It’s very easy to give your patio a cozy and attractive look. A small flower garden near the path and an alpine hill on the lawn behind the house will create a unique charm for the country estate. And in order to show individuality and realize your creative potential, it is better to create a flowerbed with your own hands. But landscaping requires a thoughtful approach, so you should be well prepared!
The main principles of creating a flowerbed with your own hands
City dwellers, breaking free into country life for the first time, often have no idea how to properly design their plot. Fortunately, mistakes in gardening are not terrible - you can always replace plants you don’t like. But why add hassle and financial expenses to yourself if everything can be done right?
Landscape plan of the site
Even a small yard requires a carefully thought out landscaping plan. Otherwise, it will turn from a work of art into a lush but tasteless flowerbed. You can contact professionals who will prepare a landscape design project based on specific data on the location and size of the site.
In the latter case, you should adhere to the main principles of landscape design:
- Equilibrium. All sides of the yard should be equal, without preponderance in any part. In practice, this means not crowding the center of the front lawn with a multi-tiered flower bed, leaving the far corner of the yard empty.
- Harmony. The garden should be liked, first of all, by its owners. But you shouldn’t try to fit a pond, a fountain, a sundial and a rockery into it - unless the plot is the size of a hectare. There must be free space so that the abundance of plants does not create “pressure” on vacationers.
- Moderation. The number of flower beds should not clutter the area, but only zone it. Thus, it is better to divide a narrow courtyard into several zones so as not to create the effect of a long corridor with a path in the middle. In a square garden, round flower beds and curved lines will be appropriate.
- Seasonality. The garden should look beautiful not only in summer, but also in winter. The lush greens or ocher colors of autumn leaves will make any area attractive. But bare branches and black empty flower beds will evoke melancholy. Therefore, it is necessary to include in the composition evergreen trees and bushes with bright, non-falling foliage - barberry, juniper and boxwood.
- Color combination. Bright colors should be interspersed with calm greenery, and you should not combine more than three primary colors in one flowerbed. The abundance of flowering plants, arranged chaotically and without a well-thought-out scheme, evokes associations with the floral layout at the market.
- Points of attention. Every garden should have several interesting objects that will attract the eye. This could be a flowerbed made from an old chest of drawers or a secluded gazebo hidden in a corner, woven with wild grapes. The main thing is that such objects should not immediately catch the eye, but attract attention and arouse the desire to examine them.
When the approximate plan of the site is ready, you need to take the time to study the conditions of maintenance and the mature appearance of the selected plants. After all, even a rock garden created by professionals will require constant and proper care, which an amateur gardener definitely cannot handle.
And a mast pine tree on three hundred square meters is not a very good choice.
Basic rules for flower beds
Once the locations for the flower beds have been chosen, you can begin by planning their composition. This also has its own characteristics:
- plants are selected according to soil type;
- conditions of care and maintenance should be similar;
- the use of commensal plants is allowed - when one plant benefits from the existence of another, but does not harm it;
- The flowerbed should look beautiful all year round.
Thus, plants that love acidic and alkaline soils should not be planted in the same flowerbed with common soil. On the other hand, flowers that require highly acidic soil can grow in moderately acidic soil, although they will appear somewhat weaker. For example, in a flowerbed with alkaline soil you can plant maples, hawthorn, rowan, decorate it with barberry, boxwood and meadowsweet shrubs, and plant low flowering plants at the edges - snapdragons, carnations or cornflowers.
Flowers in the same flowerbed should love the same conditions - humidity, sun and overhead or root watering. Thus, mosses and lichens require constantly moist soil and grow best in the shade. Azalea also loves moisture, and can burn in the open sun. So they perfectly complement each other and can be planted along the fence or under the canopy of a spreading catalpa.
At the same time, roses do not tolerate overhead watering, so it is better to plant them separately from all other plants and water them individually, pouring water directly under the bush.
If you want to combine tall and short plants, you can plant low-growing evergreen trees, and under them - primroses, aquilegias and polemonium. The spreading crown will create sufficient shade even in the middle of the yard, while the flowers will add variety with bright colors.
If you are planning a high flower bed at the entrance, you need to think about how it will look at any time of the year. Annual and wildly flowering plants are suitable here: in spring and summer, sulfinias and petunias delight the eyes, in autumn - chrysanthemums, and in winter you can decorate the flowerbed with a low artificial Christmas tree or place decorative figurines.
Mistakes of novice gardeners
Those who have not made mistakes have never designed their garden on their own. But you can learn from other people's mistakes! So, what a novice gardener should not do:
- Don't try to fill the void in your flower beds with only perennial plants. The young garden will constantly grow and in a few years five barberry bushes, interspersed with juniper, will fill the entire flowerbed. It is better to fill the free space with annual flowers - their number can be adjusted every year depending on need.
- There is no need to plant plants chaotically, without a clear idea of the future picture. Firstly, it creates a sloppy look, and secondly, some flowers will simply get lost against the background of the rest. For example, rose bushes planted in pairs - white with pale pink or red with dark burgundy - look very advantageous. In addition, roses create an excellent background for low-growing flowers.
