E-Clippings - April 2010

Planning a Garden

Here are six easy tips for planning a new flower garden area or refreshing an existing one.  

1. Use perennials to form the structure of your garden, accounting for at least 80% of the area.  Then use annuals to add bursts of color.  Using annuals allows you to change the look of your garden from year to year with minimum effect.  

2. Know how much sunlight falls on the area you are going to plant – and don’t guess.  Look at your chosen spot at least six different times throughout the day.  It is amazing how frequently we discover that what we thought was in shade all day actually gets several hours of intense sunlight.

3. Determine how tall you want the tallest plants.  Select and plant those first, then add plants of varying height and textures to give the garden good form. Be sure to allow for growth of plants (read the tags).  A cute little perennial out of a grower’s pot can get 3-5 times larger!

4. Select plants with similar water needs, otherwise you’ll over or under water your garden.

5. Play with color.  Let your personality shine through.  Experiment!

6. If your goal is to landscape a large area and you’re not an experienced gardener, consider having Ken Matthews Garden Center to create a garden design for you.  There is no charge.  All we ask is that you buy your plants from us.  More information on this?  Click here.

Click here to see pictures with examples of these tips throughout the Garden Center.