Flower Gardening: Top Five Elements For Designing a Flower Bed

Do you love flower garden or dream of creating garden you can be really proud of? If yes, then flower bed is an excellent choice for your backyard. When someone considers a flower bed, they always pick shrubs because they grow faster with minimum maintenance. Choose a perfect plant for your garden that not only enhances but also add colors to your landscape. Once your plants are scattered, start outlining the flowerbed, digging and amending the soil. But before you start with this, there are few more elements that need to be considered. Here are few simple yet effective elements for designing a flower bed.

Theme: Now, the theme for your flower garden depends on the style of your home. Step outside and look at your home style. Is it country? Traditional? Modern? Or Ranch? Once you decide your style, don’t mix up the different style. For example, a formal garden with a dash of country garden will not look good, if you’ve plenty of space. Once you decide your garden style, choosing plants becomes easier. I pick country style flowing theme flower bed with stones for my landscape.

Garden and Plant Size: Plan a flower bed twice the depth of the tallest plant by adding stepping stones. Stepping stones proves to be helpful in rainfall when the soil is saturated. Consider the mature size and growth habit of the plant before getting one for your garden.  Butterfly bush or Joe Pye Weed starts off as small plants but they grow in size and cover almost all your space. Have you seen plants growing out of their way? This spoils the entire look. So, whether you plant near to a pond or against a fence, size does matter. You can even try raised garden beds called as garden boxes useful for growing flowers and veggies in your yard. A raised flower beds is constructed with structured wooden frames that adds style and depth to your yard. They are used to define spaces in your garden or lawn and are easy to maintain and care.

Color Contrast and Texture: When deciding on color contrast, any color can be used. Just ensure the colors should harmonize quite nicely. Red, yellow and orange are warm colors whereas green, purple, blue are cool colors. Hence pick colors that match your flowerbed style and plants.  You can also blend different colors if required. Try blending different colors for example; a silver or white color is quite apt for Silver Brocade or Dusty Miller flowers. Planning and picking colors comes on individual’s choice. Consider use of different color textures while designing Palm Sedges or Velvety Lamb’s ear for a graceful touch in your lawn. A tropical flower with the large leaves adds good contrast. 

Shrubs: I like colorful shrubs in my garden. Shrubs with flowering, variegated leaves and changing color often add contrast in your scenery. Flowering shrubs is the best choice that most gardeners prefer. You can try flowering shrubs for instance, Camellia produced beautiful rose shaped blooms,
Lynwood gold forsythia is a fast-growing shrubs with yellow flowers. Flowering shrubs not only make your garden look more attractive but also give out pleasant fragrance.

Bloom Time: Besides choosing plants as per the garden design theme, the consideration should be given to the bloom time. Everyone enjoys colors in flowerbed from spring to frost. For examples, Leopards Bane with bright yellow blooms, Welches Iris with yellow and purple color flowers and tall spikes lavender Salvia Eveline looks nice in spring season. Summer blooms like Bluebeard Shrub, Butterfly bush and Carolina add little life in the garden.

If you like to have water feature in your garden, then you can include pond-covering plants such as Hardy Hydrangea, Creeper Vine and Arctic Blue Willow. You can also design water feature that matches your garden type and theme. A proper style water feature will surely add interest and showcase the natural form of your garden.  If you still find room for improvement then what’s better than getting a feedback from your friends and relatives. Feedback either positive or negative will always improve your work.