- You can’t choose flowers only based on the shape of the inflorescences you like. So, dahlias look beautiful in a bouquet, but in a flowerbed they definitely need to be tied up and planted in a distant line. Asters and chrysanthemums also need to be chosen according to the shape of the bushes, but petunias and carnations can be safely chosen according to their flowers.
- It is highly undesirable to make flower beds from color mixtures of one plant. It is better to choose several colors and make interesting patterns. In this case, it is advisable to avoid straight lines - winding, round or geometric shapes will look more original.
Very often, flower beds are planted with plants that bloom during one period. It is better to avoid this situation by choosing the composition in such a way that the plants can bloom from early spring to late autumn.
For example, snowdrops appear first, then the tulip period begins, and after them the leaves of daylilies and peonies bloom.
And in order for the economic hand to be visible, the flowerbed must be regularly thinned, removing faded and dead parts. A few yellowed inflorescences on a hydrangea are enough to make the flower garden look untidy. If regular care is problematic, it is better to focus on evergreens and conifers.
Simple flower beds made from scrap materials
Financial restrictions are not a reason to deny yourself a beautiful flower garden. After all, it can be made from literally anything! All you have to do is use your imagination and sort out the piles of rubbish in the shed.
Bottle fencing
This option is suitable for unpretentious summer residents and city residents who want to decorate their local area. A low border will protect the flower garden from the encroachments of unscrupulous dog owners - animals are much smarter than people and often do not try to step over even such low fences. And the very fact of the presence of a border indicates that this flowerbed is being looked after.
For the bottle fence you will need:
- glass or plastic bottles, preferably 1.5 liters;
- garden shovel or hoe;
- sand (if the site has insufficiently loose soil);
- paint – paint the finished border if you come across bottles of different sizes.
The procedure is quite simple, you can even involve children in it to cultivate hard work in them:
Tall flower beds made from bottles look original. They are laid on a thick cement solution, the first layer should be placed in a recess or on the base - so that the bottles do not move apart. Each tier is filled with concrete from the inside so that the neck is in the solution. And to prevent concrete from flowing inside the circle, internal formwork is made. The only disadvantage of this solution is that it is quite difficult to find identical glass bottles.
Tire basics
Tires are the most popular bases for country and city flower beds. Strong, durable and unnecessary. Their appearance is quite unpretentious, but with a little imagination, you can create really interesting yard decorations.
Multi-tiered flower beds made up of several tires look good. In this case, you can take tires of different diameters, radii and widths. If you want to add some variety, you can paint the old wheels, but it is better not to get carried away with colorful colors, choosing white or green. This way the base of the flowerbed will not distract attention from the flowers themselves.
Original compositions from old things
What some consider unnecessary trash, summer residents can turn into real works of art! For example, an old chair makes an excellent vintage flowerpot stand. By complementing the composition with the rest of the set, you will get an original flowerbed. Definitely no other housewife has one like this!
Any old things will be used. Even a suitcase without a handle can come in handy again.
If you have an old chest of drawers at home, you should never throw it away! It will be an excellent decoration for a blank stone wall in the far corner of the garden.
But when breathing new life into old things, it is important to carefully treat them with antiseptic solutions that prevent rotting. And then the original flower beds will become the hallmark of the house!
Beautiful and versatile flower beds
Complex flower beds look much more advantageous on any site. But even if you don’t want to bother with capital construction, you can make beautiful vertical flower beds from pots.
To do this, you will need the pots themselves and one metal rod. The pots begin to be strung on it through the drainage hole and themselves take the desired slope.
Another type of convenient and simple flower bed is a column of petunias. It can be moved on a stand with wheels throughout the entire territory, and can be simply disassembled for the winter. For the device you will need a net, a large pot, black spunbond, a cable tie and a lot of petunias or sulfinia seedlings.
Creating a brick fence
A brick flowerbed allows you to advantageously zone the space and is suitable for both large and small courtyards. This is also a great option for flower lovers who don't want to waste their time mowing the lawn.
Making such a flower bed is not difficult, but it takes a long time:
A brick fence for a flower bed can be assembled without mortar. But it does not look so neat, and there is a greater chance that such a structure will collapse over time.
If you don’t want to mix concrete, you can frame the flowerbed with low stone edges.
Laying stone borders without mortar
To do this, a small ditch is dug around the perimeter of the flower bed and bricks are laid in it. The advantage of this solution is that the flowerbed can always be enlarged or its shape changed. When, after a couple of years, the border begins to be overgrown with grass, it is easy to remove it, clean it and lay it again.
To prevent the stones from moving, it is still better to fix them with a small amount of cement. But it’s quite possible to do without it. Such a border is placed on the ground from which the top layer of grass has been removed. The rows are laid gradually, and the evenness of the masonry is determined by the stretched twine.
To ensure that it lies securely, the lower large stones are placed in a previously dug trench. The second layer of stones begins to be laid after the soil is poured inside the flowerbed. It will fix the already laid stones and allow you to install the top ones.
Their design is quite simple: you can buy ready-made cages and fill them with stones or assemble the base yourself. To do this, you will need to dig a trench 25 cm deep, cover the bottom with geotextile, install a strong mesh of the required height and fill the trench with gravel and sand. To prevent the gabions from wobbling, reinforcing rods are dug in every 50 cm. And the mesh sections are treated with an anti-corrosion compound.
