“It helps them compete a little bit for sunlight, so they grow taller, which is always great for cut flowers.” “We typically go a little bit closer here at the farm as far as spacing goes, because we find that when we’re doing cut flowers, they actually benefit from being planted slightly closer together than is recommended,” explains Bosch. One benefit is minimizing weed competition, but another is increased height, she says. That being said, you may be able to get away with packing your plants a smidge closer than recommended, suggests Briana Bosch of Blossom and Branch Flower Farm. It might seem more attractive to plant them closer than suggested, but then they won’t thrive-meaning instead of fewer eye-catching plants, you’ll have more dying or sick ones. No matter how impressive a bloom could potentially be, a flower bed will only look good if it’s well maintained.Īnother key to making the flower beds look good is to follow the spacing requirements for a given plant. Do you want hedges of rose bushes because you love the smell, or because you just want lots of big blooms? That can help you find alternatives that work with your budget and the amount of time you have to dedicate to maintenance.

Then figure out why those elements matter to you.

Making sure your flower bed looks good means knowing what your ideal dream garden, regardless of what your property actually looks like, would entail before heading to the store.

Perennial flower garden layout