Is there a spot in your yard that you often walk by and think “this spot is pretty boring” or “it would be nice to add a little something here”? Well, that happened to me recently and I am loving the small flowerbed that I designed and have now planted flowers in. There are so many outside plants and flowers to choose from…something for everyone. If the word “gardening” makes you want to run, hold tight! I have some easy flower bed how to tips on choosing a great spot for some flowers and a few suggestions on really low maintenance plants! So grab your gardening supplies and get ready for these flower gardening tips that keep things simple and easy.
Flower Bed How To Tips To Get You Started
Flower Bed Design Ideas
You first need to decide where that spot is that you’d like to add a few flowers or plants to. For me, we have a sidewalk that runs down the side of our house (from the front yard to the backyard) and the front corner was a perfect spot to “fancy up” a bit! It was just a grassy spot. It looked kind of plain and a little messy so I dug out a backwards “L” along the sidewalk. Flower beds can come in all shapes and sizes but it is best to decide what works for your particular space. Start small and you can always grow and expand it as you reap the benefits of planting flowers.
How To Edge A Flower Bed
We had extra pavers that I lined the flowerbed with. If you have some sort of rock or bricks laying around, those will work great for creating a border around your flowerbed. Logs can make be a nice way to edge a flower bed too- honestly there are so many ways to edge a flower bed. I think a little border makes it look tidy but you don’t have to add a border if you’d prefer not to. So my flower bed covers the front of our sidewalk and then goes back about a third of the way to our backyard. I had laid out my pavers to see how many I had and then that gave me an idea of about how long I could make my flowerbed.
Enrich Your Flower Bed Soil
Ok, so you have picked out a spot that needs a little love and you have dug out the bed. Another of my flower gardening tips is that it is always a great idea to add a bag of potting soil in with your original dirt just so your flowers can have some extra nourishment and fresh dirt. You can always ask the person at the garden shop what you should grab!
Choosing What Type Of Flowers To Grow
Next, up on your flower bed how to tips is to decide what you’d like to plant and what would grow well once you have dug out your flowerbed. For mine, part of the flower bed is in the shade and gets barely any sun and the front part gets a good deal of sun. So, I needed a few different types of flowers for this area. I chose a few hostas for the shady part (which have nice foliage and pretty blooms) and I planted zinnia seeds (which are already coming up) for the front sunny part of the flowerbed.
You may wish to consider which flowers are perennial (they come back year after year) and which ones are annual. You may also wish to consider planting a mix so that if you plant perennial flower bulbs you also have an area where annuals can be changed out for the different fall and spring seasons. Additionally, you may also wish to consider native plants for your landscaping because they require less care.
Planting Flower Seeds
Planting seeds is cheaper than buying the already bloomed flowers but you have to plant those early so that your flowers will bloom and flower in time for late spring/early summer…don’t wait till the middle of summer to plant seeds! I suggest going to a local garden store and browsing around! See what plants and flowers they have laying out in the sun and check out the ones in the shade. You can also read packs of seeds to see what area they should be planted in. I love Zinnas for bright, colorful flower beds.
Chose Flowers For Full Sun or Part Shade
I love hostas when it comes to needing a plant for a shady spot. They are hardy and don’t need much care and they come back every year which is nice! I always love zinnias for a sunny spot. They’re beautiful flowers and keep their bloom all summer long!
I hope you found these flower bed how to tips helpful to get you started. Do you enjoy getting outside to garden? You may want to get the kids outside to help you. Teaching kids gardening is a great way to improve their self esteem. What are some of your go-to easy flowers for outdoor flowerbeds?
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