You can purchase them or make them yourself from stiff wire. Ready-made gabions are closed cages, which is why they got their name. Self-made flower beds can be left open by simply pouring heaps of stones.
A flowerbed can even be made from waste corrugated sheets after installing a fence! The video shows a simple and quick way to create a beautiful two-tier flower bed:
15 basic patterns for a flower garden will help you make a beautiful flower bed with your own hands - always use any, even the smallest place in the garden to plant your favorite flowers.
Flower garden near the gazebo:
Chubushnik. . Holly. Mirabilis. Sage. Coreopsis.
Before we start laying out the flower garden, let’s calculate on paper how many plants we need. We divide the flower garden diagram to scale into squares with a side of 1 m, mark the planting contours of each type of flower, and calculate the area for each.
Front flower garden at the “Welcome” entrance:
Rose. Petunia. Thuja. Delphinium. Lilies. Astra is perennial. Cuff.
We divide the calculated planting area for each type of flower by the average planting rate per 1 square meter. m: for large 100-120 cm - 2-3 pcs., medium 40-90 cm - 4-6 pcs., low 20-40 cm - 7-9 pcs. and dwarf plants 5-20 cm - 16-20 pcs.
Flower garden at the entrance to the house:
Virginia. Rose. Sedum. Balsam. Chistets woolly. Miscanthus chinensis.
We transfer the flower garden diagram to the garden plot. The contours of the flower bed can be marked with sand, chalk, and sawdust.
Flower garden “Path to the garden”:
Juniper. Highlander. Sage. Bloodroot. Helenium. Formium.
We prepare the ground - dig to a depth of 40 cm and select the roots, or remove the top layer of turf and add specially prepared soil. We mark the planting contours for each type of flower.
Fragrant flower garden for a sunny place:
Hibiscus. Kufeya. Penstemon. Vatochnik. Petunia.
Water the flowers 2-3 hours before planting. The best time to plant flowers is early in the morning, evening or during the rain.
Flower garden next to the bench:
Malvaviscus. Fern. Mouse hyacinth. Sunflower. Horny goat weed. Lemon verbena.
We start planting from the center of the flowerbed to the edges. When planting from pots, straighten the roots of the seedlings and compact the soil at the neck of each plant.
Flower garden by the pergola:
Heuchera. Lilac. Space. Baptisia. Hellebore. Flowering derain.
After planting, water the flower bed generously; if necessary, support the seedlings with a stick. During the day we cover from the hot sun.
Flower garden “Magic Waltz” to attract butterflies:
Thuja. Buddleya David. Zinnia. Goldenrod. Echinacea purpurea.
Don’t worry if some plant doesn’t take root, using seedlings with closed roots - from pots, you can replant a new plant at any time.
Flower garden next to the recreation area:
Tagetis. Sedum. Daisies. Switchgrass millet. Budleya. Sage.
Don't rush to expect instant results from planting a new flower garden. In the first year, the flower garden may seem empty (empty areas can be temporarily filled with annuals), but after a year or two the flower garden will show itself in all its splendor - just wait until the perennials grow in the flowerbed.
Flower garden near the gate:
Blooming apple tree. Kalina. Clematis. Deytsia. Bell. Veronica.
Flower garden by the path:
Plantarium. Coreopsis. Petunia. A tenacious creeping creature.
When all the large-scale work on the site is completed - the house is erected, built, the trees are planted, the paths are laid, and the areas are paved, it is time to think about the design of the flower beds at the dacha in order to give your own country property a complete look. A lived-in, cozy hacienda is unthinkable without beautiful flower beds that create the mood and joyful feeling of country life.
Types of country flower beds
Flowerbed is the general name for all flower or decorative plantings, fenced or having a clear shape.
- Types of flower beds: free (landscape), regular (strictly shaped, symmetrically designed), annuals, perennials, including ornamental trees, shrubs, various.
- Mixborder is an elongated flower bed along paths, enclosing structures, where plants are selected in height from smaller to taller, and according to flowering time so as to look impressive for most of the growing season.
- Parterre is an extensive flower garden of strict shape (square, rectangle), occupying a central place in the garden, where plants are planted in contrasting patterns.
- Rabatka is a strip bordering the paths, where relatively low flowering plants create a clearly defined ornament.
- – involves planning flower beds from the gate to the entrance of the house, with the presence of tapeworms (single plants that attract attention) to create a beautiful appearance of the cottage, visible from the driveways.
When choosing plants for flower beds, take into account the timing of flowering so that some flowers replace others and the flower bed is not empty. Keep in mind that each plant variety has its own “early birds” and “night owls”, i.e. varieties that will bloom later with a difference of 2-3 weeks.
An important point to consider when laying out a flower bed is its visibility. Some flower beds assume a circular appearance, i.e. they are equally impressive from several viewpoints. Planar flower beds look better from elevated positions and are also interesting for use on terraces. Vertically and horizontally oriented flower beds emphasize the necessary dominants, visually expand the space or add intimacy to the dacha corner.
Where to begin
Having decided to create a decorative corner - a flower bed - in your garden plot, you need to perform several sequential operations:
- Collect illustrative material (magazines with flower bed diagrams, websites on landscape design, gardening forums on the Internet will help with this).
- Decide on desires and capabilities (what plants you like, what will survive in a particular climate, what are the financial resources allocated for the purchase of planting material).
