Ideas for Laying Out a Flower Bed

Research

• Gardeners often find ideas for flowerbed layouts in their neighborhoods, botanical gardens, home-and-garden shows and plant nurseries. Real gardens provide the clearest visuals of shapes, color combinations, textures and groupings. This process also identifies what plants grow well locally. Carrying a notebook on these outings helps keep track of ideas. Looking for photographs of flowerbeds in print and online publications is also useful, especially when seeking examples of themed flowerbeds.

Set Perimeter

• Visualize the border of the new bed. Mark the perimeter with stakes and strings or construction tape. The Corner Hardware website recommends using flexible garden hoses to create curves. When the perimeter is set, Corner Hardware suggests marking it by sprinkling a line of garden lime. This process makes it easier to see where sod will need to be removed and to estimate how much edging will be necessary.

Draw a Plan

• Before breaking sod, amending the soil or buying plants, draw a picture of the plan. It should indicate the shape of the perimeter as well as the kind, number and spacing of flowers. Arrange flowers by height with the shortest plants in front and the tallest at the back of the bed. Intermixing small plants with the medium-sized ones creates a less regimented garden profile. An example is the flowerbed pictured at the website My Gardening and Landscaping Makeover, which says this gives a garden "fullness and depth."