by Barb Levisay
As you are planning to expand your existing flower garden or add a brand new bed, there are a few important considerations that will save you time and heartache. Every garden develops over time through trial and error, but there are four basics that will always impact the success of your garden— perspective, light, soil and deer predation. In this article, we’ll take a high level look at each factor and then dig deeper in subsequent posts.
Perspective
Too often a flower garden is planted for curb appeal instead of the homeowner’s enjoyment. While planting a row of annuals to make the front of the house look cheerful is lovely, the most important viewer of the flower garden is you. If you are going to invest the time and energy to create a beautiful garden, you should be the one who gets to enjoy it most.
This bench in the corner provides a great view of the rest of the garden.
Locate your garden where you will see it throughout the day or during your down time. You’ll get the maximum health benefits, both mentally and physically, when your garden is an integral part of daily life. With your garden in close view, you can:
Watch the pollinators you are helping to support.
Catch weeds early to pull them when it’s still an easy task.
Notice how your plantings work over the season and think about tweaks to make your garden even better next year.
Light
The amount of light your flower bed receives will determine the types of plants that will do well. Unlike a vegetable garden, which must be in full sun to be successful, there are many ornamental plants that will thrive in all light conditions. Plant descriptions, whether on the tag or online, will tell you whether the plant does better in sun, shade or something in between. Generally accepted guidelines are:
Full sun plants require 6+ hours of direct sunlight
Part sun plants require 3-6 hours of direct sunlight
Part shade plants prefer 3-6 hours without late day direct sunlight
Full shade plants want less than 3 hours of direct sunlight
A full shade garden can be just as beautiful as one with full sun.
Determining how much sun your bed gets isn’t quite as simple as it seems. The angle of the sun changes over the year, so trees that block the sun in April might not in July. I’ve been surprised by the actual amount of sun some of my flower beds get when I take the time to track it. If you have a larger bed, you may have a combination of sun and shade—the best of all worlds.
Soil
In Central Virginia, most of us deal with both heavy clay and high acidity in the soil. Unfortunately, most annuals and perennials don’t like either one of those traits, so you need to spend some time improving your soil. To lighten up the clay, you’ll need to add organic materials and/or lighter soil. You can jumpstart the process by purchasing some compost and garden soil from one of the great vendors, like Rose Hauling, Mulch Monkeys or Panorama we have in Central Virginia.
If you want to do it on your own, it takes some time but can be done. I’ve grown plenty of beautiful flowers in beds that have just been dug. Folding compost, decomposed leaves and other organics into the bed will help you build rich, worm-laden soil over time.
To check on the acidity and other qualities of your soil, the VA Extension Offices offer soil testing. In Greene county the Extension office is at 10013 Spotswood Trail, Stanardsville, VA 22973, (434) 985-5236. In Albemarle, you’ll find them at 460 Stagecoach Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22902, (434) 872-4580.
Deer predation
You can skip this one if you have a 6-foot fence around your yard (lucky you). For the rest of us, deer predation is a constant and frustrating challenge. There is no perfect answer, but I’ve been pretty successful with a multi-pronged strategy.
Most importantly, I choose deer resistant plants for the bulk of my flower beds. Rutgers University has an excellent deer resistant plant list to help guide your garden choices. There are so many wonderful choices available today, that making deer resistance a priority really doesn’t limit your plant palette.
Bluestar amsonia and poppies are both plants that deer don’t eat in my garden.
There are some flowers I want to have in my gardens that the deer love – like phlox, daylilies and hostas. To include them, I have designed a couple of beds that are close to the house and use motion-detector water sprayers for active protection. The sprayers have worked well over many years, but a downside is they have to be put away during winter.
For my unprotected beds, I make sure to walk through them every couple of days to check for deer damage. I spray deer repellant throughout the year on the plants that they are nibbling. In the winter, a hand-held spray bottle is usually sufficient, but in the spring and summer, I use a gallon sprayer. I also rotate the brand of deer repellant I use hoping they won’t develop a taste for one.
Creating a lush, beautiful flower garden is rewarding on so many levels, and can be much easier by making smart decisions early. Take the time to step back and think through how to handle perspective, light, soil and deer to make your garden the best it can be from the start. Most of all, have fun! If you have a question, send a note to me at barb.levisay@gmail.com .