Growing the required number of specimens from seeds yourself will help reduce financial costs. This process takes more time, but does not put a strain on the family wallet, especially if the area of the flower beds is large and the number of plants approaches a hundred or more.
- Lay out a flowerbed, think about its fencing (stone, wood, concrete, plastic, earthen ditch separating the flower bed from the lawn).
- Prepare the land for planting (add the necessary soil components, apply the required fertilizers).
- Create a diagram (your own sketch) taking into account the dimensions (height and width) of the plants.
- Decide how the flowerbed will be planted - for growth or so that it looks good on the first day. Calculate planting density.
- Place pots with plants in the area to check the correctness and harmony of their placement not on paper, but visually.
- Plant and water. Mulch open areas of soil between plants, leaving clean soil 10-15 cm from the stems (trunks).
- Support the survival rate of plants (provide the necessary watering, shading if the weather is very hot).
- Enjoy the result and start making new plans.
Which plants to choose
In order for the flower garden to charm guests and delight the family for a long time (for example, peonies and clematis grow in one place for several decades), select only climate-resistant, unpretentious plants. Having planted specimens that you really like, but require care and shelter and do not tolerate Russian winters well, you will carefully care for them.
However, after 3-5 years, removing dead bushes that did not survive the winter in the spring, you will realize that you no longer have the strength to care for the whims. At this moment, you will come to the decision to replace all the “southerners” with zoned ornamental plants. So why not immediately pay attention to those flowers that feel good in your climate?
The initial selection of suitable planting material for flower beds, varieties and species that are resistant to the climatic conditions of the region has many advantages:
- Easy maintenance (no need to build serious winter shelters).
- Preservation of one’s own nervous system (no worries about plants that are poorly covered or opened at the wrong time, fears of damping off, getting wet, damage by moles or mice that love to live under shelters in winter).
- Lower financial costs (there are no costs for purchasing new replacement plants).
- Labor costs are reduced (there is no annual digging up of “dead” specimens and planting new ones in their place).
- A more neat appearance of flower beds in winter (even snowy spaces with bushes covered with frost or snow caps look much more presentable than wooden boxes or arc structures throughout the area).
Every passionate summer resident who feels like a landscape designer of a particular plot needs a rest. Without time to admire your own achievements, there will be no pleasure from the completed task and country life in general. Therefore, plant more unpretentious plants, they will allow you to enjoy the surrounding beauty more.
Fashion trends and non-standard solutions
Modern landscape design offers a wide variety of compositions for flower beds in a suburban area. The main direction is “harmony in simplicity.” There are several ways to implement it.
| Type of design | Solution |
| Monochrome (use of a single color scheme) | Greens in different shades: silver-green, blue-green, dark green, lemon green |
| Green-white: tree hydrangea, derain, astilbe, white peonies, white-flowered primrose, jasmine, spotted-leaved hosta, spirea vangutta, mock orange | |
| Green-pink: peonies, roses, clematis, astilbe, heuchera, chrysanthemums, bergenia | |
| Red: red-leaved maples, ornamental barberries, heucheras | |
| Monoformity (selection of planted plants of a single shape) | A combination of plants with a round crown in one flower bed: spherical willow, spherical thuja, round spirea, large-leaved hydrangea bushes, roses on a trunk, rounded forms of herbaceous plants (gray fescue) |
| Contrast (choosing plants with flowers of rich colors) | Blue-yellow (delphinium, irises, violas, suitable varieties of marigolds, nasturtiums, yellow daylilies) |
| Blue-pink (roses and framed with lavender, verbena, matthiola bicorne) |
Another interesting technique is to create vertical flower beds. Strengthening flower containers on the walls of buildings and planting bright annuals in them will decorate boring corners of the garden, and creating columns with petunias placed throughout the height will add originality and rich aroma, turning a flat area into a luxurious voluminous flower garden. Clematis planted near an old tree (species can be used as it is more resistant to unfavorable conditions) will cover the trunk with a wave of flowers, delighting the summer resident with continuous flowering for 3 months.
Decorative design of flower beds in a summer cottage
Landscape design rules allow you to decorate flower beds with a variety of decorations. Almost any of them, with some effort, can be done with your own hands. Such a move is especially appropriate when arranging central flower beds, where the decorative element is visible from all sides, as well as “secret corners” for relaxation, hidden from direct view and full of intimate charm.
The following is often used as the basis around which the flowerbed composition is formed:
- mosaic balls, birdbaths, sundial;
- wooden snags, carts, logs, stumps, wheels;
- sculptures;
- mirrors;
- trellises, arches, figured structures;
- plants with a dense crown, trimmed in the form of various figures (topiary art).
Each of these elements plays a solo role in the flowerbed. Plants of different sizes create a common background, and some specimens (for example, climbing roses) often act as a duet with the decorations.
In addition to the central elements, a major role in the decorative design of flower beds is played by:
- fencing;
- solar-powered lamps;
- mulching with colored wood chips and different shades of gravel.
In the latter case, alternating multi-colored wavy stripes can emphasize the interesting shape of a flower bed or highlight a bright plant.
