How to Make a Flower Bed to Suit the Space You Have

Has your lawn been looking especially bland? Are you researching ways to add something visually interesting to your yard? If so, you should consider a flower bed, stat. A well-made flower bed for your landscape gives you plenty of space to plant colorful annuals, perennials, and blooming shrubs. It’s a great way to add beauty and fragrance to an otherwise empty expanse of land.

That’s not all. Backyard flower beds also help roll out the welcome mat for essential pollinators like birds and butterflies – elements crucial to ecological survival… and bringing some life to a dull yard.

While planting a new flower bed does require some forethought, it’s not nearly as difficult as you might think. So, if you’re ready to add more intrigue to your lawn, you’ve come to the right place.

7 Steps to Planting a Gorgeous Flower Bed

Planting a flower bed for your landscape can be fun and rewarding, provided you know what to do. Here are seven quick tips to get you started on the right track.

1. Choose the Right Location

For starters, you must decide where you want your flower bed to go. There are three factors to account for here: light, soil, and water.

A. Light

Look for an area in your lawn that gets at least six to eight hours of sun. However, if you’re worried about your flowers wilting from extreme heat during the warmer months, pick a location receiving some afternoon shade.

B. Soil

Most flowers prefer loamy, well-draining soil, but this isn’t the same across the board. Remember, your flowers will only bloom when they’re compatible with the soil, so it’s best to take a soil test to determine which plants should go into the flower beds in your backyard.

C. Water

Make sure the flower bed is within reach of your garden hose to make irrigation easier. But be careful not to knock into the stems, as this might damage them.

Also, consider how well-irrigated your yard is before deciding on a spot. You don’t want to plant your flower bed where there’s standing or pooling water.

2. Pick a Garden Bed Style and Color Scheme

Flower beds for your backyard can come in various shapes and forms. Although there’s plenty of debate on the ‘correct’ way to organize a flower bed, beginners can just focus on what they like. You can always change your mind, add or delete shrubs, or move them around till you find an arrangement that works for you.

Want to improve your yard’s visual appeal? Decide on a color scheme for your flower beds. Focus on several shades of a single color or opt for a vibrant mixture. Hues like blue, purple, and yellow almost always work well together, so you can use them as a starting point.

3. Strip the Grass

You can rent a machine or use a trench shovel to lift and peel away the grass from where you want your flower bed to go. We recommend doing this after a spell of rain, so the ground is soft enough to work with.

If you want to save some elbow grease, kill the grass with a broad-spectrum herbicide. Carefully spray the grass within the flower bed’s outline, then wait a week or two as it turns brown and dies. Next, churn up the dead grass till it mixes with the soil.

As a bonus, the dead grass adds organic matter to the soil and improves its texture!

Another way to kill grass is to cover it with plastic sheets. Leave it in the sun for two-three weeks for the heat to scorch the grass, weeds, and soil pathogens. Once the grass is dead, dig it up!

4. Prepare Your Soil

Virtually all types of soil will benefit from amendments like compost, well-decomposed organic matter, or peat moss. Compost enhances the soil’s fertility and loosens it up for better friability.

You can also get your soil professionally tested to understand how to nourish it better, as well as what type of fertilizers to use. For example, if you’re planting acid-loving flower shrubs, you may need to add agricultural sulfur to lower your soil’s pH.

5. Put Down a Weed Barrier

A weed barrier is a geotextile cloth that keeps sunlight, oxygen, and water from reaching weeds. The idea behind them is simple: starve the weeds, and you’ll never have to worry about pulling them out again.

In a more realistic sense, weed barriers drastically cut down on the work needed to take care of pesky weeds.

While weed barriers are optional, many gardeners use them to reduce lawn care chores. But they aren’t without fault.

Weed barriers can prevent organic mulch from breaking down and blending with the soil. They can also slow down the spread of plants that expand by dispelling rhizomes. In case you’re not sure whether to use them, be sure to consult an expert landscape material supplier first.

6. Plant Your Shrubs

Now for the fun part: adding the plants to your flower bed! To ensure your shrubs are spaced evenly, lay them out before planting them in the soil. Moreover, account for their size when they mature fully. Most plants purchased from nurseries are still in their early stages of growth, meaning you’ll have to leave room for them to get bigger.

Next, de-pot your plants and gently tease the circling roots. Dig a hole the same size as the pot, place the plant, and cover the area with soil. Be sure to add enough water to soak the roots.

7. Lay Down Your Mulch

Once the flower bed is ready, it’s time to add mulch. A thick layer of organic mulch can help with water retention, weed prevention, and root insulation.

Choose whatever mulch you like: wood chips, hardwood bark, or leaves. Apply a generous layer to the soil (at least 2-4 inches thick), leaving an inch between the mulch and the flowers’ root systems. If you’re using organic mulch, remember to replenish it periodically.

Get in Touch with a Trusted Landscape Material Supplier

There’s no time like the present to build a flower bed in your backyard. Don’t let the rumors fool you: building a flower bed from scratch is a straightforward project that just about any DIYer can accomplish over the weekend. And if you don’t know where to begin, refer to this article for pointers!

At Pioneer, we know you love keeping your turf looking its best all year round. That’s why we offer premium landscaping materials to help you out. From landscape rock and soil to aggregates and mulch, our landscape material supplier has everything you need. Contact us today to learn more!