How to Take Care of Flower Plants in Your Garden

A Small Garden with Perennial Flowers Surrounded by Annual Flowers

By Public Domain Images [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Growing Flowers Takes Work

Based on my own experience, flower plants need top-notch care to grow properly. Some of these plants are quite sensitive to changes in weather conditions and can wither and die in a short period of time under harsh conditions.

If you are growing flowers and hoping for a good outcome from them, you need to do more than just water and weed your garden. You need to consider doing other things, like deadheading, pruning, and controlling pests and diseases.

In this article, I’m going to discuss how to properly take care of flower plants in your garden, vases, or pots. Read on to see important practices that you need to apply to your plants.

How to Take Care of Flower Plants in Your Garden or Vases

Water your flowers regularly
Apply appropriate fertilizers
Remove weeds from your flower garden
Mulch your flowers
Provide them with enough sunlight
Prevent and control pests
Prevent and control diseases
Protect your flower plants from animals
Pinch and prune your plants
Thin and cull them
Stake them
Deadhead them
Use clean tools in your flower garden
Replace the soil

1. Water Your Flowers Regularly

In the summer season, you need to water your flowers at least once every day. Plants lose a lot of water during this season and they can wither or have stunted growth if they are not well watered. The other seasons are pretty cool and wet, and you can water your flowers twice a week.

When it comes to determining the amount of water to use on your garden, you need to consider the species of the flowers and their water requirements. Other factors that you can consider are the type of soil in your garden and the amount of rainfall in your area.

Note: Excess watering and poor watering methods can cause fungal diseases on plants. So it is recommended to apply the right amount and use safe watering methods like applying water directly on the soil and not on the foliage.

2. Apply Appropriate Fertilizers

Garden soils lose fertility with time, subjecting plants to inadequate nutrients. When you notice signs of low soil fertility in your garden, you need to immediately apply appropriate fertilizers to your flowers.

The best fertilizers for flowers are water-soluble or liquid ones. Some fertilizers can scorch plants when used incorrectly. For example, when high amounts are used or when applied at the wrong time. To avoid this problem, you need to follow the manufacturer’s directions for the fertilizer.

I tried a number of flower fertilizers without success before I found Dr. Earth Bud and Bloom Booster. So why is it the best fertilizer for these plants? Well, it is packed with a myriad of nutrients that continue to be released several months after application. It contains seven strains of beneficial soil microbes and eight strains of ecto and endo mycorrhizae. The latter improves drought resistance, among other benefits.

In addition, it is 100{f32667846e1257729eaaee80e922ba34a93c6414e9ad6261aff566c043b9e75d} organic and natural, doesn’t contain GMOs, and is safe for people and pets. Moreover, it is available in a number of sizes, so you can always find a size that suits the number of your flowers.

3. Remove Weeds From Your Flower Garden

Weeds compete for resources with useful plants and can harbor pests and diseases. In order to get the best from your flowers, you need to remove any weeds that grow in your garden.

If you are growing flowers in a smaller garden or using pots and vases, you can control weeds by just uprooting them. For a larger garden, you need to use garden tools like a hoe and pick, and you can weed after every week.

4. Mulch Your Flowers

Mulching involves covering soil with natural or synthetic materials. It is mainly done to help soil retain moisture, and is recommended in places with water scarcity. This garden practice has other benefits such as controlling weeds and regulating soil temperature.

If you decide to use mulches in your garden, you need to choose the ones that do not spoil the beauty of your plants. Some recommended mulches include grass, leaves, wood chips, and polythene papers.

Wood Chips Used as Mulch on Flowers

Jan Saints: CC-BY-2.0

5. Provide Your Plants With Enough Sunlight

Sunlight is the source of energy in plants, and so you need to ensure that your flowers are getting enough of it. Some flowers need many hours of sunlight every day while others, like the indoors, need just a few hours. So you need to know the light requirements of your plants in order to provide them with enough light.

One way to ensure that your plants are getting enough sunlight is to establish your garden away from tall buildings or large trees. This is basically to avoid sunlight blockage. If your plants cannot survive long hours of sunlight, you can place a barrier somewhere around your garden or vases to block sunlight during some hours of the day.

6. Prevent and Control Pests

Pests can easily kill flower plants, so it is important to prevent them from attacking your garden. You can prevent some pests by keeping your garden free from weeds and refuse. You can prevent other pests by installing barriers and traps. Some pests that you should be aware of include bugs, mites, aphids, whiteflies, and gnats.

If your plants are accidentally attacked by pests, you need to use appropriate pesticides to kill the harmful organisms. You can also eradicate the highly affected plants to control the spread of pests.

I usually use the Summit spray oil, which can eradicate a large number of harmful insects in my garden. Pests were a major problem in my flower garden until I discovered this pesticide. I would recommend that you get it if you have the pest menace in your garden!

Even when the plants are heavily affected, this pesticide effectively kills the harmful organisms, reviving your flowers and keeping your garden free from pests. It is rainproof and can be used to protect indoor plants. It controls aphids, leaf miners, Japanese beetles, whiteflies, rose midge, and others. It comes in a sprayer can and is ready to use.

7. Prevent and Control Diseases

Like pests, diseases are quite harmful to flowers. Most plant diseases are caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Some diseases that you should be aware of include anthracnose, bacterial leaf spot, ovulinia petal blight, and white rust.

You can prevent fungal diseases by avoiding excessive use of water in your garden, pots, or vases. On the other hand, you can prevent bacterial and viral diseases by using clean weeding and pruning tools.