Combination of beautiful and useful
Recently, in landscape design, it has become fashionable to use regular style flower beds instead of flower beds. Placing an artistically laid out vegetable garden near your home allows you to enjoy a beautiful view, concentrated aromas of herbs and save time (everything you need for a salad is nearby).
In the original (French royal vegetable garden), the framing of the beds was made of trimmed boxwood. In our climate, this plant requires shelter for the winter, but even this does not guarantee survival. And its “deputy”, privet, will require a lot of time for cutting in order to maintain the border in perfect shape.
Therefore, when laying out flower beds of the “ornamental vegetable garden” type, it is better to limit yourself to creating raised beds from timber, thick processed boards with a platband along the upper perimeter, or laying out the walls from slab stone.
Having laid the earthen composition inside the beds, all that remains is to plant garden plants in even rows or geometric patterns. A contrasting pattern can be obtained by arranging different varieties of lettuce (green, red, lemon flowers), purple and green basil, varieties of ornamental cabbage (it can be eaten), dividing the space into cells, using lines of radishes or dill as a border.
Beautiful flower beds and flower beds always attract the attention of others and guests who visit your home. The originality of the options is very great. It all depends on the imagination of the owners. What kind of flowerbed do you have? If you are still searching and thinking about the design of your site, then our article will bring a lot of interesting and useful things into your thoughts.
In mid-autumn, looking at a flower garden, the eye can only catch the fading chrysanthemums; almost all the seasonal work is behind us, so there is an opportunity to focus on miscalculations.
Garden path decorated with flower bed
In the spring, flower lovers make the same mistake: they try to fit as many plants as possible into a limited area. After all, the leaves have not yet blossomed and, when planning planting, we often do not take into account what they will be like in a month or two.
- Therefore, rule one: keep your distance! This year we had to cut down an old, great-grandfather’s apple tree, the branches of which broke off under the weight of the fruit and fell onto the flower garden, causing a lot of damage. Without the apple tree, it seemed more spacious and brighter, but some that felt comfortable in partial shade (primroses, hostas, ferns, aquilegias) are now in the sun, and in the spring we will have to think about relocating them.
- And since there are not enough shady places for everyone, fast-growing tall plants, for example, castor beans, sunflowers, and evening primroses, can help. So, rule two: plants also need comfort.
- Come to the flower garden not only with a hoe and watering can, but also with a notepad and pen. Make a sketch of the planting plan, record the beginning and end of flowering. And this is the third rule.
The art of landscape design
Which of us, visiting flower growers and noticing some new plant, has not experienced a sinking heart: “I want it!” Want! Want!" And also trips to flower exhibitions, and just to the flower aisles at the market, interested in looking at various catalogs with interesting offers. They never noticed how they turned their flower garden into a collection area with a huge number of different ones. They don’t have enough space, they obscure each other, not allowing us to enjoy their beauty, but they add trouble to us.
Create the flowerbed you've always wanted:
- You have to imagine where to plant it so that it does not disturb anyone.
- Contemplating the work of landscape designers, you are convinced that plants look best when they grow in groups.
- Fifteen bulbs of, say, tulips of different varieties and colors, planted in a row, will not look as attractive as a group of the same variety of the same fifteen.
- But when creating such compositions, it is important to take into account the height, color and size of the leaves, the period and duration of flowering.
- Each gardener has his own little secrets of success and a list of annoying failures.
Advice
Colored spots in a flower garden created by one variety always look more impressive than many different ones planted in one row.
Types of flower beds
Nowadays, more and more often, personal plots and summer cottages are not used for obtaining a rich harvest of vegetables, not for planting potatoes or working in greenhouses. More and more often, our country life is not communication with a shovel, but communication with flowers.
Some summer residents refuse “slave” labor and work for their own pleasure. For them, a dacha is one big flower garden, in which they feel like in a fragrant paradise.
But arranging a beautiful flower garden is no less difficult than forming a bed. To do this, you need to have some idea of what kind of flower beds there are and what plants are planted in them.
Even improvised means are used to decorate a flower garden. For example, an old sink. You will also need here:
- pieces of chain link;
- soil, crushed stone;
- pebbles;
- stones.
With the help of this equipment, the sink needs to be given a more aesthetic appearance. After this, they begin planting plants. Naturally, the design of a flower garden depends entirely on the wishes of the owner.. This applies to cases of professional assistance.
First you need to create a small hill. After all, the structure should stand out from the rest of the landscape. In addition, it is necessary to give the hill the desired shape. Here you will need a cord, a ruler and other equipment. Additionally, it is worth creating a stone or plastic fence. What will prevent the flower bed from becoming overgrown with grass. After this, planting begins.
Flowerbeds
The most common type of flower garden in the garden is, of course, a flower bed. But, despite the traditional nature, the variety of flower beds is sometimes amazing. Triangular, square, round, in two, three tiers, in floor flowerpots on long legs or simply standing on the ground. A huge number of varieties that are designed to decorate the place in which the flowerbed is installed. In general, all flower beds can be either geometric or free.
Their shape can be anything, and not just round or square. The main thing is to plant it correctly. The selection of varieties is carried out so that they all have different flowering periods.
On the site you can form a mixborder and a ridge. Moreover, it is possible to implement your plans without the help of a professional designer.
