Asters, chrysanthemums, daylilies, irises, and ornamental grasses are good choices for use in flower borders. These can be highlighted with vines, shrubs, or attractive foliage plants. Choosing flowers with long-lasting blooms provide stronger emphasis throughout the changing seasons. For early blooms, peonies, geraniums, columbine, and miscellaneous spring-flowering bulbs can be utilized. Choose goldenrod, asters, mums, or phlox for late blooms. Annuals such as impatiens and dianthus are immediate choices to brighten up existing borders between seasons.
There are many different ways in which borders can be arranged. Double borders usually scamper along both sides of a path or down the sides of property. Most of the time, these borders have straight edges. Edging a double border with brick can make these straight edges more attractive. Formal borders that include roses look quite lovely when they are outlined with low, neatly pruned boxwood.
Other formal beds can be placed against dark backgrounds or hedges and stand out nicely when edged with cobblestones. Perennial borders can be edged with a continuous planting of one type of edging plant such as sweet alyssum, hardy pinks, candytuft, or lavender. Depending on the width, borders along a walkway or path can be edged with plants in a straight row or in masses. An island bed is surrounded by lawn. Position an island bed with an irregular shape that will fit the contours of your lawn and border plantings.
Place the tallest plants in the center with all other plant heights scaled down towards the outer edge. These can be edged with consistent placement of one plant, such as lamb’s ear, or groups of edging plants. You can also give the island bed an untamed appearance by allowing it to flow into the lawn to mimic a meadow. A mixed border consists of flowers which are placed in groups in and around shrubs and groundcover. Shrubs that are used with this type of border should complement the foliage and growth of the other plants.
For further interest, an accent can be integrated. Herbaceous borders can be designed using hedges, walls, or fences as backdrops. These types of borders can provide height and substance to the landscape. Incorporate climbing vegetation such as clematis, climbing roses, or ivy into the background to supply additional beauty. For winter attraction, ornamental grasses can be used. They make natural companions for herbaceous plants like salvia and campanula. A raised bed can save space and can be enclosed with bricks, timbers, or anything that gives shape and holds soil in. Slope these beds to encourage water run off. You can also build up the soil into a mound without any retaining edges.
Flower borders placed around the outer edges of a landscape provide a cleaner and less muddled appearance than numerous, traditional small beds. They can be worked into nearly any property. With the use of low-growing plants that have interesting foliage texture and defined edges from stones or other types of edging your border should contrast well with and add character to the flowers and surrounding lawn.
Adding stunning Borders to Flower Beds
A decorative border can be the difference between boring and making a flower bed really stand out. If you have thought that a border only helped with retention or just finishing a project, it is time to change that mindset. The right border will go a long way to making your garden more appealing to yourself and others that view it.
This is something that truly is limited only by your own creativity. Of course you can look in magazines, or at houses in your town for more ideas. Here are a few other ideas that you can use to finish your garden with a border.
For one, you can use plants for edging. This is probably the most common form of edging. There are several options available. Some of the more popular are using plants like shrubs, flowering plants, and small trees. These would be placed at the border of the flower bed. You would look for varieties that require minimal attention in regards to pruning them. You want them to be large enough to attract visual attention and give the look of being a border.
If you are looking for color, then flowering plants are a great option. Herbs are nice if you are looking for a hedge look to border your flowers.
Using Stone As A Border
There are three types of stone and rock borders that I recommend. Flagstone, bricks, and terracotta tile.
Bricks offer a lot of variety and choices in color and size. While many people opt to go with one style and one color, you can mix and match to create your own unique design with brick. Brick is easy to set up and great for drainage.
Flagstone often conjures images of an old garden. You can use flagstone to provide a visual divide between the lawn and your flower bed.
Terracotta tile is widely underutilized for the purpose of creating an edging for your garden. It comes in many shapes and sizes. They make a very unique and attractive border that will require no maintenance for you.
There you have it. Simple ideas that will provide you with a visually attractive and practical flower bed border solution.
How to keep your flower bed weed free!
I think every gardener agrees to weeds are part of the whole thing. No matter how hard you try, these little unsightly things keep popping up day after day and keep you on your toes yanking and pulling them out. It is a never ending job and can make even the most green of thumbs wither in disgust after awhile. If you identify with this at all, maybe it is time you did something about it once and for all. No, I am not talking about quitting gardening, but instead, installing landscape fabric to help eliminate your weed problem.
Landscaping fabric is the equivalent of putting a liner down in your flower bed. It comes in rolls and is easy to cut and lay anywhere around your flower beds. This fabric is a porous material that while allowing air and water to penetrate, it prevents sunlight, thereby all but eliminating those nasty weeds to begin popping up. Sure, the most committed ones may creep through from time to time, but I am sure you will find that weeds of any kind will be a rarity if you decide to go with using landscape fabric for your gardens and flower beds.
In addition to the fabric itself, you can put mulch right on top of it to further prevent the spread of unwanted weeds. Because the landscape fabric provides a durable base for the mulch, it will last much longer than usual as well. This helps to offset the cost of landscape fabric as it can be a bit more expensive than other types of flower bed liners, but its functionality and durability should more than make up for this extra expense.
So if you are really serious about combating your weed problem head on, you might want to consider laying down some landscape fabric as a first (and potentially last) measure. It can last for years, will not harm your current plants, and can work with both mulch and rock to create an attractive, weed free environment for your plant wonderland.
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