For the first time ever, I’ve been wanting to try planting a flower garden. Having recently built our first Liberty Home (and loving it!), my family and I decided to save some money and landscape the property ourselves. The sod is in and a few trees are planted.  Now I’m ready to add some color to my front yard!

While researching how to grow an effective garden in our desert soil, I found a few tips I wanted to share. First, I found a lot of helpful information on the Utah State University Cooperative Extension gardening site and on the Burpee seeds website.

  1. Come up with a plan, even if it is a simple one. Choose where you want your flower garden and what you want it to look like. As a general design rule, taller plants go in the middle with shorter flowers around the edges.  In planting areas where you don’t see around the entire area, say against a fence or a home’s foundation, the taller plants go in the back and shorter plants stay near the edge. Also, Find out which plants grow rapidly and which ones don’t, and at what times of year the flowers tend to bloom so you can keep a steady stream of color in your flower beds throughout the year.
  2. Prep your soil. In general, Utah soil has a high alkalinity level, which some plants like while others don’t. You can test the pH and fertility of your soil by purchasing a test probe at a garden store. Make sure to have enough organic matter in your soil as it can affect the success of your flower garden. Something to remember in dry climates like ours – keep your soil cool even if the flowers need “full sun” all day. Things that radiate heat are gravel, pavement, and sides of homes. Mulch is a great way to keep the soil cool.
  3. Choose your flowers. Decide which plants to buy depending on how much shade and sun your flower bed gets. Most flower plants need at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. Choose either to plant annuals, which provide bright colors that you have to replant every year, or low-maintenance perennials, that have a couple months of bloom but come back year after year providing foliage and texture.
  4. Get started now. Even though it may seem like a lot at first, just get started. This is a great time of year to start planting flowers so you can enjoy them all summer.

Good luck with starting your flower garden. I know mine won’t be perfect, but it will be better than having plain dirt in my front yard!