First, you need to solve a number of issues, in particular, choose the optimal combination of shades on the site. You also need to choose flowers. Usually they combine three species in one flowerbed. It is better to choose the geometry of the site in advance and take into account the flowering period.
Types of flower beds
The carpet type is characterized by a rectangular or square configuration. Most often, low-growing colorful vegetation is placed here. Thanks to this, unusual designs and patterns are created. There are also regular and irregular varieties. In the first case, everyone blooms at the same time. In the second, the flowers replace each other.
Quite often, gardeners create a rose garden on their own plot. Here you will definitely need a well-lit place with an area of no more than twenty square meters. First you need to choose a place for the roses, then start preparing the soil and planting.
Advice
It is important to know that the rosary is decorated in a special order.
That is, in the first line there are low-growing bushes, the height of which is no more than forty centimeters. Climbing roses that can reach several meters are planted in the last row. It is better to carry out the procedure at the beginning of summer.
Flowerbeds near a pond
Flowerbeds can be quite original. The presence of a reservoir makes it possible to create a floating structure. This will require light and non-sinking material. Polystyrene foam does this job well.
Plants located in such a flower bed must love moisture and water. Wooden structures can be placed on the site. It is better to make them hanging. Otherwise, the material will quickly deteriorate.
Discounts
In second place after flower beds are flower beds. These are long stretches of land that perfectly form paths and alleys in your garden. The width of the ridge cannot be more than three meters. It can be planted in several tiers, with the farthest row being high, and then in descending order. These flower beds can be placed in the garden along paths, or around free-standing trees. But the flower beds themselves also need decoration. Borders are usually used for this.
The border can have one or two tiers, the width is no more than half a meter. For borders, small, low plants are used so that you can see from the flowerbed. Borders go very well with flower beds and ridges.
Rabatki - decorate paths and alleys
Mixborders
There is such a type of flower beds as mixborders. This means that in such a flower garden there will be a variety of plants, not only in terms of flowering time, but also in growth.
But you can’t put plants in a mixborder that love different growing conditions: light and shade, that love water and don’t need it. The mixborder has one more purpose - the flowers of the mixborder can be cut and made into bouquets.
It must have an asymmetrical shape and branches of different lengths.
Mixborder - a flower garden with a variety of species
Flowerbed care
Every gardener, gardener, florist must take care to ensure the protection of his plot from pests and diseases. Doing the work manually is very labor-intensive; this is where all kinds of sprayers come to the aid of fellow summer residents.
This technique is designed to create excess pressure, due to which a fine dispersion of the sprayed mixture occurs. Fine particles of the sprayed liquid fall on the surface of the plants, penetrating into hard-to-reach areas.
In the state of tiny droplets, the solution is perfectly retained on the microvilli of stems and leaves. Even twenty years ago, the choice was limited to a couple of simple sprayers, but now there are a wide variety of models on the market. Competition spurs manufacturers to look for new solutions and create engineered structures.
Advice
When creating alpine slides, install the stones firmly, since you will have to move on them during maintenance.
To make very beautiful designer flower beds with your own hands, you will have to spend an impressive amount of time and effort. But now, thanks to information from the Internet, you can implement really interesting decorating ideas from scrap materials. Gardening is an abstract art along with landscape design and architecture.
Planning is the key to success
It seems like the easiest thing to do - buy your favorite flowers and plant them in the ground. And the more diverse the vegetation, the more beautiful the result. Alas, in this way you can only get a pile of different plants, which will create a rather untidy appearance overall. This will be especially visible where the vegetation does not match in height, shape and color. Also, different flowering times can cause problems. It's a shame to get such unflattering results after all the effort.
- Creating the right composition is a well-planned operation that requires a clear plan of action.
- Some still prefer to plant their own flower garden. It can be a fun time. It is advisable not to use a wide variety of types, especially if space is limited.
- To arrange a flowerbed, you will need to choose a height, a blooming calendar, and a color scheme. It is also important to respect the requirements for environmental conditions (light loving, preferred humidity, soil type and acidity, etc.).
Planning is the key to success
Due to the characteristics of the vegetation and the surrounding landscape, the decorated corner acquires its own personality and will be unique.
Advice
Don't worry that if you use ready-made designs, your garden flower bed will become typical and uninteresting. After all, it is very unlikely that anyone you know will use the same scheme. Don't be afraid to experiment. Often unique compositions obtained from those who, based on information on the Internet, came up with their own design. Creating your own flower gardens and flower beds can be a real source of pride.
When choosing, think carefully. For example, what size do you want for your flower bed, the size of its border, etc.
Perennial plants in a flowerbed
Perennials are preferred for those who do not want to replant their flower beds every year.
Perennials have advantages:
- wide range of shapes;
- relative ease of care;
- undemandingness.
And the immediate destruction of a perennial flower bed or bulbs can be delayed for several years by cultivating and fertilizing the soil.
However, as a rule, the flowering period of these plants is only 3 weeks, which is not very long..
- After flowering, a perennial flower bed does not look so bright, so it is recommended to dilute it with annual plants.
- Choose depending on the flowering season.
- Often, owners want their flower beds and courtyard gardens to be pleasing to the eye from the beginning of spring until the cold of winter. To do this, take into account the seasonality of the vegetation and flora used.
