How to place flowering perennials in the garden
The modern stage in the development of garden design is sometimes called the “age of weeds” and refers to plants that once lived in pastures and trenches, but now defend the front pages of garden catalogs. Echinaceas, grasses and vines can’t deny nature’s grace. But how do you skillfully decorate your garden with classic plants?
A selection of plants that have been blooming for several years is beautiful in catalogs, photo collections and videos. But plants in the garden are not static and do not exist by themselves, but change with the seasons, serve a common stylistic purpose and need to be supported. When choosing perennials, there are several things to consider.
1. The layout and design should be well thought out. Determine what style of garden you like and how it fits with the style of your home, and then think about how the space should be organized and what plants you want in it. Many points may require professional advice and expertise, but the basic wishes should be defined and formulated by yourself.
The aerobatics is to choose plants so that the flower beds will be beautiful at any time of the year. Beginners will be helped by annuals, small architectural forms and decorative mulch.
The basis of flower beds should be plants, well proven in our climatic conditions – not subject to diseases, hardy and easy to care for.
3. Knowing how to use modern technologies for the care of flower beds, competent garden care – is the key to good condition and harmonious development of plants. New tools, materials, preparations and fertilizers can make the job easier, but if the garden as a whole is impractical, you are likely to spend too much time and effort when it comes to maintenance.
The choice of plants should reflect the intent, history, and family values of your author. No matter how fancy some plants are, it’s immediately noticeable when they happen to be in the garden and the owners don’t have a soft spot for them.
4. Do not stick to the same style on the whole plot, if you think it is necessary. In the first floor area and along paths, regular perennial plantings in the form of symmetrical lines or figures are useful. Mixed borders of ornamental seedlings and flowers are more often used in the back of the plot (e.g., near the pavilion). Paths leading into the garden are framed with rustic ridges, and the seating area is surrounded in the style of a farmer’s garden – with even rows of perennial flowers and creeper plants.
The stricter and more formal the style chosen, the more attention and care the garden requires.
5. adhere to a harmonious size:
- The area of the flower bed (garden) and the plot. Do not arrange a small bed with perennials in the middle of a large lawn or, conversely, plant a path leading through a small plot with tall perennials on either side so that the passage resembles a cramped tunnel. If your plot is large but you want to create several small flower beds, apply zoning techniques, turn the garden into green closets.
- Separate the size of the perennial and the flower bed. A large, flat, mixed bed of one low perennial looks boring, and a large perennial in the middle of a small bed looks ridiculous.
6. Be consistent with the basic style you choose and its performance characteristics. For example, if you decide to place a collection of peonies, roses or phloxes in a formal style, placing two parallel borders or flower beds in the form of semicircles, it is necessary to carefully mark the flower beds: parallel lines should be aligned, the flower beds should match the proportions of width and graphics. Otherwise, regular plantings look sloppy. In the far corner, it is recommended to plant several identical garden perennials as a reserve in case one of the plants suddenly “drops out”. If you decide to create a border of several perennial landscape flowers, try to avoid straight lines and give preference to gentle turns and curves.
slight sloppiness.
Most of the talented gardens created by landscape styling professionals look, at first glance, neglected, as if they were created by nature itself. But this natural beauty is the result of careful planning and the efforts of the gardener, who keeps it in strict order. Why do we care about “grandmotherly,” landscape and nostalgic gardens? Not just a classic row of flowering plants, although peony, lily, lavender, knight’s spurge and monarda look as natural as possible. They soothe many with smooth outlines, asymmetry, and a loose arrangement of garden furniture.
Usually in such cozy gardens you can find a pond, a clearing, a grove. The house complements and enriches the landscape. Parts of the garden are connected by winding paths of natural materials: wild stone, cut tree trunks, lawn. The perspective opens gradually, and there is no point from which you can see the entire garden at once.
The landscape style of the garden, which emerged in Britain in the 18th century, was a logical continuation of the then fashionable idea of unity with nature. British garden architects brought the meadow directly to the house, arranged a forest landscape, built arbours and bridges. Plants were planted in rows: large trees, undergrowth, bushes, flowers and lawn. In landscape gardens, edible plants (vegetables, fruits, herbs) and purely decorative plants often occur side by side. Today, landscape gardens are more often done in a naturalistic style: Plants compete for space in them, the stronger ones can suppress and even kill the weaker ones. To prevent this, fast-growing herbaceous plants are removed, overgrown shrubs are thinned and pruned, seedlings self-seed. In this way, nature and the landscape garden gain balance and maintain a natural look, but desolation is prevented.
How to plant flowers beautifully in the countryside: rules, schemes, possible compositions
Flowers are an important element in the design of the dacha. They delight the eye, give the atmosphere a unique charm, fill the air with fragrance. But if you plant flowers arbitrarily and thoughtlessly, instead of a beautiful, well-groomed flower garden you can get a boring, neglected area with plants that withered in mid-summer.
Think about how you can plant flowers beautifully so that they harmonize with the design of the area and give joy until the end of the summer season.
