragrant smell of soap.

In the end, flower gardening can be very fun, relaxing and
gratifying. If you are willing to invest a little bit of time
into your garden, you will find that a flower garden could be a
very pleasing element to add to your personal space.

Lauren Mamane is a full-time floral designer, whose personal
website can be found at: http://gardenexperiments.com/ Licensed
by the State of Michigan, the Professional Florists Institute
is a private Vocational School offering flower design classes,
presented by professional florists. Learn to design flower
arrangements at http://www.professionalfloristsinstitute.com/