The early days of spring are a great time to get out into the sun and begin a flowerbed that will last throughout the season. Take a look at our tips to ensure your flowerbed is properly designed and maintained.

Here is a simple procedure for starting a bed of perennials.

Choose the site:

The site characteristics will determine the plants you can successfully grow there. Amount of sun, prevailing winds, soil type and slope should influence your choice of plants. A sunny, flat area sheltered from the Northeast wind is almost perfect.

Start small:

If this is your first 'homemade' garden, a plot about 100 square feet is a good size. You can always make it bigger, but if you take on too much at the start, it can turn you off altogether.

Lay out the perimeter of the bed:

The site will be a governing factor in this also, but for our purposes we will say it is an area of lawn. Take a garden hose and lay it on the ground in the shape of the bed you want. Try and avoid square and rectangles, they are boring and unnatural looking. Try an oval or kidney shape or anything else you like. Now take an edging tool or a sharp spade (you can sharpen a spade just as you would an axe) and cut through the sod all along the hose. Remove sod with a digging fork. Try and protect your nice cut edge from getting trampled.

Prepare the soil:

This is important, and some hard work and a little expense now will really make the difference later. Soil should be worked and the rocks removed to a depth of about a foot, and if possible, the ground below loosened up with a pick or digging bar. Don't kill yourself doing this, gardening is supposed to be fun and relaxing. Lime and organic matter in the form of compost, peat moss or leaf mold should be added at this time. Many books will advise a soil test to determine soil acidity before adding lime, but usually in the WNY area lime is all you need. About 4 lbs. per 100 square feet should do it. Spread the lime and an even layer of organic material about 4 inches thick and dig in with a fork. Poorly drained soils should be amended with sharp sand or small grit to improve drainage. If you have access to a roto-tiller, that's good too.

Draw a plan and choose and arrange the plants:

Make a sketch of the area and use it to place the plants. Keep in mind the spacing requirements and sizes. If the bed is to be viewed from one side only, arrange the taller plants at the back, mid height ones in the middle and smaller plants along the front. If the bed is to be walked around, then place the taller plants in the middle. Try and arrange plants according to flowering period, form and texture of foliage and color. You should avoid having all the early flowering plants in one end or all the spiked flowering types placed together. What we want is a range of color and forms flowering throughout the bed over the whole growing season.

Planting:

Following your plan, lay out the plants where you want them. Allow enough room for the roots to grow without interfering with the neighboring plant. Make a hole large enough to spread out the roots and use a little bone meal in the planting hole. Plant to the proper depth. Container grown plants should be set at the same depth as they were grown in the pot. Firm the plants in the soil to avoid air pockets and water well to settle soil and make firm contact with the roots.

Mulching:

Although not really critical, mulches are wonderful things. A covering of compost or peat moss usually does the job. After it has warmed up, the heat will help to keep moisture in, weeds out, shows off the flower color against the dark mulch, and the next spring you can dig it in to add organic matter to the soil.

ENJOY YOUR FLOWERS!