- Summer flower beds and garden arrangements can be formed from such a wide range that it is quite easy to get lost in the list. Experts advise paying special attention to long-blooming species or those that can bloom twice. Among the perennial longflowers there are some varieties of roses, geraniums, catnip, and chamomile.
Annuals
Summer is the flowering time for many annual species. You may be thinking about how to make the flower bed in your own garden more attractive looking. You can plant:
- beautiful asters;
- dahlias;
- coreopsis;
- various chrysanthemums;
- calendula.
Related ornamental plants will give a special charm to the selected floral ensemble.
Summer is the flowering time for many annual species.
A vertical flower bed will look great with hanging plants. They give volume and shine, and there are lovely petunias, lobelia and verbena that look great in a vertical bed.
Aromatic flower bed
An excellent solution - an aromatic flowerbed of lavender, sage, oregano. It is better to place it directly with the seating area. You will feel the aroma as you walk past the flower garden. It has beneficial effects on the immune system, brain function and cardiovascular system.
To create such a flower bed we will need:
- Plastic containers.
- Dye.
- Sphagnum moss (you can even use old moss).
- Soil mixture.
- Saplings.
Step 1
Paint the containers and wait for them to dry. Soak the moss to a comfortable consistency that will allow you to “sculpt”. Moss should be placed in all containers, after which they should be covered with a layer of soil, previously mixed with fertilizer. Subsequently, the soil must be compacted and watered.
Step 2
Containers should be filled from the top containers. Seedlings are usually small in size. Their root system, as a rule, does not fall apart and easily moves in the right direction. If you need to remove the seedlings from the pot, you need to squeeze the root system with your hand.
When planting, water the seedlings well. Follow the following sequence when filling the pot:
- sphagnum;
- the soil;
- plant;
- the soil.
Bright ideas
Look for tin cans in your kitchen or just buy them from the market. After this, on a large wooden wall you should attach these cans - ideally 8 to 9 so that they are well dispersed. Add the vertical garden plants you want.
Advice
Don't neglect remaining areas - move large plants or pots around to find the best look.
Pine trees trimmed in a triangular shape create visual interest. Annuals and perennials provide the garden with bright color and interesting shapes. Here the gladioli contrast neatly with the foliage and bloom around them. Large stripes of color will create a calming ambiance for this garden.
Vertical garden system
Whether you want to spruce up a garden wall or just cover up any untidy side, here's a great idea. Take a thick fabric and hang it on the fence in the form of bags - it should be shaped like a kangaroo pouch. Add plants and get the beauty you've always wanted.
If you have trees in your garden, you can create a small arrangement around them. You can use any stones for it to create an environment for flowers. This way all attention will be focused on the plants.
Group planting
For this idea you should have a lot of different plants. You can install this design on a separate side of the garden and place a few chairs and a table to make the flowerbed look like the perfect ambience for privacy.
Plastic bottles as vertical garden containers:
There should be a lot of plastic bottles in your trash yard. This is the perfect time to use them all. Just tie them together with string so you can cover the wall area. Now, make a hole in the center so you can place the plants you want - a finished flower bed on the wall!
Wall planner:
Planting containers are attached to the walls. You can plant any plants you want here. This idea can decorate your garden, home entrance or even your backyard. Place flowers in rows or in a checkerboard pattern, it’s all about your imagination!
Natural design
All available materials can become amazingly beautiful things. If an old tree fell next to your dacha, then this could be a great idea for creating a unique flower bed. You just need to cut out its core and install it in the center of the garden. After this, fill the soil and plant flowers.
Shoe rack as a flower bed. Creativity is key.
Advice
You can use an old shoe rack and plant plants in it. Place it at the entrance to attract the attention of your guests.
You can use an old wooden barrel as a display stand filled with beautiful plants and colorful flowers.
Wall decor
This flowerbed looks like a tree on the wall. Just a couple of pots arranged in a lovely manner to provide a lovely vertical garden.
With this design you can plant whatever you want. In particular, try adding colorful flowers with large leaves to give your flower bed a fantastic look. Combine old windows and make a lovely little decoration for your garden space.
You can decorate an entire wall by simply placing small garment bags filled with lovely flowers. This will surely hide the gray walls and enhance the beauty of your garden.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that decorating your garden is primarily a work of imagination. Therefore, you only need to imagine the general composition and consistently solve the problems of its implementation. It should be noted that it is especially important, despite the large amount of work, not to panic and gradually, step by step, turn your garden into the envy of all guests.
Perennials for flower beds
First, you must determine the amount of time you can devote to flower beds. If you are engaged in a flower garden and nothing more, this is one thing, but if in addition to this you are also engaged in growing various vegetable crops, then this is completely different. Experience shows that with the second option there is not enough time left for growing and caring for the flower garden.
The flowerbed should be located near the recreation area. It should be visible from a country house or gazebo. Show your imagination when creating a composition.
Most likely, your flower garden will contain perennial flowers. Now let's talk about them.
You must allocate a place for the future flower bed at the time of planning. Keep in mind that the flower garden should be located close to the recreation area. So that it can be seen from the house or gazebo. When shaping the flowerbed, you can show all your imagination. Since the shape of the flower garden depends entirely on your desire.