Autumn flower bed: Examples of planting flowers in flower beds
The main disadvantage of most flower beds and flower beds is that in the fall they begin to thin and the flowers on them wilt. To avoid this, you need to think about planting so that the flowers will enjoy their beauty until frost.
Late blooming begins in early September and lasts until the end of November. There are many varieties of late bloomers, each with its own advantages. Before equipping a flower bed, it is necessary to carefully study the development and growth of each plant and select options for the spring.
It is best to sow seeds for seedlings at the end of winter, and after the summer flowering, plant vegetable seedlings in the ground. Unpretentious plants do not need special care, since most people are not at the dacha in the fall, and the plants cannot be carefully cared for.
There are many varieties of flowers that are suitable for an autumn flower bed.
Chrysanthemum
This flower is already a classic in our flowerbeds. White, pink, burgundy, fleur-de-lis and yellow varieties up to 0.5 meters in height look the most spectacular, although there are many other flowers.
Chrysanthemums begin to bloom in late August and stand until the first frost. Especially unpretentious varieties with small heads, such as Korean chrysanthemums – a low bush, completely covered with small bright flowers.
It is recommended to loosen the soil and mulch it, then the plant is easier to resist, and the application of fertilizers leads to abundant flowering.
Phlox
Late varieties of phlox are low bushy plants. The color of the heads varies from pink to purple. Especially effective look striped phlox. They flower in the first half of autumn. Withered inflorescences should be removed regularly. They like a loose, well-colored and damp floor.
Helenium .
Serves as a real decoration of the flower bed. It is a shrub up to 0.5 meter in height with very beautiful bright yellow, red-orange and brick-glass flowers. It looks good in a hedge, it decorates places near a pool or a small body of water.
It does not require special care, but it is necessary to fertilize and dissolve regularly. It is desirable to provide a large amount of sunlight.
Rudbeckia
This plant resembles a large daisy with huge yellow and bright orange flowers. It is better to plant it in the background of the flower bed, it looks organically in addition to needle plants. Requires no care, it is important to water regularly.
Steppe mothers or tricolor violets
A low-growing system no higher than 15-30 centimeters. Pansies are unpretentious, grow well in the shade, but bloom better and more abundantly in the sun. The most common varieties are white, yellow, blue, red, purple, there are even black. Due to the variety of colors, the flower bed with pansies turns out especially bright and interesting.
Yarrow
A tall plant with pink, red, yellow, white flowers. Suitable for planting in the center of the flower bed, as it is quite a large plant and the flowers positively emphasize their size and beauty. Needs regular watering, although it tolerates drought well.
Aster
The queen of the autumn flower bed blooms for a long time. There are many varieties of this plant, they differ in the height of the bush and coloring – you can find asters of white, blue, pink, purple and many other colors. Unpretentious do not require special care, multiply and tolerate the cold. The best solution for the flower bed is to mix annual and perennial varieties.
Dahlias
Can grow well anywhere in the garden, likes moderate watering. There are over 2,000 known species of dahlias – peony-shaped, globular, needle-shaped, collared, nymphaea. The largest heads reach 10-12 centimeters.
Ringed flowers or tagetes
There are more than 50 different varieties, including annuals and perennials. They have an incredible variety of colors that range from rich yellow to red-brown. Especially beautiful are the terry lake marigolds and bicolor marigolds. Their height does not exceed 20 centimeters, flowering stops only at the first frost.
Zinnia
Distinguished by large beautiful inflorescences and an upright stem. Flowers are simple and double. Likes good light, does not tolerate drafts. Ideal for liming.
Scheme of planting flowers in the flower bed
An ill-conceived and not pre-planned flower bed rarely looks beautiful. It is necessary to follow a certain planting scheme, which takes into account the properties of each type of plant. It is also necessary to take care in winter to buy seeds and plant seedlings in early spring.
Before you buy seeds, you should think about how to plant flowers beautifully, what kind of flowerbeds to arrange – they come in different forms.
Regular flowerbeds.
Distinguished by straight lines, geometric shapes, complex patterns. Regular includes various types of classic flower beds, discount and modular flower beds.
Irregular flower gardens.
They consist of several groups of plants with different cycles of flowering. They bloom alternately, which means that the flower bed is filled with blooming plants throughout the season.
Planters
These are regular, elongated, rectangular flowerbeds made up of several rows of plants. In this way you can create picturesque strips, such as carpeted paths.
Multi-level or mixed borders
Plants are planted in rows to focus attention on the beauty of each type of flower.
Once you have chosen the form of the flower bed, you need to consider its color scheme. Designers distinguish three main types of flower beds.
One-color flower bed. Plants of one color or one color scheme are planted. This solution is especially organic for a small flower garden. It is enough 2-4 varieties of flowers, the highest in the middle and the lowest at the edges.
Contrasting flowers. It is necessary to choose combinations that are opposite in color spectrum. For example, yellow with blue, green with red, pink with blue, orange with blue. For special anomalies, you should choose flowers of bright, saturated colors, although muted tones make the bed elegant and sophisticated.
