In spring or summer, when the sun is shining outside, you want to escape from the stuffy city to nature. A summer cottage for many seems to be a hard labor, in which you need to continuously dig, huddle, weed weeds and work tirelessly. But a country house can also serve as a resting place for the whole family, and therefore I want the site in front of the house to look beautiful.
Various types of flower beds are perfect for decorating a summer cottage and a country house.
What it is?
Usually a flower bed is a piece of land on which a flower garden is broken. As a rule, this area is somewhat raised above the general soil level and represents a regular geometric figure - a square, rectangle, circle, oval, ellipse, etc.
A distinctive feature of the flower bed is its conditional isolation from the rest of the garden. It is customary to enclose such a flower garden with a stone or brick border, which should protect the plants from trampling and keep the flower garden in the originally specified geometric shape.
Quite a popular design solution is cascading flower beds, consisting of several original "floors" that form a single composition.
Plants for flower beds are selected depending on the intended color scheme; Plants are often planted in such a way as to form a particular pattern or pattern during flowering. Colored rubble or pebbles can be used to accentuate such floral images.
Features of the
It is worth looking at at least a few flower bed options to understand that landscape designers are rarely limited to standard single-tier flower beds with a low border. Yes, undoubtedly, due to the fact that such flower beds are broken most easily and simply, most gardeners (especially if they do all the work on their own) prefer this type of flower bed.
But if the gardener already has experience in arranging the simplest flower beds and wants to diversify the landscape of the summer cottage that has become boring for a long time, then the time comes for all kinds of experiments. A single-tier flower bed can be replaced by a multi-level flower bed, decorated, for example, with a fountain or an artificial reservoir.
The most unusual are street flower beds. The space in front of the house is usually less than the territory of the courtyard, therefore, the flower beds on the front side of the house, as a rule, are moderately compact and curious in appearance.
Vertical flower beds can be installed along the edges of the porch; some owners use old car tires for flower beds, others even install semi-sculptural compositions from old bicycles and even cars.
The fact that the flowerbed must be located on the ground is also a delusion. If part of the courtyard on the site is filled with concrete, then nothing prevents you from pouring a flower bed, for example, near the walls of a house or garage.
Style and design
With a certain amount of imagination, a flower bed can become a true masterpiece of design art. At the same time, the design does not necessarily require large expenses from the owner: for many original solutions, used items such as an old bicycle, car tires, a leaky trolley, or, at first glance, perfect garbage like plastic bottles will come in handy.
The standard option is considered to be a flower bed arranged in the middle of the site. However, there are many types of this "standard" option. It's worth starting with the fact that a flower garden in the center of the garden can be of a wide variety of shapes: round, square, triangular and so on. In addition, such a flower bed can be multi-tiered, and since it will inevitably focus on itself due to its location, you can arrange a fountain in its center.
Flowers in a flower bed can be planted in the form of a pre-planned pattern. It can be checkerboard cells, circles, a spiral, or a smooth gradient. A striped flower bed looks no less interesting. You just need to decide what exactly the gardener wants to see on his site in order to think in advance with the drawing which colors and flowers are best to combine.
Gloomy and repulsive car tires can become an amazing flower bed in their simplicity and attractiveness. Before proceeding with the registration, the used tire must be thoroughly rinsed and cleaned to prevent gasoline, engine oil or other harmful substances from entering the soil. And then the dried tires are given the necessary shape, painted, filled with soil and plants are planted with them.
Original flower beds can be obtained from an old bicycle, leaky rubber boots. Daisies or bright marigolds and asters can be planted in a dismantled bathtub.
How to do it yourself?
Before starting the process of creating a flower bed, you need to think through many small, but very important details. Firstly, it is worth taking care of the place where the future flower garden will be laid out. Ideally, this should be a well-lit space.so that sun-loving plants do not lack sunlight. Otherwise, it is worthwhile to devote a little more time to the selection of plants for the flower bed and to find shade-loving varieties that can develop and bloom correctly even in the event of a lack of lighting.
The next step will be the direct planning of the flower bed itself. It is necessary to draw up a preliminary sketch of the future flower garden on paper, make a choice of plants depending on their color, shape and size, as well as the periods and duration of flowering … It is necessary to figure out in advance what from the seedlings it will be possible to purchase ready-made, and what will have to be sown in the greenhouse on your own.
When creating a floral pattern, you should not chase after complex patterns, because its execution will be just as difficult. Difficulties can arise both at the stage of selecting suitable plants, and in the process of planting them on prepared soil.
