Hi everyone, welcome to Kellogg Garden's Youtube Channel. I'm Kim, and today I'm going to share my
cut flower garden do's and don'ts. But first, make sure you hit the subscribe button and the
notification bell so you can always be sure to get the great content that Kellogg provides.
This is my cut flower garden. A cut flower garden can seem intimidating at times, even for the most
experienced gardener. But, it can also bring so much joy. I always dreamed of walking out to my
garden anytime I wanted to and cut a bouquet of flowers for the house, a friend's birthday, or to
bring as a hostess gift. Today I wanted to share with you a few cut flower garden do's and don'ts.
If you're starting your cut flower garden from seed,
don't skimp on the seeds. Make sure that you start out with a really, high-quality seed that is free
from pesticides and diseases. Don't skip a soil test before you start planting. It's so important
to determine what amendments your garden is going to need before you start planting. And, do add a
rich organic matter like compost to provide the nutrients your plants are going to need.
Do know your average frost date in your area. This is going to give you an idea of when it's safe
to start planting your seeds and transplanting your seedlings. Hardiness zones are determined
by your area's 30-year average last frost date. Do mix vegetables in with your cut flowers.
I have beans and tomatoes in with my flowers here. The increased pollination from the bees
and other pollinators will make your garden become even more productive.
Do try to create a dedicated garden bed for your cut flowers that have the same watering
and feeding needs, if you have the room to do it, and plant rose rather than in groups.
Don't block flowers from the sun by planting tall plants in front of them. I'm showing this
little section of soil here because last year I planted other plants in that spot,
and those sweet peas blocked all of the sun from the other side.
Most cut flowers thrive in the full sun so don't plant your flowers in a location that has
any less than six hours of direct sun. The back of your seat package should tell you
exactly how much sun is needed for each variety of flower that you are growing.
Do support tall flowers, like these daisies, whether it's staking, trellising, or using a net.
And by supporting these tall flowers, like the dahlias here,
you're preventing damage from the wind, any heavy rains, or just typical, heavy growth.
For instance, these dahlias tend to be really heavy, especially the dinner plate varieties.
Don't overhead water. When you use a drip system or a soaker hose, your plants will
need only a quarter of the water they would need with overhead watering; and
you really just want to focus on watering the roots deep and not getting the leaves
wet. Don't overwater. As you can see, I made this mistake. Just because your plant is wilting,
doesn't mean it's due to lack of water. So, you need to test the soil by sticking your finger
down about an inch to see what the condition of the soil is before you start watering it.
Do water in the morning before the sun starts heating up the garden. Especially if you're
going to get the leaves wet on your plant, in the evening they won't have enough time to dry before
the temperature cools, and that could create powdery mildew. If you do have to water in
the evening, just make sure you're watering more directly onto the roots rather than the leaves.
Do deadhead any spent blooms regularly. This is going to encourage the plant to focus its energy
on producing new flowers instead of maintaining the old ones. It also keeps the plant from wasting
water and nutrients on the end of life blooms.
Do pinch your cut flowers such as sweet peas, dahlias, cosmos, and snapdragons
to encourage more blooms and taller stems.
When planning out your cut flower garden, try to choose flowers that produce for several months.
Some examples are zinnias, dahlias, cosmos, and hydrangeas.
I've learned a lot of do's and don'ts when it comes to my cut flower garden, and a lot
of the don'ts that I shared with you today are all the mistakes that I've made in the past.
I hope you found this to be helpful. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments
below, and if you have anything to add we'd like to hear from you. Thank you so much for
following along, if you liked this video tap the like button. Until next time, happy gardening!