Finding Friday- Do You Need Flower Bed Garden Ideas?

Happy Friday! Oh, friends! It’s that time of year when all of the flower bed garden ideas for the flower garden planning begins and then continues for the perennials in my yard.

It’s always amazing to see the transformation begin in April where the lawn becomes green, perennials start to sprout and all of the work in garden planning for the flower garden goes into fast forward.

Steps in Starting a Flower Bed Garden:

1. Prepare the flower garden bed.

• The first step is cleaning out flower beds. Raking leaves and acorns, pulling weeds and adding mulch in is where it all begins.The type of flower bed I am cleaning determines what I do. The beds with my canna corms may need dividing. Some beds where I am actually planting potted flowers is covered with brown craft paper and mulched before cutting in holes to plant potted plants. This helps so much with keeping weeds out. Other flower beds for my zinnias need a thin layer of mulch before the zinnia seeds are added. You can find how I plant my zinnia seeds in this post.
• Cut back edgings. When the forsythia is blooming, it signals us to cut back the monkey grass that edges our sidewalks. This gets rid of the old, dead monkey grass tops from last year and makes everything look new and beautiful. A line of monkey grass edges some of my flower beds lays the ground work for preparing for the best edging for my flower garden.
• The next step is to check your zone and watch the freeze warnings to make sure that you don’t plant your flower garden too early. For me, that may mean that we cover perennial plants or others that may be damaged by a freeze warning late in the year.
• Check your flower beds for things that need to be replaced. Look closely at things you may have planted last year that didn’t make it through the winter. We have an azalea planted last year that just didn’t make it. Measure and take note of the type of flower, flowering shrub or flowering tree that needs replacement to take to your nursery.
• Don’t forget to have your soil tested. It’s free at extension offices in most areas.

2. Look for new plants for flower bed ideas.

• Look around for inspiration and new plants that add interest. It’s a great time now to look in your community for flowering shrubs, flowering trees, and planted planters to make a list of what you might add this year. I shared that in this post with the Dogwood Trail…so much flowering inspiration!

• Be thoughtful in your planning. Make sure you take note of your soil content, zone, sun requirements and location of areas that need plants and do a bit of research as to which plant works best where.
• Contact a local nursery for a consult. Usually those services are free, but the actual landscape plan comes with a purchase price…which we always do to cover their time with us. I don’t always follow their advice; but, some suggestions are helpful.

3. Add a bit of folly into your flower bed planning.

Add a bit of folly in the form of:

• concrete statues
• planters
• fountains
• bird baths
• fencing
• or other architectural pieces.

4. Take time to care for the returning perennials in your flower beds.

Perennials are those plants that return each year.

Annuals are those that only last one growing season.

Both have advantages…but, seeing those perennials like hostas, peonies, dianthus, hydrangea, forsythia, roses, crepe myrtle, cannas and so many others return without replanting is a true joy. Even the herbs and plants that reseed themselves like the zinnias always delight when they begin their growth in the landscape or containers.

How to Care for Perennials in Garden Beds:

• Trim back the dead part of your perennial plants. I am trimming back the dead lavender in a concrete planter so that the new growth is encouraged. Adding in what flowers need to be added with the lavender is on my radar, too.

• Add support to some plants that need it. As I shared earlier, support was added to the peonies to prevent them from laying on the ground.
• Look at which plants need nutrients and fertilizers now. This is a great time, too, to add a bit of epsom salt to your roses for healthier leaves.
• Separate root bound herbs and perennials. Separating my returning herbs and repotting them is also in my plan for caring for them this time of year. Often if their original pots are root bound, it will prevent them from growing beautifully for the duration of the season.
• Determine pruning needs for your flowering plants–when and how. Look at what type of hydrangea you have and make sure that you prune it back at the right time of year for your particular hydrangea. They love air flow, so keep that in mind. The particular type will also determine watering and sun requirements.
• Remove plants that didn’t make it through the winter. Give perennials time to “wake up” before removing them completely. I really thought that the lavender was gone…and then when I looked closely those tiny green leaves were returning!

5. Document your current flowers and flower garden bed ideas in a garden planner.

• Make a design of your garden bed–a graph paper scale is an easy way to document size and space needed for all of your flowers, flowering trees and flowering shrubs in your garden.
• Don’t forget to add in the names and types of all of your flowers each time you add new ones to your flower garden. This is vital to knowing how to water, prune, and what placement and care is best for those in your garden. It helps prevent future planning mistakes, too.
• Keep the tags of each and make sure that you mark their location on those plans. Plastic sheet protectors added to your garden planner or a separate three hole notebook are great to have on hand to save seeds and tags and label each completely.
• Research flower gardens to see what type truly appeals to you…are you a cottage flower gardener or a more formal flower gardener?
• Do you require a water feature?
• Are you utilizing the “garden room” concept in your flower garden areas? That truly is a fun one.
• Years ago I took a flower gardening class and learned about moon gardens, butterfly gardens and water gardens. So much to think about when planning yours.
• Find lots of resources – from the web–but sometimes? I love to just sit and spend time looking through magazines at a local bookshop for ideas and which of those books need to come home with me for ideas and inspiration and putting to great use.
• Which flowers do you need to add to your flower garden bed?
• Do you want part of your flowers in a container?
• You might visit a local nursery or botanical garden for ideas.
• Perhaps add flowers into window boxes?

6. Take inventory of current and needed tools and supplies.

• Gardening gloves
• Garden planner
• Spades
• Watering cans
• Kneeling pads
• Garden rakes
• Trimmers/pruners
• Trenchers
• Supports for some plants
• Covers to protect from potential freeze warnings
• Lawn waste bins
• Gardening bench
• Wheel barrow
• Containers
• Potting soil
• Fertilizers
• Repels- All Deer Repellent- Crystal and Liquid forms
• Flower Seeds and Plants/Shrubs
• Mulch
• Hummingbird feeders

More Flower Garden Bed Ideas

Kimberly at Farmhouse to Florida.

Sonya Burgess

Kippi At Home

Lynne at My Family Thyme

Hope we have all given you some great ideas for planning your flower garden beds! Have a great weekend!

Thank you so much for joining me here. Happy Gardening, friends!