Create An Instant Garden - Instant Garden

By: Arista Hageman

Only two days before my daughterís wedding in June, the bride-to-be appears on my doorstep with tears streaming down her soft face. ìOh mom, what am I going to do? The English Garden we were going to have the reception in has been vandalized!î

ìCalm down, sweetie. Weíll just have the reception in the backyard here,î I quickly chimed in, hoping to stop her tears.

ìBut mom, no offense, but this is no English Garden,î she said, clearly worried.

I was going to have to come up with a sophisticated, charming, not to mention blooming garden in less than two days. Luckily, I was able to design a plan for an ìinstant gardenî that everyone at the reception raved about. Hereís how I did itÖ

I started by figuring out how much space I had to work with. Drawing it up on a piece of graph paper with each square on the graph paper representing a square foot of my yard, I put my imagination to work dreaming up my new flower garden. Using colored pencils (you could use markers or crayons too), decide on your color scheme throughout the instant garden. I chose to place two annuals, like petunias, marigolds, or zinnias, per square foot, focusing on pink, blue, and purple colors. I also wanted to place some potted plants, a classic instant garden choice, around the reception area to add diversity to my plant scheme.

Next, I made up my shopping list. Realistically, you canít create a large flower garden in two days without doing a little spending at your favorite nursery or home and garden store. I wrote down all the plants I wanted to buy to fill in most of the spaces in my new garden beds. I also wanted to add some style to the garden, so I jotted down a concrete bird bath, a rustic bird house, some stepping stones to wind their way through the garden bed, and whatever other accessories seemed appropriate to our reception, like citronella torches perhaps.

After picking up all of the items I needed to create my overnight sensation garden, it was time to go to work. I added some compost and slow-release fertilizer to my garden beds, tilling it into the soil which had already been loosed with a pitchfork, and I let the whole mixture sit overnight. Many gardeners believe this rest period is important to allow the soil microorganisms to get settled and all the ingredients in the soil to meld. Also, be sure to allow your plants to sit outside overnight in the place where they will be planted so they can get used to that garden bedís particular microclimate. Otherwise, your plants may experience shock, whither, and possibly die.

The day of the wedding arrived. Early that morning, I planted all of the gorgeous full-blooming annual flowers that I had purchased from the nursery in their pre-selected spots. Then, I hung the potted baskets of bright purple and pink fuchsias under the large white tent that had been set up for food and drink and displayed a few large Victorian urns filled to overflowing with delicate ivy and begonias near the entrance to the yard. Placing the birdbath and birdhouse, stepping stones, and torches took only a few more minutes. It was very enjoyable seeing it all come together so nicely and so quickly! An old garden bench right in between two flower beds made it seem cozy and complete. After watering all of the plants in and spreading some finely chopped cedar bark mulch on top of the soil, although you could use gravel or whatever mulch suits your style, it was time to get ready for the wedding.

Seeing the joy on my daughterís face when she arrived that evening made all of the elbow grease I poured into my instant garden worth it. Whether youíre creating an instant garden for a special event like a family reunion or a birthday party, or youíre just short on gardening time in general, the result will be spectacular!

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Gardening Know How
57 Wandle Ave
Bedford, OH 44146