How to Start Your Cut Flower Garden
Once you have a planting plan in place, it’s time to start the fun part — planting flowers! Some varieties can be sown directly in the soil, while others need a longer growing season and benefit more from getting a head start indoors.
Note: If your goal is to grow cut flowers to sell, it’s usually not profitable to purchase plants from nurseries. You’ll get far more flowers for a fraction of the cost if you stick with seed packets instead.
Starting Seeds Indoors
Starting seeds indoors may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Seed starting setups can be as simple or complicated as you choose. So long as you have a stable surface and a south-facing window or some grow lights, you can germinate plants in your house.
Research different seed starting techniques to find one that makes the most sense for your space and gardening goals. Take the time to plan it out right the first time, and you’ll likely be able to use the same setup for years to come.
Set Up Garden Beds
Once you have plants established, it’s time to prep the garden beds. The most efficient way to work with a flower cutting garden is to set up rows that you can easily walk down, harvesting or weeding as you go. However, others prefer working in small beds following the square-foot gardening method, or even to keep everything contained within raised beds.
Regardless, you’ll want to ensure that the growing space contains plenty of nutrient-rich soil and good drainage. It’s smart to add a healthy dose of compost several weeks before planting.
Harden Flowers Outdoors
Before your plants can go in the garden, you’ll need to ease them into the outdoor conditions. The process, called hardening, requires you to slowly bring seedlings outdoors for a few hours at a time so they can acclimate to heat, sunlight, and wind. Increase the time spent outdoors over two weeks before planting them in the garden beds.
Get Everything Planted
Planting guidelines for flowers will vary too much by variety to give much advice here. However, it’s usually best to plant on cloudy days to prevent heat stress, and to water immediately after planting.
Make sure you read each seed packet carefully to ensure you know the planting depth and spacing needs before starting.
Have a Weeding Strategy (and Stick With It!)
Once your seedlings are established in the garden, the biggest risk to their survival is weed growth. These tenacious plants can survive in any condition, and they can quickly outcompete delicate flowers. The best way to get ahead is to weed early and weed often. Try to go in the garden weekly at a minimum, as weeds are easier to remove when they are small.