If you adore filling your home with vases of fresh flowers but hesitate to cut from your beloved garden plants, it’s time to cultivate a dedicated cut flower garden. A cutting garden allows you to enjoy the beauty of blooms indoors while reaping the satisfaction of harvesting them right outside your door.
As professional flower farmer Erin Benzakein notes in her book, Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden, “As gardeners, we’ve been conditioned to resist the urge to clip from our blooming plants. But once you experience the pleasure of harvesting armloads of flowers, your approach will change.” In addition to the personal joy of fresh flowers, growing your own blooms can help reduce your carbon footprint by minimizing the need for florist visits and the transport of greenhouse-grown flowers.
What Is a Cut Flower Garden?
A cut flower garden is similar to a flower farm but designed for production and harvest. Unlike traditional flower beds meant for display, the primary goal of a cutting garden is to produce a continuous supply of cut blooms throughout the growing season. This approach allows you to enjoy a variety of flowers at their peak, providing endless opportunities for arrangements and displays in your home.
Where Can You Plant a Cut Flower Garden?
Sunlight Requirements
Most flowering plants thrive in sunny conditions, so select a location for your cutting garden that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight each day. Proper sunlight exposure is essential for promoting healthy growth and vibrant blooms.
Shelter from Wind
Another crucial factor is shelter from strong winds, which can topple your flower-laden plants and increase moisture loss. Look for a spot that offers some natural protection or consider erecting windbreaks if necessary.
Container Gardening
If you’re limited on space or have a shaded area, don’t worry! Many cut flowers can be successfully grown in containers on a sunny deck or balcony. This flexibility allows you to cultivate a vibrant cutting garden, even in urban settings.
Soil Considerations
Research the specific needs of your favorite cut flowers, as some may prefer well-drained soil, while others thrive in damp or acidic conditions. Soil testing can help you determine the pH and nutrient levels of your garden, enabling you to amend the soil as needed for optimal growth.
How Do You Set Up a Cut Flower Garden?
Efficient Layout
When setting up your cutting garden, prioritize efficiency and ease of maintenance. Benzakein recommends designing narrow, rectangular beds that allow you to reach the center comfortably from either side. Establish pathways between beds for easy access, especially during harvest time. Raised garden beds can also facilitate planting and harvesting.
Organizing Plants
It’s essential to separate perennials, which return each year, from annuals that will need to be replanted each spring. This organization can help you manage your garden more effectively and understand which plants require ongoing care.
Maximizing Space
Even a small garden can yield a significant harvest of blooms. To optimize your space, grow plants with long stems closely together. If space is extremely limited, consider vining plants like sweet peas that can be trained to grow vertically on trellises, saving valuable ground space while still producing beautiful flowers.
Is it possible to grow cut flowers in a vegetable garden?
Yes, you can! Integrating flowers into your vegetable garden offers numerous benefits. Flowers can enhance the beauty of your garden while acting as natural pest deterrents, providing organic pest control. For instance, marigolds can help ward off pests like tomato hornworms and squash bugs. This practice, known as companion planting, not only beautifies your garden but also promotes a healthier ecosystem.
What Makes a Good Cut Flower?
A successful cut flower garden features a wide variety of annuals, perennials, bulbs, and shrubs. Look for plants with strong stems, long vase life, and high yield to maximize your floral harvest. When selecting flowers, consider their colors, fragrances, and the specific rooms you wish to decorate with your arrangements. Flowers that add delightful scents, like lavender and flowering tobacco (Nicotiana langsdorffii), can enhance the overall appeal of your bouquets.
Cutting Garden Design Tips
Plan for All Seasons
To ensure a continuous supply of fresh flowers throughout the year, plan your cutting garden for all seasons. Incorporate spring-blooming bulbs and a variety of perennials that will bloom successively from early summer through fall. For winter interest, consider including small shrubs with bright berries, such as winterberry. Additionally, grow flowers that can be dried for year-round arrangements, like celosia and globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa).
Grow Cut-and-Come-Again Flowers
Maximize productivity by including cut-and-come-again flowers, such as zinnias and cosmos. These flowers produce new blooms after cutting, allowing you to harvest frequently without needing to replant. This is especially beneficial if you have limited space, as fewer plants can yield a bountiful crop throughout the season.
Stagger Planting Times
To maintain a steady flow of flowers, stagger your planting times. This method, known as succession planting, helps you keep up with harvesting and ensures that you always have fresh blooms available. Benzakein recommends allowing 3 to 4 weeks between plantings, depending on your climate, to ensure a continuous display of flowers.
Aim for Variety
To keep your arrangements visually interesting, select a diverse range of plants with varying flower textures, sizes, and forms. Combining spiky flowers like salvia with globe-shaped blooms like alliums and umbellate flowers like yarrow can create captivating displays in your arrangements.
Plant Complementary Colors
To achieve stunning floral arrangements, opt for complementary colors that enhance one another. Pairing purple and yellow flowers creates a beautiful contrast, while monochromatic schemes featuring light and dark shades of the same hue can be equally striking.
Don’t Forget Foliage Plants
One common mistake novice gardeners make is focusing solely on colorful blooms while neglecting greenery. Benzakein recommends dedicating half of your garden space to foliage and filler plants, which provide a base for your fresh arrangements. Look for interesting foliage in your existing garden beds, such as fern fronds and hosta leaves, or use aromatic herbs like rosemary and sage as fillers for added fragrance.
Go Native
Incorporating native wildflowers into your cutting garden can enhance its beauty and ecological value. Native plants, like bee balm and black-eyed Susan, are often hardier and easier to care for than hybrids bred for large blooms. They also support local wildlife by providing essential pollen and nectar.
Conclusion
Creating a cut flower garden can be a rewarding endeavor that allows you to enjoy fresh blooms while minimizing your impact on the environment. With careful planning, efficient design, and a thoughtful selection of plants, you can cultivate a vibrant cutting garden that brings joy to your home throughout the seasons. Embrace the beauty of nature and enjoy the fruits of your labor by filling your vases with stunning arrangements from your own garden!