How to Set Up a Perennial Garden
There is a lot of wisdom in the decision to build a perennial garden. Perennial gardens offer years of beauty, low maintenance and enjoyment and in the long run are less costly than an annual garden. A well-planned perennial garden will give you many seasons of charm and interest. Setting up a new perennial garden requires planning, design and preparation to make it come together into a garden space that will reward you for years to come. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Soil test kit
- Plant list
- Grid paper
- Pencil and eraser
- Compost or organic matter
- Garden spade
- Shovel
- Border material
- Perennial plants
- Water
- Mulch
Instructions
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Select the location for your perennial garden, and choose plants that are well-suited for the conditions. For example, daylilies love sunny conditions but will also do well in part shade. Perennial flowers such as rudbeckia and echinacea like sun and can withstand dry periods once they are established. Perennials that like shady spots include astilbe and bleeding hearts.
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Draw your perennial garden to scale on grid paper, remembering that perennials grow larger with each passing year, taking up more space. Plan your perennial garden with this in mind, knowing that at some point, you will have plants that are large enough to divide and share.
The Colorado State University Extension suggests designing your perennial garden so that there is a sense of flow from one group, color or type of plant to the next, keeping shorter plants to the front or outside or the perennial flowerbed, and the taller plants to the back or inside. Do not design your plants in straight rows; rather, use a scattered or triangular pattern for arranging plants.
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Prepare your perennial flowerbed by removing sod, weeds and stones. Add equal amounts of topsoil and composted manure to the planting area if you need to raise the soil level. Alternately, you can add four inches of compost to the to top of the soil, and work in to a depth of 10 to 12 inches, as recommended by Spring Hill Nurseries.
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Perform a soil test on the location of your perennial garden. Soil test kits can be purchased at your local nursery. Your university cooperative extension may also perform soil testing. If your soil test indicates that you have soil that is acidic, alkaline, or too heavy sandy, adding organic material will adjust the quality of your soil and make it more perennial-friendly.
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Install the border of your choice. Borders can be plastic, brick, stone or wood, and help to keep grass from creeping into your perennial garden, and gives your garden a finished appearance.
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Plant your perennial flowers according to your design. For each plant, dig a hole that is as deep as the growing pot, and twice as wide. Settle the plant into its hole, gently separating and spreading its roots. Cover the roots with soil and tamp down firmly. Some perennials, such as clematis, are picky about how they are planted and need to be at a certain depth. Other perennials, like bearded iris, are not terribly choosy at all, but you should still take care to plant them properly.
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Water your newly planted perennial garden thoroughly and cover with 1 or 2 inches of mulch. Mulch helps to retain moisture and gives the garden a clean, neat look.
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