You’ve made the plans for your new flower bed and have just returned from the nursery with your trunk full of plants. You unload the car and wonder why you ever thought making a new flower bed was a good idea. How do you do this right and make it look good?
Ideally, before you went to the nursery you researched which plants would do well in the new bed’s conditions. Is it hot and dry, cool and moist, dry and shady? You should also have determined how tall and wide each plant will spread. You don’t want to put a tall plant in the front that will hide the shorter ones. And it’s a waste of money to plant them too closely together if they will easily fill the space in no time. If you didn’t do your research ahead of time, there should be id tags in the pots describing the best growing conditions for each plant and their height and spread at maturity. At the least, measure the bed before you shop so you can divide that measurement by the expected size of the plants and buy accordingly.
So, you’re home with the plants and ready to go. Try to stay out of the bed while planting. Stepping in it will compact the soil, making it harder to dig planting holes. If you cannot reach the middle from the outside of the bed, lay short boards or plywood scraps on the soil to more evenly distribute your weight.
If you find that the bed is too wide to reach a plant that is going to need attention during the growing season, mark off where you will lay a stepping stone or two to reach the plant.
Before planting, place the plants in their pots around on the bed. If you have a mix of perennials and annuals, place the perennials first since they will stay in place for several years. Then place the largest annuals and finally the smaller ones. Place the largest plants at the back of the bed or in the center in the case of an island bed, and the smaller plants in the front or on the outside. Planting should happen in the same order – perennials first, then large plants, lastly the smaller ones. If the plants are all approximately the same size, start in the back and work forward or in the middle and work outward.
Before you dig the first hole but after the plants are placed in their pots around the bed, step back and see how they look from several different angles. If you can see the bed from the house, go inside and look out the window. If it is in the front yard, go to the end of the driveway and see how it looks from there. Now is the time to move plants to the left or right, backward or forward, a little closer together or further apart.
If you can work around them, leave the plants in place until you plant them. Otherwise, mark each spot with a stake or stone and remove the plants from the bed before you start. If you have a big mix of plants or a complicated design, a Polaroid or digital camera comes in handy here.
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