Ummm...I need some help. We have this one area of our yard with nothing in it, so we just picked up some colorful flowers to plant out there. The only problem is, we have no idea what we're supposed to do. I also bought some soil, because I figured we'd need some of that. Do I need to dig up the dirt that is there, mix in some soil, and then plant? Do I need to put mulch on top of it? I also just noticed I bought potting soil.....does that mean I need to buy something different? Do I need to buy more flowers? As you can tell I'm a complete idiot when it comes to this, and my wife isn't any better off. Here are some pics, please help! This is the area I'm looking to plant these suckers at: And this is what I bought to plant:
I'm not a complete Green Thumb, and I'm certainly not a landscaper, but here's what I can offer you: You can probably just dig up the dirt, plant the flowers, and put some new soil back on top. And I wouldn't use the potting soil... You can find some soil better intended for your use back at the store - maybe some miracle gro to jump start your flowers, something with a lot of nutrients your dirt patch is probably lacking in. And another thing to think about is if you got the right kind of flowers for how much sunlight they'll be exposed to, the temp ranges, rainfall, all that jazz. You definitely need to know how much upkeep you're looking at before you plant all this. Depending on how many flowers you actually bought (I'm hoping those three aren't it) you might need more. When you're planting for the first time, your plants should look a bit thin - but once they flourish and grow in, your bed will look fuller. So don't worry about completely filling in all empty areas. You really just need enough to evenly cover your area without completely packing them in... I think most plants need anywhere from 2-3 to 6 or more inches between it and the next plant. It's kinda hard to explain. I hope you understand... Also, once your flowers have had a few years to grow in, how tall will they be? Are they all going to be the same height? If so, you might want to layer your plants so that you have some taller ones in the back and smaller ones in the front. This way you have a transition up to the fence line and you also have different flora and you can see each without having to walk up to the bed and look down.
I'm no expert either but I think the potting soil will be ok. It's just freakin soil... I would dig up the dirt and mix it all together. I would maybe get some Osmocote flower food and or other fertilizer/manure to mix in too.
Hold off, and call the Gardenline in the morning: http://950kprc.com/gardenline.html If I remember correctly I think he advises against potting soil in that situation, but I may be wrong.
I was a licensed Landscape Architect many a moon ago. It looks like that spot may be pretty shady, the plants you bought, Marigolds need lots of sun. Since you bought em you can try them. If it's too shady they will just bloom a little and then just get leggy with no flowers. Potting soil is fine, spread your bag evenly over the bed and then come back with a shovel and break up the old soil and mix in the potting soil till yoou have a loose fluffy soil an inch or two higer than the native soil. Normally you would space 1" plants about 4" or 5' apart but you can spread them out evenly over the bed with what you have. They will need fertilizer, get a little plastic bottle of 'time released 'that will take care of the plants all summer. Be sure they get plenty of water (2 or 3 times a week). Keep the weeds pulled too. For failure proof flowers buy Lantana and Penta's. They are perrnial too so they will come back every year.
They're beagles, and yes they are very friendly.....although they do like to talk a lot. Thanks for the info Dubious. Like I said we know nothing about this stuff. We've got everything in the ground now and it doesn't look too bad I guess. At least it looks better than it did before. I'll pickup some of that fertilizer to put on there. Thanks!
