How to Make a Flower Bed

Tap to Read ➤ Sujata Iyer

If you think that the instructions on how to make a flower bed are long, confusing and a nightmare to understand, you're in for a relieving secret. Let's pleasantly surprise you with some useful information.

Beverley Nichols said, "To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat", and Antonio Porchia said "Flowers are without hope. Because hope is tomorrow and flowers have no tomorrow."

If you agree with Beverley Nichols, then you're one of those who have been captivated by the breathtaking beauty and lilting fragrance of flowers and absolutely loved the experience. Flowers have that effect on people.

And though Antonio Porchia may claim that they have 'no hope', we all know otherwise don't we? Flowers have that uncanny ability to lift up anyone's spirits and put them out of their misery, anger, grief, sadness and to add to their joys and celebrations!

Seeing that flowers are so awesome (for lack of a better word? Not really), how would you like to make your own flowerbed and have some pretty blossoms at your doorstep, waiting to welcome you and all your guests? Great idea! Using these tips you can make and maintain your own flower bed.

Choose the Spot

As you may have easily guessed, the first step in making your flower bed is deciding where you want it to be. For this, you need to take a good look around the exterior of your house. There are some important things that you need to consider before you decide on a spot. For instance, how much sunlight the place gets.

You may already have an idea of what kind of flowers you want in your flower bed. So, you need to keep their sun and shade requirements in mind while choosing a spot for your flower bed. Also, you may want to check how visible the spot is from inside the house as well as from the gate or driveway.

There's no point to have a lower bed in a obscure corner of your backyard, which can be viewed only if you step into the yard. It will be a lot of trouble to make the flower bed. Might as well have it clearly visible! Once you've picked out the area where you want it in, you can mark it using either a stone border, sand or have a small fence fixed around it.

Get Digging

After you've decided your location for the flower bed and have bordered it, you have to dig the area up. First, make sure that you remove all the grass, dirt, garbage (if any) and weeds that are present in the area.

Use a shovel to dig up every inch of the intended flower bed and make the soil loose and free. You'll come across clumps and stones for sure. Throw away the stones, and break up the clumps.

If the soil seems too hard, you may want to wet it a bit and get the work done a little faster and with less effort. Once all the soil is dug up and loosened, use a rake and smoothen it out completely.

Gauge the Soil

Now, after you've made the bed area ready, you need to take a look at the soil to gauge how favorable it will be for the kind of flowers you want to grow. Take a sample of your soil and get it tested for its pH level and the content of other nutrients.

You can get this done by using a soil testing probe that may be available at your local nursery. It will tell you what kind of soil you have.

Using these results and the soil requirement information of the flowers that you intend to plant, you can compare and make the necessary amendments in the soil to suit the flowers you want to plant. (Note that you may not always have to make changes to your soil.)

Plant 'em In : After you have given the necessary treatment to the soil in the bed, and it has been absorbed by the soil, your bed is ready to be planted! Get the saplings or seeds out and begin planting them. You should have an idea of what you want the final result to look like.

This will help you in planning the design of the flower bed. Generally, tall plants are planted in the background and short ones in the foreground to give it more visual appeal. However, you can try out new things like having a circular bed with tall plants forming the center and the shorter ones surrounding the tall ones.

Or, you can also incorporate vines on trellises surrounding the bed, to give it an enclosed appearance from above. Whatever your choice is, make sure all the plants and flowers are clearly visible once they bloom.

Take Care : After you've planted them, all you have to do is wait and watch your flower bed come to life with its vibrant colors! You need to pay attention to the watering requirements of the plants.

Also, if they need partial sun and shade, you can have a retractable shed above the bed (or simply have a green garden net hanging over it when it's sunny). Mulching helps plants grow faster and healthier. So, you may want to try that out too!

So, are you ready to make your own flashy flower bed? What are you waiting for? Just use these ridiculously simple instructions and you'll have your flower bed ready just in time for blooming season, depending on your hardiness zone. Be sure to keep that in mind too! Happy flowering!