The first thing you will need to consider when planning a garden is
the location. If you will be planting a vegetable garden, you will likely
need to choose a location that receives a great deal of sunlight. This
is because most vegetables require eight hours or more of sunlight in
order to grow properly and to form strong roots and stems.
Getting Enough Sun for Your Vegetable Garden
Since you will need a great deal of sunlight for your vegetable garden,
you should never plant it next to large trees that will cast shadows
throughout the day. Similarly, it is generally best not avoid planting a
vegetable garden right next to a building or a home. The shadow
cast by the home can prevent adequate sunlight from reaching your
garden. If you aren’t sure about a specific area, take a day to monitor
the position of the sun and the shade it produces in the area you are
considering for your garden. You don’t need to stand out there all
day! Rather, check on the area once per hour in order to get an idea
of how much sunlight the area receives.
Making the Garden Spot Suit Your Flowers
If you are planting a flower garden, you have a bit more flexibility
when it comes to the amount of sunlight your garden needs to
receive. This is because there are flowers that love shade, flowers
that love sun, and flowers that love everything in between. If you
have already looked at different types of flowers and have your heart
set on certain ones, however, you will need to plan the location of
your garden accordingly.
Most nurseries include tags with their flowers that describe the ideal
growing conditions for the flower, including the amount of sunlight it
requires. Look at the tag to determine if the flowers you like require
shade, partial shade, partial sun, or full sun. If you notice that all of
the flowers you have selected require shade, such as the Hosta and
the Lily of the Valley, you will want to choose a shady location for
your garden. This might be beneath a tree or even under a balcony
or porch. If, on the other hand, the flowers you selected enjoy full
sun, you will need to select a location that requires a great deal of
sunlight during the day.
You may discover that you enjoy a mixed bag of flowers. For
example, some may prefer partial shade while others prefer full sun.
In this case, you might need to choose a couple different locations
and two or more gardens. Or, you will have to decide which type of
flower you would like to specialize in. In general, there are more
flowers to choose from if you decide to go with those requiring full
sun to partial sun. On the other hand, full shade and partial shade
flowers are often easier to care for.
Making Your Flowers Suit Your Garden Spot
You can also use the reverse approach to selecting a garden spot for
your flower garden. Perhaps you already have a spot in mind that
you feel would be just perfect, but you have not taken a look at
flowers yet. Monitor the area you have selected and determine if it
gets more than eight hours of sunlight per day. If it does, you should
go with full sun plants for that area. If it receives about five or six
hours of sunlight per day, partial sun plants are ideal. Full sun plants
might still survive in this spot, but their stems may become spindly
and require staking, as they do not receive the amount of sun
necessary to grow strong.
If the garden spot you have selected receives two to four hours of
sunlight, partial shade flowers are ideal. If the area receives less than
two hours of sunlight per day, you should stick with full shade
flowers.You will also discover that there are some flowers that are
quite versatile and can handle anywhere from full shade to partial sun
or from partial shade to full sun. These flowers are often easier to
care for because of this versatility. So, if you are still uncomfortable
with determining the amount of sunlight your area receives, you
might want to stick with these flowers.
