Is there anything more lovely than a vibrant, resplendent flower bed in a home landscape? Not only will a colorful flower bed add to the aesthetic quality of your home, it can also add to its value. Studies show that a gorgeous flower bed can actually add up to 10 percent to a home’s sales value.
So how do you add a lovely flower bed to your home landscape? Follow these proven steps!
Select Your Location
Choose a location that accents your home’s exterior and enhances its “curb appeal,” such as along the front of your house, near the front door. Make sure the location gets plenty of sunlight. If your yard is unusually shady, select plants that thrive in shade.
Design the Bed to Fit Your Landscape
Take graph paper and start designing your flower bed. Remember that a flower bed doesn’t necessarily have to be rectangular, square, or symmetrical. You might even consider how curves can work in contrast with the straight lines of your home. This can help call attention to your home’s best features.
Select Your Flowers
Now’s the time for a bit of homework (in more ways than one)! Learn about plant types and start gathering ideas from local gardeners. Check out Maine’s USDA “hardiness zone” ranking, which is hardiness zones 3b to 7a. This will allow you to discover the flowers and plants that best thrive in our climate.
Lay Out Your Bed
Using wooden stakes, marking flags, or marking paint, lay out your flower bed lines according to your design.
Prepare & Enhance the Soil
After you’ve removed all grass and weeds, prepare the soil using a tiller. Perform a soil test, and make any necessary enhancements of the soil recommended by the test results. If you have less-than-ideal soil, you can improve it by mixing in garden soil, compost, or fertilizer.
Lay Out Your Flowers
Check your hardiness zone and monitor weather conditions to make sure the final frost is over and the soil is warm enough. Also, check plant packages or labels, since various flowers need to go into the ground at different times. Before planting, lay out plants using the spacing measurements from your flower bed design.
Plant Your Flowers
After thoroughly wetting the soil, begin planting. Be sure to plant early in the day, to avoid exposing seedlings’ roots to strong, burning sunshine. After you have planted your flower bed, make sure your flowers have enough moisture without overwatering.
Mulch & Landscape
After planting your flower bed, add a layer of organic material such as straw, pine needles, compost, or mulch on top of the soil. This will squash weeds, help your flowers retain moisture, and protect the bed from extreme temperature dips or spikes.