When the preliminary preparations are completed, the plan of the future flower bed is drawn and the plants necessary for its implementation are selected, you can begin to mark the perimeter for the future flower garden.
The place where the flower bed will be laid out, must be carefully dug up and leveledto get rid of possible bumps or dimples, dips in the ground. If, according to the design concept, the flower bed must be surrounded by a border that will not interfere with the planting process (that is, it will not be very high), then it is better to install it already at this stage.
The next step, directly related to the previous one, is to create the relief of the flower bed. The flower garden can be a flat area of soil, can rise slightly above the rest of the surface, or be located at an angle.
The easiest way will be to level the surface for a flat flower bed. If the topsoil at the planting site is fertile, then all weeds are removed from it, after which the earth is carefully dug up. Bad soil will need to be removed, and instead add humus with peat and fertilizers necessary for cultivated plants.
To make a flower bed towering above the general landscape, it will be necessary to add soil. Most often, loose and sufficiently fertile soil is used for this (it is brought from other sites or bought in stores with goods for the garden and vegetable garden), from which the necessary relief is subsequently formed. Such soil will take time to settle, otherwise the entire artificially created relief will be disrupted over time.… To do this, the site is either left for a while, waiting for the soil to settle on its own under the rains, or it is simply shed well.
When the base of the relief is ready, the base of the future flower pattern is marked on the site. The most convenient way to do this is with the help of pegs with bright threads stretched between them: this will help to accurately and simply determine how many plants will be needed for a particular section of the pattern.
Finally, the last stage is the direct planting of plants on the soil prepared and marked in accordance with the design idea. It is desirable that the seedlings, if possible, be the same age., which is approximately at the same stage of development and ideally already had formed buds, as this will help not to be mistaken with the color of the plants.
When planting plants, it must be borne in mind that over time they will grow, therefore, it is necessary to place the seedlings in the ground at the standard spacing for each variety.
If some shoots lag behind in development from the rest of the specimens, then they should be planted on the southern slope of the flower garden, and the most developed ones on the northern one. With a high degree of probability, different shoots will soon become equal in development.
Varieties
There are different flower beds, and before proceeding with the breakdown of a flower garden, the owner-gardener should decide what exactly he wants to see on his site.
Firstly, the flower bed can be spring, summer or autumn. As it becomes clear from the names, these flower beds differ in the periods of flowering of the plants chosen for their decoration.
Spring flowers - such as snowdrops, tulips, crocuses, irises, peonies and others, will delight the owner of the site with their flowering until June.
Plants blooming in summertend to retain their appearance longer - most of the summer. Such flower beds are more often planted with perennial plants: chamomiles, lilies, pansies, roses, etc.
Finally, autumn flower beds - the last way to keep the traces of the passing summer in the garden. Asters, chrysanthemums, physalis, etc. look great against the background of autumn foliage.
An interesting solution would be to create a mixed flower bed, on which the plants will be arranged in such a way that by the time some of them bloom, others will immediately bloom. According to this principle, real flower clocks are created in some gardens.
After the owner has decided on the time when the flowers on his site will be most appropriate, you should pay attention to the structure of the landscape into which it is planned to fit the flower bed.
So, in addition to the typical single-tiered flower bed, you can break the original multi-tiered flower garden. It can be artificially poured even on top of a concrete or tiled or stone site, and in some cases it can help to save space.
An interesting option in this case would be the use of a natural landscape: if there are lowlands or hills on the site, you can break multi-tiered flower beds right on them.
Long-tiered flower beds are not the only way to decorate your garden with flowers, while retaining space for other plantings. Vertical and hanging flower beds serve similar purposes. Decorative wicker baskets or large hanging pots look very stylish and unusual.
Materials (edit)
A wide variety of materials are used to decorate the flower beds; many owners on their plots use improvised means at all: empty plastic bottles, damaged car tires, etc.
It was already mentioned above that a border distinguishes a flower bed from other types of flower beds, which separates a group of plants from the rest of the landscape. The curb can be made of natural stones or bricks.
Often a fence for a flower garden is made of wood. It is quite lightweight, which makes it easy to install. In addition, for the very installation of such a curb, any wooden remains that may be found at the summer cottage are useful: indicative negligence in design can become the highlight of the flower bed.
Wherein the main disadvantage of a wooden fence is its fragility … From frequent watering and proximity to the ground, the tree will inevitably begin to rot, therefore, in order for the flower bed to retain a presentable appearance, the wooden fence will have to be regularly restored and updated. In addition, aphids and mites that parasitize plants can settle in the tree.