Complementary colors. They are selected so that a smooth transition of colors is guaranteed. It is important to choose 2-3 colors that lie side by side in the color palette. For example, blue with blue, pink with lilac, red with purple.
Now you can make a diagram of the flower bed. Traditionally, the tallest flowers are planted in the center, then their height gradually decreases to the edge of the bed.
If the flower beds are located along walls or fences, the highest plants are planted in the background and the lowest ones are placed in the foreground. Several medium-sized perennials are planted next to Hohen’s perennials.
All the free space of the flower bed is desirable to sow too small groundcover or lawn grass, which will form a kind of carpet.
You can choose one or more types of flowers, the main condition is that they are suitable in sound and size.
Several flower beds are good if the area of the plot is limited. For example, vertical wooden shelves are constructed, with the help of which you can hide an unsightly place, decorate the hedge, the territory.
Vertical beds can be picked up in the form of flower pots on special frames or poles. When the flowers grow, they usually cover the entire wall with a continuous carpet, especially if you leave some plant that has taken root here.
You can use old car tires of different diameters and put them on top of each other. This can create a stepped plank structure.
Flower arrangements for the garden and home
Beautiful combinations of flowers of different heights and colors take center stage in any dacha. They will help to dilute the monotonous environment and create an exquisite design.
When creating a composition, you need to take into account that the right setting is important for it. It always attracts attention, so you should not place it in a place that looks unsightly. For the dacha, it is better to compose a composition of one type of landscape, that is, all the elements of the country site.
In any type of composition to create two principles are used – the creation of contrast or similarity.
For a contrast composition, plants that are very different from each other in shape, color and texture are selected.
When using the principle of similarity, the plants also differ, but slightly, and the differences are amplified here. For example, the transition of color from deep red to light red, from it to pink is used.
Another important point – the size of the composition. It should be an organic part of the site, so do not make it too big or too small. A large size will not allow you to appreciate the beauty of the flower bed as a whole, and a small one will look frivolous.
First, choose the main element. This can be a tree, a large bush on the site or a tall flower. A composition with a spruce looks very beautiful. Shrubs or perennials should be planted at different distances. It is important to observe symmetry and remember that plants with picturesque lush crowns are not always appropriate here. However, variations in the composition of the landscape are possible.
The central element in the composition is usually one, its frame is selected in several copies. And the number of plants of the lower tier is not even taken into account, they are taken in the quantity that is necessary for decorating the background.
Selection of flowers for the compositions
The basis of flower beds are large flowers with tall flower stalks. They are placed in the center. Background flowers are lower than the central, their inflorescences are usually not as bright and large, but they play an important role in the construction of the composition: with their help is created a beautiful frame for the central part of the flower bed.
In general, the height of the plants plays an important role. All flowers are divided into several main groups:
- Farco – Cover: Portulaca, Stonelomka, Pansies, Barberry, Muscari, Primrose, Turkish carnations, Blue forget-me-nots, Phlox. Organic as borders and flowerbeds, planted in unoccupied areas of flower beds.
- Low, not exceeding 30 centimeters: nasturtiums, petunias, marigolds, lobelia, calceolaria, Iberis, Chinese carnations, alpines.
- Medium: geraniums, daisies, cosmos, zinnias, escholzia, delphiniums, gladioli, astilbe, peonies.
- Taller: ferns, ornamental shrubs, trees. The most beautiful and popular – hydrangea, rhododendron, jasmine, tree peonies, conifers, such as yew, thuja, juniper.
To keep the flower bed beautiful at any time of the year, it is recommended to choose flowers taking into account the period of their blooming. Primroses, violets, bluebells and snowdrops bloom in early spring.
In late spring, lilies, tulips, peony, iris, and bellflowers bloom.
To make the flower bed look beautiful in summer, it is recommended to plant non-flowering perennials: hostas, pistillas, vernalis, cottonwoods, celandine, basil, oregano, mint.
Marigolds, hydrangea, begonia, bookmark, lavender, petunia, and lavender bloom in summer.
The queen of the garden all summer pleases the eye rose. It combines well with conifers, which perfectly emphasize the brightness of the rose buds and inflorescences.
The floral side looks original, where the type of flowers has a decisive role. For example, in a bed along a wall or fence in the background plant a few tall paniculate red and purple phlox.
The foreground is decorated with blue-purple phlox on the left and tempeh on the right. They are then surrounded by low flowers in pink, red or white, such as penternons.
To complete the picture, a border of yellow-green soft cuffs is planted in the bed.
If it is an open free space, it is decorated with closed fancy beds with flowers of the same variety.
Dark red and purple colors are well combined. For this purpose, not only lupine or red peony are planted. The rest of the room is planted with decorative herbs.
In the flower bed sow lupine, lobulia or phlox, and to create bright accents plant bearded iris, blue aquilegia and phloxen.
A combination of bright yellow coreopsis with white flowers of pyrethrum and yellow yarrow creates a joyful mood. In the center of the flower bed you can place a rosebush.
In summer, large gladioli look very beautiful, which perfectly adapts to low perennials – bellflowers, delphiniums, anemones, yarrow, sage.
