You love flowers, and lucky for you, you have a nice lawn with plenty of room for flowerbeds. You have some idea of the flowers you would like to grow, but your selections will depend upon a host of other factors.

One of the first factors you will have to consider is when you want the flowerbeds to bloom. Spring, summer, fall or year-round? While a flowerbed that blooms throughout the year would be ideal, it won’t be easy to attain, especially if you are a beginner, live in a area with harsh winters, travel a lot or change residences throughout the year. Choose a season when you will be around to care for the flowerbeds and appreciate the fruits of your labor and select flowers that grow during that season.

Along with the season, you will also have to consider the site conditions. Where will the flowerbeds be located? Does each site receive full sun, partial sun or no sun at all? Does the soil drain properly? What is the soil pH? The answers to these questions will dictate the types of flowers you can grow. While you may envision rows and rows of tulips in front of your cottage during the early spring, the soil conditions there might not warrant it.

The characteristics of the flowers themselves will also have bearing in your decision. Some flowers require more space than others. If you have a fairly small bed, you will need to select flowers that spread little, whereas if you have a rather large bed, you might be able to choose a wider variety of flowers, including some that take up a great deal of space. Height, color and texture should be considered as well. Flowerbeds usually feature flowers of varying heights, often with the shorter species in front where they can be seen. Colors and texture may vary but should complement each other and the landscape. Soft pink blooms might look out of place in front of a rough, red cedar plank fence.

When you are choosing species for your flowerbeds, take the surroundings into consideration and do your homework. Know what flowers grow best when, where and with what. Read everything you can about flowerbed design and go shopping armed with the right information. The more you know, the better choices you will make and the better your flowerbeds will look. And remember, things change. The flowerbeds you create today may not look like the ones you create 10 years from now. Prepare for your flowerbeds to evolve as your gardening skills improve.


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