Flower beds and flower beds on a personal plot are intended primarily for aesthetic pleasure. But besides this, they perform another important role: acting as an extension of the house, flower arrangements allow you to visually combine the appearance of the building with the vegetation of the garden into a single whole. Knowing the secrets of landscape designers on how to design a flower bed will allow any gardener to create flower arrangements in their suburban area that, in addition to aesthetic appeal, will create an atmosphere of harmony and comfort.
General rules for creating a beautiful flower bed
When thinking about decorating a flowerbed with your own hands, it is advisable to be guided by the basic rules of landscape design.
Rule #1 – integrity of the picture
A garden is a picture made up of a collection of landscape compositions. The gardener's task is to bring each of the elements of the landscape to perfection. Pointless planting of plants around the site will not give the desired result. Therefore, without being able to landscape the entire territory, to begin with it is worth improving only a small part of it, but making it complete.
Beautiful harmonious flower beds are created by combining mixed plantings, which contain both annuals and perennials, both flowering and decorative foliage plants
Rule #2 – placement of plants by height
The multi-tiered principle involves placing ground cover and low-growing plants in the foreground, which act as a frame for beautifully blooming medium-sized flowers.
Medium-sized perennials, acting as soloists in the flower garden, will become the center of attention. Tapeworms look most impressive against the background of tall plants with decorative foliage or flowers in contrasting shades. Combinations of tall perennials and their medium-sized companions, harmonizing in color and shape, are also successful.
Quite unpretentious and at the same time possessing an expressive leaf texture and color variety, capable of quickly filling empty spaces, they are ideal for decorating flower beds in the countryside
Rule #3 – flower garden architecture
Depending on the landscape features of the site and its size, the design of flower beds can be made either in the form of flat compositions or slightly raised ones and framed with decorative tiles or stones.
The shapes of flower beds can be very diverse, starting with free ones without clearly defined boundaries and ending with original curly and wavy ones.
In order to give an unusual shape to a flower garden, you can use any household items: barrels and baskets, old cars, boats and even beds
In order to design a flowerbed in front of the house, which will become an expressive decoration of the garden and will delight you with its blooming splendor throughout the season, you must first draw its plan on paper. This creative work will allow you not only to organize thoughts in your head, but also to visualize images of flower arrangements, creating the most successful combinations.
For work, it is advisable to use colored pencils: the bright colors of the spots of schematic images of group and spot solitary plantings in a flower garden will allow you to correctly distribute plants with different colors and flowering periods
According to the plan, terry mallows (1) will be placed in the background next to the decorative sunflower Mishka (2), in front of it will be poppy bushes (3) and St. John's wort (4). The lobelia ribbon (5) will add dynamism to the composition. Purple-blue accents will be provided by catnip (6), bluebell (7) and kalanchoe (8). The foreground will be occupied by gravilate (9), sedum (10) and aquilegia (11)
The diagram drawn up is only a kind of rough sketch: the final decision on the optimal placement of flowers will come in the process of planting plants.
Schemes for the original design of flower beds
By painstakingly selecting and combining beautifully flowering plants, you can create many variations of flower beds in which beauty will reign from the first days of spring until frost. Ready-made flower bed designs will make the process of creating a flower bed much easier.
Option #1 – central flower bed
The layout of the central flower bed is one of the simplest.
The shape of the flower garden has the form of concentric circles: the center is filled with dark-leaved cannas (1), which act as soloists of the composition, then green-leaved cannas (2), decorative leafy gnafalium (3) and snapdragons (4) are planted in a circle.
Option #2 – “Vienna Flower”
One of the options for how to beautifully decorate a round flower bed is to create a composition in the shape of a flower. A flowerbed decorated in the shape of a six-leaf flower looks especially elegant and festive, and therefore it is advisable to allocate a central place in the garden for its arrangement.
The center of the composition is the beautiful white gillyflower (1), the frame is a border planting of alpine forget-me-nots (2) against the background of lawn grass (3). The outer contour of the ornament is created by violas (4), primroses (5), zinnias (6), framed by decorative variegated foliage beauties alternathera (7) and achyranthes (8)
Option #3 – “Bizarre Pattern”
A round flowerbed, decorated with many repeating wave-like elements, which are decorated with a motley company of sun-loving perennials, allows you to create a real parade of flowers on a sunny stage.
In the center of the flowerbed there is a squat chamerops (1) with a chic crown of fan leaves, in its shade there is a dahlia zinnia (2), with a contrasting background of coleus (3). Solitaire plantings of dracaena (4) in combination with group plantings of pelargonium (5) and begonia (6) create a fancy pattern of curls that looks impressive against the background of lawn grass (7)
Option #4 – “Piece of Cake” in a corner of the garden
A flower bed of this shape can find a place in any corner of the garden.
A plant composition in burgundy-red tones, bordered by a silver edge, occupying only a couple of meters of area, will become an elegant decoration for the garden
The corner of the flowerbed is filled with three daylily bushes with dark burgundy flowers (1); the silvery leaves of wormwood (2) act as a contrasting background for them. The center of the composition is bright red heuchera bushes (3), the corner elements are Macedonian bark bushes (4), and the silver edge is chistets (5)
The proposed diagrams are only a guideline: in the absence of the desire or opportunity to purchase this or that plant, you can always replace it with a flower you like more, presented in the same color scheme and having similar flowering periods.