You can also use metal slate remnants to decorate the curb.
If the flowerbed is used to decorate the front part of the house, then it would be more expedient to use galvanized metal fences. They are not very expensive, but they are quite durable and have a presentable appearance.
Finally, inexpensive plastic fences - plastic nets - are available at many gardening or home improvement stores. They are very lightweight, flexible, differ in a variety of colors, shapes and patterns. but do not install a plastic mesh in areas with loose soil: the curb will quickly go underground and lose its attractive appearance.
Seat selection
A flower bed is always almost the main decoration of a site. Accordingly, the place for it must be selected taking into account that it is visible from all sides and harmoniously fits into the overall composition of the summer cottage and the garden house.
If the main part of the site is already occupied by beds or utility rooms, and you still want to plant flowers, then you can approach the search for a place more creatively. The main thing to remember is that the flower garden must be placed so that the plants do not lack sunlight.
Small flower beds can be placed under the wall of the house or vertical flower beds can be installed. A good solution would be to break the flower bed along the fence - it will beautifully border the site and add accents at the entrance to it.
If trees grow in the garden, then several flower beds can be set up right below them: of course, shade-loving plants must be planted in such a flower bed.
Dimensions (edit)
The size of the flower bed directly depends on the size of the site on which it is planned to break it. The maximum size of such a flower garden (so that it is easy and convenient to care for it) is considered to be a diameter of two meters. In this case, the flower bed can be of any shape - round, square, etc. No less attractive is the version of a carpet flower bed - for its creation, low-growing plants of the same height are used.
To make caring for a flower garden the most convenient, you can break up several small clubs, connected into a single composition by a floral pattern or by your own shape.
The form
In addition to the fact that the flower beds differ in size, they can be of a wide variety of shapes.
The most popular and traditional are regular flower beds of regular geometric shapes. - round, rectangular, triangular, square. If this rule is deviated from, then preference is still given to symmetrical forms.
It is the external correctness of such flower beds that should distinguish them from the general landscape and focus attention on themselves.
Of the non-standard solutions for the design of a flower garden, one can single out vertical flower beds. The main one of their advantages is saving free space.… This allows you to create a flower garden even in a home with a very small backyard. Such a flowerbed is arranged easily and quickly.
The only drawback is that plants planted in this position will require special care. One of the options for a vertical flower bed is a conical flower bed.
Another option that is suitable for areas with a lack of free space will be corner flower beds, especially if their outer edge has a semicircular shape. Of course, such a flower garden should first of all fit into the overall landscape composition.
Flowers
For flowers that are chosen for a flower bed, several basic requirements are usually applied:
- they must observe a presentable, decorative look during the entire time they stay in the flower bed (depending on the season for which this flower bed is designed: spring, summer or autumn);
- flowering varieties must have a long flowering period;
- Considering that flower beds are located in open spaces, plant varieties for such flower beds should be selected depending on their conditions to weather conditions: temperature and humidity changes;
- it is necessary that plants can easily and quickly adapt to new soil and changes in conditions during transplantation.
Much better and more beautiful will be that flower bed, the flower pattern on which was carefully thought out in advance. This will allow avoiding "failures" on the common colorful carpet, when some of the plants have already faded, and the other is just beginning to bloom, and a single composition in any case will look much neater and more attractive.
However, you shouldn't tackle complex compositions right away. Sometimes beauty lies in simplicity, and lack of experience can ruin the look of a flower garden.
Besides, it is important to remember that different plants require different conditions: some of them love moisture and need to be watered regularly, other varieties, on the contrary, can wither and die from frequent watering. It's the same with light: some plants require a lot of sun, while others prefer shade. It is clear that all these features must be taken into account before planting plants on one flower bed.
And finally, the right choice of colors will be an equally important step. Recently, the so-called ombre is popular - a smooth color transition … There are two types of warm ombre (red-orange-yellow and pink-orange-coral-peach) and two types of cold (purple-lilac-pink and blue-blue-white).
Small flowers open up only if they are planted in large quantities so that they form a kind of carpet. This, for example, ageratum or forget-me-nots. If you sow several beds parallel to each other, after a few weeks the entire sown surface will be covered with a dense layer of bright flowers.
Some flowers - mainly coleus, heuchera, irezin, are used due to the reddish-brown or silvery color of the leaves to set off the bright colors of the inflorescences. They also help to form a single flower bed pattern. Small colored rubble or pebbles are sometimes used for the same purpose.
