Things You'll Need:
- Gardening Gloves
- Spade
- Bulb Shovel
- Miracle Grow for Perennials
- Miracle Grow Garden Soil
- Weed Barrier
- Garden Hose
- Choice of Watering Sprinkler
- Watering Can
- Your Choice of Decorative Mulch
- Digital Camera or Film Camera
- Notepad and Pen
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Step 1
Survey your yard. Where do you want your garden to be? How much sun will it have during the day? Knowing the amount of sun your garden will get is vital. All perennials will be marked with the amount of sun they require. Any plant that needs more than four hours of sun a day will be a part sun to full sun plant. Anything that needs less than four hours will be a full shade plant. You also need to take into consideration what hours of the day they will be getting sun. If your plants will be in the sun during the hottest hours of the day (generally the hours around 3pm), even if it is only for four hours, they would need to be full sun plants. Any plant which is marked as a part-sun or shade plant will be more sensitive to any type of sun and therefore the sun will damage or kill these plants if the sun is the hottest sun of the day. What kind of sun will your garden receive?
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Step 2
Look at the slope of the land. Does all the yard slope towards or away from the spot of your garden? Or is your land flat? Determining if your land slants will help you decide if you want to build up your garden so it is flat to help with moisture retention, or if you are comfortable with possibly needing to water your garden more if the land slants away from your garden. If the land slants toward the garden, you are more than likely going to have an area which may retain moisture more so than the rest of your yard. Determining your soil moisture is another vital portion of determining what flowers and plants will thrive in your yard. All perennials are going to be marked as to their preference of moisture. Now the hardest parts are over, onto the fun!
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Step 3
Armed with your camera, notepad and pen head out to your local greenhouse or home improvement center. Walk throughout the perennials. Take photos of plants you like, and those you think you could grow to like. Take notes of different colors available, the amount of room they need, and the names of the plants.
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Step 4
Once you have selected some plants you like and you are at home. Draw out a shape for your garden. Then using your photos, arrange the plants in that space as you desire them. Keep in mind groupings of odd numbers and plants of the same color are going to be more eye catching than colors that are all different with one plant here and there.
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Step 5
Prepare your spot. Remove any grass if any and replace with Miracle Grow Garden Soil. All bagged soils are different! Only Garden Soil will have been sifted to be free of weed and other seeds. Spending the extra dollars now for garden soil will save your back from a LOT of weeding later on! For this step you may choose to use a tiller to rotate the exsisting soil with the Miracle Grow. Doing this will give your garden the best head start.
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Step 6
Cover your area with Weed block. Now you are ready to start planing. Using a knife cut the weed block with an X the size of the pot of the plant you wish to plant in that spot. Tucking the corners of the X under, remove the soil from the hole using the bulb shovel. Gently loosen the roots on the sides of the plant. Place the plant in the hole you have dug, making sure not to submerge the plant into the soil any further than the depth of the pot it was in. Gently pat the soil around the plant to set into the soil. Un-tuck the corners of the weedblock to then protect the top of the plant. Continue this step with the remaining plants.
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Step 7
After you have planted all of your flowers, you will want to cover the weedblock with your choice of decorative mulch. I am partial to Scotts Red Cedar chips. But choose the color of your mulch to compliment your flowers. Which color will give your garden more "Pop"?
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Step 8
Make sure to thouroughly water your plants immediately after planting. Especially during the first season you will want to make sure your plants have the ideal soil moisture to promote growth and acclimation.
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Step 9
I recommend using a fertilizer after the first week of planting and about once a month until fall. I have a preference for Miracle Grow.
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Step 10
It isn't until about the third or fourth season that some plants will need to be split or separated. This is a great opportunity to add a second garden without much expense!
