Once the locations within your garden have been chosen for dahlia planting it is time to prepare a garden layout plan.
At Art's Nursery we grow dahlia varieties that are as short as knee high to some that tower higher than one's head.
Thus planning is important to be certain that taller varieties are planted in the back of flower gardens and shorter
growing varieties will be located in the foreground of flower beds. Taller varieties will need to be planted further
apart while shorter varieties can be planted closer together. Average spacing should be between 45 to 70 cm (18 to 28
inches) depending on plant size.
Flower size is an important consideration within the layout plan. Smaller flowers should be located in locations where
they can be well seen while giants and large flowered varieties can be located further back in mixed plantings. In any
case one will want to be able to reach most plants in order to remove spent flowers and to cut flowers for beautiful
indoor floral displays.
If your dahlia plants are to be grown in a garden of their own, the rows should be at least one to 1.5 meters (40 to 60
inches) apart. In crowded plantings it will become difficult to walk between the rows, plants will grow tall and
spindly, and poor air circulation may encourage powdery mildew to form in humid areas. Giant flowered and taller
varieties should be provided the most growing space while smaller plants can be planted closer together within the row.
Read Other Parts Of This Series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11