Tall plants with brittle stems are usually not used in flower beds … For example, although delphiniums and mallows are very beautiful, a strong wind can knock down tall stems and ruin the entire flower bed. Gladioli, among other things, do not fit into flower beds due to their long, pointed stems.
Fast-growing flowers are also planted separately and not in a flower bed.… Dicenters, rudbeckia and other plants with a fast growth rate can grow and fill the entire flower bed in a few weeks. Other plants simply lack space, light and nutrients.
The best options for a flower bed are low and long-flowering (often perennial) plants.… Small, but frequent and bright inflorescences of daisies, pansies, marigolds will qualitatively fill the entire space of the flower bed, saving it from "holes" if several plants wither or fade. In addition, they easily tolerate transplanting and easily take root in new soil: even already flowering seedlings can be transplanted.
- Muscari look good on flower beds … Due to the structure of its inflorescences, it looks very dense, forming a real blue carpet, which can always be diluted with white or red flowers.
- One-year-old kosmeya is very unpretentious, forming a kind of floral border with its stems. It is enough to sow seeds in the ground, plant cuttings in a flower bed and periodically water in the summer.
- Daisies are both perennial and annuals. They are able to create carpeting of flower beds, differ in a variety of beautiful varieties and delicate colors. Not to mention a very affordable and affordable price.
- Many varieties and types of garden nasturtiums allow you to use them in the most unexpected way. In addition, nasturtiums are considered medicinal, and their leaves are added to salad.
- Reseda, inconspicuous at first glance it has a pleasant smell, just like levkoy (its other name is mattiola).
- Separately, it is necessary to mention tulips … These spring flowers are suitable for a wide variety of flower beds and come in a wide variety of varieties. In addition to their general unpretentiousness, their bulb is completely unattractive to underground pests and is strong enough not to allow accidentally sprouted weeds to dislodge the tulip from its rightful place.
- Rose beds never become outdated: this noble plant is considered to be almost the queen of any garden. Although you need to care for roses more carefully than many other club plants, the result will be worth it.
- Finally, the flower bed can be planted with a variety of conifers.… Coniferous plants have a huge number of advantages over their deciduous counterparts. Evergreens will delight the eyes of the owner of the site all year round: green Christmas trees powdered with snow on a flower bed will look very cute and eye-catching.
It should be borne in mind that coniferous ornamental plants quite easily tolerate the transplanting process, and also do not require special conditions and complex energy-intensive care. Do not forget the fact that almost all conifers are perennial plants, which means that there is no need to renew the plants in the flower garden every year. In addition, although conifers may seem rather "boring", they have a rather varied palette of shades.
The main thing is not to forget that some conifers may not tolerate the neighborhood of others.
The most popular conifers that are used for flower beds in summer cottages are spruce, pine, juniper, fir and thuja.
If desired, any owner can create a flower bed on his site, which will bloom from early spring to late autumn. There are two ways to implement such a flower bed.
The first method involves the creation of a flower garden from perennials. The main thing in this case will be the observance of some rules in the selection of plants, attentiveness and care for the flower garden.
For a flower bed, the flowering of which is planned to be maintained throughout the warm season of the year, plants with different flowering periods should be chosen. Flowers should be both perennial and annual, and shrubs should also be avoided.
The process of creating a flower bed with continuous flowering becomes somewhat more complicated, where all plants must have the same or very similar requirements for the level of humidity, the amount of light and the frequency of watering.
Due to the large number of plants settling in such a flower bed, among them there should be no so-called aggressor plants that can crowd out other types of flowers (for example, it is definitely not worth planting a decorative leaf or periwinkle on a similar flower bed). It is also better to abandon easily inseminated perennials like poppy and lupine - they can ruin the entire decorative composition of the flower bed if they germinate where it was not planned.
At the beginning, a detailed diagram of the future flower bed is drawn up on paper, it will be very important to draw up a list of plants selected for the flower garden depending on the season of their flowering: in the spring (for example, anemone, hyacinths, crocuses, saxifrage, daisies, muscari, hazel grouses, tulips, snowdrops, primrose, daffodils, etc.), in summer (aquilegia, cornflowers, carnations, delphiniums, irises, bells, cinquefoil, lilies, daylilies, euphorbia, peonies, phlox, etc.) or autumn (asters, sunflowers, geleniums, chrysanthemums, etc.).
