Planning Your Flower Bed Layout
When it comes to the aesthetics of your new flower bed, the layout of the flowers and plants is the most critical factor. The design will highlight the different colors, textures, and shapes you’ve selected to accent your landscape.
The finished flower beds should complement your home, tying the landscaping and home together. You don’t want the flowers to compete against your home, vying for attention.
When designing a layout, it’s key to focus on three design principles: color, scale, and plant groupings. Plus, always plan for the mature size of plants.
- To keep the flower bed from becoming too busy, choose a color palette of one to three colors for each section.
- Coordinate colors so they are aesthetically pleasing. Use complementary colors opposite each other on the color wheel or group similar colors together, like purples and dark blues, or red oranges and red violets.
- Put darker colors at the center or back of the bed to make colorful flowers stand out against a dark background.
- Flower beds are often designed with taller plants placed at the back, small edging or ground plants at the front, and medium-sized flowers filling the area in between.
- Plant taller shrubs or small, ornamental trees as an accent in the center or on the outer perimeter of the flower bed.
- Keep the background in proportion to the flower bed. The general rule of thumb is to have the height of the background (e.g., fence, shrubs) as tall as the flowerbed is deep. For standalone beds, the height of the largest shrubs should be as tall as the bed is deep from the center to the outside edge.
- Aim to have more than one of each plant type throughout the bed. Planting in odd-numbered groups like three or five creates more visual interest and cohesiveness.
- In large beds, group plants with similar requirements (water, sunlight, drainage, etc.) in the same sections. For smaller flower beds, all of the plants should have the same requirements.
- Always try to mimic nature. Never plant flowers neatly in rows.