Gardening : Preparation Key to Successful Flower Garden : Planting: Select small plot, turn soil, add amendments and fertilizer, and water properly to get profusion of blooms.
A friend of mine said recently, “I’m thinking of getting back into flower gardening. Where do I start?”
First, start with a small plot of land--say, no more than 100 square feet. A 10-by-10-foot square produces 100 square feet, but a plot with such dimensions would be hard to maintain because you couldn’t reach the center without walking on the soil.
And a cardinal rule of good gardening is to avoid walking on, and thus compacting, garden soil. Better to design a long, narrow bed, with dimensions such as 4-by-25 feet.
No garden in California can flourish without an efficient irrigation system. One of my neighbors tried for years to grow flowers, planting them hopefully each spring, just before her mother came to visit. But each year they fizzled out after mother left. Main problem? Insufficient water. Sooner or later, a gardener who relies solely upon hand watering will fail.
Overhead sprinklers work well when plants are small. However, as plants grow tall and bloom, the flowers are knocked over by the water from the sprinklers. I’ve started to use irrigation hoses called “leaky pipe.” These hoses lie on the surface of the soil (or can be buried just below) and ooze water to the root area.
After assuring water, get the soil ready for digging. It’s usually best to water the target area a few days before you plan to dig. Moist, but not soggy soil is easiest to turn over.
But how do you know whether your soil is too soggy to dig? Use the hand-squeeze test. Soil is ready to dig if a handful crumbles when squeezed; if instead it makes a dense ball, wait for it to dry somewhat.
Next, a step that many gardeners underestimate: use organic soil amendment in preparing the soil. The least expensive is redwood amendment or redwood compost; these additives improve any soil, whether it’s clay or sandy. Be sure that the amendment you choose has been either composted (allowed to break down naturally) or nitrolized (had nitrogen added).
Even though my own garden soil is excellent loam, I add many bags of KRA organic amendment or Bandini soil builder each time I plant. Because of my intensive flower growing, the soil needs to be regularly replenished. For a 100-square-foot plot, use four 3-cubic foot bags of amendment. Spread the amendment on the top of the soil before you turn it over.
Fertilizer should also be added at this time. Choose a granulated fertilizer that contains some phosphorus, because this element does not filter through the soil. If you don’t place it in the root zone, it can’t be added later when the plants are growing. Use as much as the package directions suggest for a 100-foot area, and spread it evenly on top of the soil.
Now comes the fun. Spading a garden--if it’s small and if you spread the task over a couple of days--is one of life’s genuine pleasures. Turn over the soil to a depth of 9 or 10 inches, working in the amendment and fertilizer.
For particularly hard soil, you may wish to dig twice, first to loosen the soil and then to mix in the soil amendment and fertilizer. When you finish, the soil should be loose and fluffy.
After the soil has settled, select plants from the nursery. Smaller plants in pony packs and six-packs are better than quart- or gallon-sized containers. Even though they take longer to bear their first flowers, smaller plants produce more total flowers in a season--because of their well-developed root systems.
And smaller plants don’t dry out as quickly as the roots of larger plants that are concentrated in a small area. Moreover, smaller plants are easier to plant and they’re much cheaper than larger plants.
Apply a diluted liquid fertilizer two weeks after planting and again about every four weeks during the growing season. To control weeds and keep the soil moist, spread a 1-inch layer of organic amendment around the plants as a mulch.
What kind of plants to grow depends upon what you want: a cutting garden, a kitchen garden combining vegetables and flowers, a perennial border or an annual display. I like maximum color and flowers for vases; hence I choose fast-blooming annuals and perennials. Some of my spring favorites are blue salvia, Shasta daisies, coreopsis, larkspur, dianthus and annual phlox.
The important thing, though, is to know what you are getting. Don’t expect a gallon-sized, fully blooming foxglove that is resplendent at the nursery, for example, to continue blooming throughout the season once you plant it. It won’t. Foxgloves, and many other perennials, should be planted in the fall for color in the spring.
Ask questions when you shop. You’ll generally get good advice from garden center specialists regarding appropriate plant choices.