A separate group is to write out non-seasonal plants that retain their attractive appearance regardless of the season: conifers (spruce, pine, juniper); various decorative cereals (maned barley, blue fescue, etc.); different varieties of ferns.
The second way that a gardener can create a flower bed on his site that can delight the owners with flowering from early spring to late autumn is to change flowers during the season. Unlike the first method, which requires careful planning, this option looks much simpler, but at the same time, it is much more energy-intensive.
Fading flowers are carefully removed from the flower garden, and later species are planted in their place.
Beautiful examples and interesting options
The fantasy of landscape designers knows no boundaries. Looking at the photos of unusual flower beds, it seems that gardeners are able to break a flower bed of any size and shape, and you can use any object for a flower garden with a deepening sufficient to pour a little soil there.
Bright beautiful butterflies are an indispensable attribute of any flower garden., which themselves, at times, freezing motionless, resemble an amazing flower. Therefore, it is not strange that often gardeners, who are tired of the standard geometric shapes of flower beds, create compositions in the form of multi-colored butterflies on their site. You can lay out the abdomen with large stones, and the wings - with two types or colors of plants, or you can play out to the fullest and create a flower bed that is beautiful in its variegation and brightness.
Another interesting option is the creek bed … By choosing the right flowers when planting, you can achieve an absolutely amazing effect. Bright blue or bluish muscari, planted with a dense carpet, designed to resemble a stream in shape and length, will create the effect of a water surface: swaying under a gust of wind, they will create the illusion of flowing water. For the decoration of the "shores", it would be better to choose bright tulips. On the site, it will be necessary to select an oblong or ornate territory, along which a flower “stream” will "flow", and on either side of it, small rounded areas are selected, on which tulip islands will be located. They are planted with yellow tulip bulbs, and the rest of the space is densely seeded with muscari.
If there is a vacant lot in the courtyard near a private house that spoils the appearance of the courtyard, it will help to fill the empty space island flower bed … For example, in any flower garden there is a place for a rose bush. In combination with ornamental grasses, scarlet roses will look very traditional, but no less stylish. And the creation of such a composition is much easier than it seems at first glance.
To create a flower bed-island on the area allocated for the flower garden, it is necessary to outline a large circle - the border of the flower bed - and inside it a circle of a smaller size. A small circle is planted with ornamental grass like sedge or sulfur beard, and rose bushes are planted along its border. You can split them by color and plant alternately, for example, white and scarlet roses. In the remaining extreme ring (for added effect, this can be done in a checkerboard pattern), herbs like sesleria and decorative wormwood are planted.
Many perennial flowers are used to create iridescent and gradient compositions in flower beds, since these plants have a wide range of both warm and cold tones. Warm tones are usually referred to as the active part of the color spectrum. So, for example, roses are used for red, primroses can be used for orange, and bright odorous lilies serve as yellow. The passive part of the spectrum is cold tones. For green, different herbs are suitable (gray beard, decorative wormwood, etc.), bright delphiniums can become blue, and purple phloxes close the circle.
It's no secret that flower beds can often be used to create a living fence. Flower beds can be set up next to paths in a park or alley, or along a fence.
Another example of landscape design is a carpet flower bed.… Such a flower garden covers the ground with a dense floral carpet. Such an illusion can be created, for example, with the help of chrysanthemums. When a place for a flower garden is found, it will be necessary to plant a chrysanthemum bush in the center, and then surround it with six "petals" - chrysanthemum bushes of the same color or, if the intended pattern requires it, other colors. Then, close to the junction of the two "petals", it is planted along the bush; according to this principle, the entire space of the flower bed is filled.
Chrysanthemum bushes are large enough, so if the area allocated for the flowerbed does not allow many large plants to be planted there, smaller flowers can come to replace them. For example, asters: the variety of colors in this plant allows you to create beautiful gradients and patterns.
A very interesting option would be to decorate the flower bed with predominantly coniferous species of plants. The process of creating such a conventional flower garden (after all, there are no flowers on conifers) is not too different from breaking an ordinary flower bed.
The steps that are recommended to be followed when arranging such a flower bed remain unchanged: creating a preliminary design of a site on paper or using special computer programs, choosing and searching for conifers necessary for the idea, preparing the top layer of soil on a site intended for a flower bed - getting rid of weeds, digging up and, if necessary, adding humus and fertilizers to the soil, planting plants on prepared soil.
