How to Make a Flower Bed With Stone Borders

Check your local nursery for the best flowers suited to your USDA hardiness zone. Find a sunny spot in your garden or yard that's large enough to hold all the flowers at mature size. Seed or bulb packets have information to help you with planning. If you aren't certain about how large a starter plant will grow, ask the nurseryman so you allow plenty of space.

Turn the soil in the bedding area. Dig it up, break up clods, turn the soil over and remove large rocks and any weeds, roots or debris. If your soil has a lot of clay or doesn't drain well, add pine straw, compost and other organic matter to the soil and mix it in well. Add fertilizer according to package instructions.

Rake or spread the prepared soil into the desired shape for your bed. Circles, rectangles, squares or other geometric shapes are common.

Lay out your flower design plan by setting out the bulbs, seed packets and starter plants into positions according to height. Larger growing plants might be at the center of a circle or at the back edge of a bed against a wall or fence. Colors can be mixed or set in patterns or rows. You can also plan the design element by drawing rough sketches on paper before actually planting.

Using small hand tools, dig holes to proper depths for the seeds, bulbs and starters. Place each within its appropriate hole and cover with soil. Water the area well.

Arrange stones around the entire outline of the bed. This can be done in one basic layer, placing each stone side by side to the next, or you can stack the stones loosely to create a tighter border. If you go higher than two stones, you create a wall rather than a border, so keep the stones lower to the ground.

Add mulch around the flowers as they sprout and continue to grow. This helps conserve moisture.