Plant a picking garden
2024-09-09T11:05:51+10:00
The satisfaction of nurturing your own floral decorations is hard to beat. Here, AB Bishop shares some tips for cultivating beautiful blooms for the sole purpose of picking.
Growing your own picking garden allows you to choose varieties and colours you love, and to stagger planting times for a continual harvest so your home can be filled with fresh colour and fragrance for months on end.
While flowering plants can potentially be grown among perennials, setting aside even 1m² of garden space (or a few 30-40cm pots) for a dedicated picking garden will provide a more bountiful harvest and you’ll avoid the pangs of guilt that come from ‘spoiling’ the display. Indeed, picking gardens should be decimated! Here are a few things to consider:
- DECIDE what you’d like to grow. I create a mood board of plants I like, so they’ll complement each other in an arrangement, and to prevent me from buying too many different varieties of seed. I note their height so I know where to position them in the bed. Include the flowering time if you’re growing for a special occasion.
- CHOOSE whether to grow from seeds or seedlings. Most seeds germinate in less than two weeks, and start flowering 8–12 weeks from sowing. Seedlings reduce that time by about two weeks.
- PLAN where to grow your plants to ensure they’re protected from strong winds. The vegie patch can work as flowering plants need rich, well-drained soil (and they’ll attract pollinators). When growing in pots, use a premium potting mix. Plants can also be grown with your established perennials if there’s room, but they are unlikely to flower as prolifically.
- SELECT a spot where the plants will receive at least six hours of sun each day. If you’re growing them in dappled shade (or on balconies, where conditions can be harsh), they will still flower if their nutrition and water needs are met, but there’s likely to be fewer flowers and they may be smaller. Oriental lilies (planted in winter and spring), phlox and others need afternoon shade. On large balconies, consider placing your pots on wheels so you can push them around to follow the sun, if practical.
For more tips for starting a picking garden, and some pretty flower suggestions, get the October issue of ABC Gardening Australia magazine – out now!
Header image by iStock
