There’s no time like the summer months to spruce up your flower arranging skills. Plants and flowers not only improve the aesthetic of a room, but they also provide a multitude of health benefits – from improving air quality to reducing stress levels. Flowers bloom beautifully in the warmer weather, but if you’re going to bring them indoors, you might as well do them justice by learning how to look after them and create a beautiful visual display.

Gather the right materials

Fundamentally, looking after your flowers and arranging them correctly comes down to having the appropriate equipment. It’s a good idea to try and obtain gardeners’ or florists’ scissors for better results, but you can make it work with normal scissors. These are needed to cut and freshen the stems – and also snip them to the desired size.

You’ll also need a sturdy vase – especially if you’re looking to create a particularly large arrangement. If you’re keen to take a more creative approach, however, jug-shaped vases, baskets for foliage and rustic watering cans can be fun options to work with.

Before you get started, you’ll of course need to select the flowers that you’d like to use. It’s a good idea to select some greenery/foliage in addition to a combination of primary and secondary flowers (more on this below).

Work with less to create a larger impact

As is the case with many works of art, less is more. And flower arranging is, without a doubt, a form of artistry. Once you’ve chosen your accompanying foliage/greenery, you’re going to want to choose your primary flowers. These will sit in the foreground, creating a focal point, and can be large in size and brightly coloured. The secondary flowers, on the other hand, work to enhance the overall result and should be chosen to complement the primary flowers.

It’s recommended that a flower arrangement should not contain any more than 5 different types of flower – but you can still get creative with textures and colours.

Arrange your flowers carefully

When arranging your flowers into the vase, try to avoid the urge to pack them all into the vase at once; ensure that you’re placing the stems in one by one. This will ensure that each stem touches the water and sits securely inside the vase. It’s also important to make sure that each stem is trimmed down to size before arranging them.

You should aim to have a higher flower to vase ratio to create a sophisticated, professional appearance.

Pick seasonal flowers

Wherever you can, it’s best to try to use flowers and foliage that are in season at the time. You’ll not only save money by using locally picked produce, but the flowers will also have a longer shelf life, in comparison to out-of-season flowers which aren’t always fully blossomed. In the summer, marigolds and hydrangeas are just two of the best flowers to use, as they bloom all season.

 Consider all angles

Whilst you’re arranging your flowers, make sure to keep turning the vase as you go. This will ensure that you’re making the arrangement look good from all angles; not just the front view.

Whether you’re already an experienced florist or are simply looking to inject some colour into your home, there’s little more satisfying than watching your own flowers grow and flourish.

Did you know that having plants around the home is great for our overall health? Find out more here.