If your plants get infected with a disease, you need to use appropriate chemicals to kill the disease-causing microorganisms. You should look for the best fungicide, bactericide, or virucide depending on the cause of the disease.

8. Protect Your Flower Plants from Animals

Some animals, like the herbivores, can destroy flower gardens by feeding on the foliage. Other animals like dogs and cats can also be destructive on garden plants.

The best way to protect your garden from animals is to install a barrier. You can use a barrier like a wire fence which provides maximum protection and still keeps the garden visible.

9. Pinch and Prune Your Plants

In the world of plant care, pinching is the process of removing stem tips to encourage lateral growth and promote good shape. It is recommended to pinch back your plants to increase branching and promote the formation of more flowers.

On the other hand, pruning is the process of cutting back the overgrown branches to control the growth of plants. If some of your plants have branches growing waywardly, you can cut them back to achieve uniform heights and compact shapes.

10. Thin and Cull Your Plants

Thinning is the process of removing excess plants to create room for the growth of the remaining plants. If your garden lacks enough resources for all the flowers, you can carry out this process.

On the other hand, culling is the process of removing undesirable plants (inferior, weak, infested or diseased) to give more room for the remaining plants or to control pests and diseases. If you have some undesirable plants in your flower garden, you need to remove them to allow the healthy ones grow properly.

11. Stake Your Plants

Staking is done to provide support for plant stems. It involves fixing a stake or rod in the ground and tying a stem on it. It is done on plants with weak stems or where plants are required to grow in a certain direction.

If you have some weak-stemmed flowers in your garden, you can use bamboo sticks or any other light wood to stake them. You need to fix the sticks in the ground and tie the stems on them with threads, a garden tape, or strips of a cloth.

Staked Flowers

Jan Saints: CC-BY-2.0

12. Deadhead Your Plants

Deadheading is the process of removing old or dead flower heads from a plant to encourage more blooming. According to my own experience, the process can prolong the blooming period. It can also keep the plants looking tidy.

To deadhead your plants, you can use your fingers to remove the old or dead flower heads. If your plants have many heads to remove, you can use a shearing tool to remove them in a short time.

Garden tools can spread diseases, so you need to ensure that your weeding and pruning tools are always free from disease-causing microorganisms. It is recommended to clean and disinfect them before and after use.

When it comes to disinfecting your tools, you need first to look for a good disinfectant like chlorine bleach, trisodium phosphates, or isopropyl alcohol. With the disinfectant, you can just wash the tools with the chemical. You can also dip the tools in the chemical for at least five minutes. You may have to use a large container and more disinfectant if you decide to disinfect your tools through dipping.

14. Replace the Soil

Soils lose their physical properties with time, lowering their capacity to sustain plant growth. If your garden or potting soil cannot sustain your flowers due to the degradation of its physical properties, you need to replace it.

You can get new soil from your local garden center. You can also use soil from another place in your home or business premise, but you need to fumigate it to kill any pests and diseases.

Conclusion

As you can see, it is a good bit of work to care for your garden flower plants, but it is pretty easy to carry out the care practices. If you are growing these flowers, you can make use of this guide to maintain a beautiful garden and improve the aesthetic value of your property.

References

Henry D. “How to Grow Flowers the Organic Way.”. gardenorganic.org.uk. Flower Gardening. Garden Organic. Henry Doubleday Research Association. (2010).
Scott E. “Getting Started in the Production of Field-Grown, Specialty Cut Flowers.”. (PDF). hort.vt.edu. Virginia Tech. (2006).
Huyser-Honig J. “Quick Cut Flowers.”. garden.org. National Gardening Association. (2008).
Jeannette K., Brown D. “Indoor Plants: Care and Management.”. articles.extension.org. eXtension. (2008).
Sandborn D. “Plan Now For a Beautiful Flower Cutting Garden.”. msue.anr.msu.edu. Flower Gardening. Michigan State University. (2017).

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Questions & Answers

Question: How should I care for rhododendrons and azaleas?

Answer: Mulching in spring, fertilizing when flower buds swell, etc. The rest of care is not much different from what is explained in the article.

Question: What’s the name of the Christmas flower?

Answer: Poinsettia

Perlita Imperial Pigte on August 17, 2020:

Thank you very much to this author to giving us information and to answer my evry question about how to take care my plants.. Now i know it all because of this page.. I will apply this matter in mine garden..

Frederick S Januaries (author) from Intercontinental on April 06, 2020:

@Donna check on the web.

DONNA CREASEY on April 05, 2020:

HOW DO I CARE FOR A PLANT CALLED PAINTED DESERT?

Louise89 on March 22, 2020:

Great info, thanks!

Frederick S Januaries (author) from Intercontinental on August 24, 2015:

Thanks Rebeccamealey for your comment.

Rebecca Mealey from Northeastern Georgia, USA on August 17, 2015:

Great Hub! You covered it all. I have been better at flowers and herbs this year than veggies. I shall remember this great guide.

Frederick S Januaries (author) from Intercontinental on August 17, 2015:

Yes, and any other young plant. Thanks Thumbi7 for the comment.

JR Krishna from India on August 17, 2015:

Mulching works for vegetables as well right?

Useful information

Thanks for sharing

Frederick S Januaries (author) from Intercontinental on July 11, 2015:

Thanks Wiccansage,

Mackenzie Sage Wright on July 10, 2015:

Good, sound advice for anyone growing flowers.

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