The Making of a Flower Farm

The first stage in making the flower farm was to work out how much space we actually had to grow on. I invested in a really long tape measure and we measured the site.

I took the measurements and made a rough plan, which allowed me to work out how many beds I could fit in. The field is a fair size, but it slopes down towards the stream and the slight incline faces north. The beds lie east to west, which goes against everything I have ever read. However, in this case the wind comes from the west and I wanted to present the smallest area possible to the wind. A 4 metre bed full of dahlias facing the wind would be knocked over in no time. Lining up the beds in this direction doesn’t seem to have had any effect on productivity. In fact there is an unexpected bonus. The flowers on the south side of the bed mature before those on the north side. This gives a slight, but welcome, extension to the harvesting season.

We marked out the beds with string and pegs. Each bed is 1 metre wide by 4 metres long. Making the beds 1 metre wide makes it possible to reach the flowers on the far side of the bed. Each square metre will fit 16 flowers planted at 9 inches (23cm) apart or 9 plants at 12 inches (30cm) apart. This makes it easier to work out how many plants are needed to fill the bed. Ideally, I would have gone no dig, but we were running out of time to plant the dahlias and I couldn’t wait for the turf and weeds to rot down under compost and cardboard. I also didn't have enough compost to make it work.

So Nick, my husband, got busy with the shovel. After clearing the turf we dug the beds over. From now on they will be no dig.

We were not counting on this. Under the ground by the hedge there was black plastic and net buried just below the surface. It made the whole job so hard. It also made me glad I’d not gone for no dig or we would never have known the plastic and net were there. It all had to be dug out by hand.

By now the dahlias were getting desperate to go in the ground. On the 7th June, I was able to start planting them out. This felt like a real achievement.

I supported the dahlias using canes and biodegradable jute netting. This method means you don’t need to have a stake on each plant, and it kept the dahlias upright even after some pretty fierce storms that took a lot of plants in the garden down. However, we do need to find a better solution. The netting rots after a couple of seasons and is expensive to buy.

On the 21st June 2020, I could finally plant out my shrub babies. Many of these were cuttings or grown from plug plants. I have been growing them on for almost 3 years, since I first decided I was going to grow flowers for cutting. Foliage is important in a cutting patch and although it can take a while to get them big enough to cut from regularly they are definitely worth the wait. I have planted Spirea arguta (Bridal Wreath), Physocarpus Dart's Gold and Diablo (Nine Bark), Viburnum opulus (Snowball Bush), Weigela and Cornus sibirica (lovely red stems in winter and white and green variegated foliage). I plan to add more each year as my budget allows.

Here is the flower farm, one month later, on the 19th July 2020. The weed proof membrane is necessary to keep the grass and weeds down on the paths. Without it the weeds and grass would inevitably grow into the beds. I made sure I bought the heaviest grade, uv resistant, membrane (150gsm) to ensure it lasts the longest possible time.

And here it is on the 25th September 2020. The dahlias are in flower and the wallflowers and biennials are planted out ready for next spring. See the grass trying to grow into the beds in the bed nearest the camera? Because the membrane covers its roots it is actually very easy to pull out. My first year and I actually have plants growing and ready for picking. I'm really pleased with what we have achieved and next year will be even better.