But still, there are several points that you need to pay special attention to before breaking a coniferous flower bed near your home. First, it is very important for conifers to have enough land. If the site does not differ in a large territory, then it is worth approaching the choice of plants with great care: if you plant too many bushes close to each other, they simply will not have enough space for full development … Secondly, conifers are quite selective about the soil and soil in which they grow. It is worthwhile to study the features of the land on the site in advance and, if necessary, fertilize it.
As for the design of a coniferous flower bed, there are a huge number of variations. It all depends on the imagination of the landscape designer and the owner of the site, on the amount of land allocated for the flower bed and the budget allocated for garden work. The only "but" that should be considered before starting work is if the gardener does not seek help from professional landscape designers, do not take on unnecessarily complex and time-consuming compositions … This advice is also valid for ordinary flower beds.
For framing walls, fences, as well as alleys and paths in the garden often use narrow elongated flower beds … Several specimens of juniper, western thuja or mountain pine can be planted on such compact flower beds. In some cases, it will be more appropriate to create a hedge out of conifers at all.
Two-tiered coniferous compositions will look interesting … The main thing in this case is to choose the right varieties for each of the levels. On the upper tier, higher and elongated plants are planted (for example, horizontal juniper and mountain pine), lower varieties are sent to the second level (for example, recumbent juniper).
Another option for a coniferous flower bed is a horizontal flower bed … All plants in a given flower bed must have the same level - if necessary, the knocked-out branches are trimmed. It is best to add several large stones and boulders to the composition of such a flower bed. This design will look especially impressive on the banks of a man-made pond. Compositions that combine conifers and decorative natural stones generally look very stylish and advantageous, creating the illusion of a natural natural landscape.
It is worth taking a closer look at the contents of the pantry or attic, where old and unnecessary things are stored. In addition to the already mentioned flower beds of tires, interesting flower beds can be set up in completely unexpected places.
For instance, flower beds-umbrellas … At first glance, this is something completely impossible, but it is worth covering the umbrella fabric with a non-toxic reinforcement, making several holes for the water to exit, and the unusual flower bed is ready!
Flowerbeds of tires - this is too interesting and promising option for a flower garden not to say a few more words about it. Swans are cut out of thoroughly washed and dyed tires and amazing compositions are created. It is enough to put several tires on top of each other, build a "handle" from an old hose and paint everything in bright colors - you get a cute "cup" that can be planted with any plants you like. Thus, it will be possible to assemble a full-fledged tea set on the site: make a "kettle" and a couple more cups according to the same principle.
Portable flower beds look attractive and interesting … In home and garden stores, you can buy a variety of ceramic or plastic pots, bowls and flowerpots, which, if planted with flowers, will be a wonderful decoration for any garden. Such "flower beds" can be placed even inside the house.
No less attractive, but, unfortunately, relatively short-lived wooden containers … It is possible to extend their service life if, before planting a plant in a barrel, wooden box or basket, cover the wooden surface with polyethylene with holes pre-made in it for the free removal of excess water.
If an old garden wheelbarrow remains on the site, nothing prevents you from painting it and turning it into an original and pretty flower bed. The same goes for obsolete furnishings (old chairs and bedside tables). Sometimes they manage to break a small flower bed even in old boots and shoes.
On any, even the smallest area, there will certainly be a place for a suspended flower bed. Specialty pots are available in garden shops, usually wide, shallow baskets made from palm or coconut fiber.
But nothing gets in the way adapt the same car tires for the suspended flower bed: if you plant some climbing plants in them, you can achieve an absolutely amazing effect. And in principle, for hanging flower beds, it is best to choose plants whose shoots and flowers will hang down attractively.
Often on the plots old trees come across that have long ceased to bear fruit and are being prepared for sawing, and sometimes stumps stick out altogether, spoiling the appearance of the landscape, but they are not uprooted either because of the difficulties associated with this, or because of sentimental feelings and memories … In this case, the ideal option would be to create flower beds around the stump or even directly inside it..
It is clear that not every stump will work. Rotten driftwood inhabited by ants and other insects cannot be used for a flower garden.
To begin with, a recess is cut in the center of the stump with a hatchet; its depth depends on the plan of the gardener: either a pot will be inserted into it later, or soil will be poured directly into the stump and seedlings will be planted. But anyway it would be better to install some plastic container inside the stump and plant flowers in it … This will help prevent the stump from collapsing from frequent watering.
By the way, it will be easier to remove the core if you pre-drill several holes around the perimeter. Burning can be another way that can make it easier to make the necessary indentation. A small amount of gasoline or kerosene is poured into the center of the stump and ignited. The main thing in this case is to have time to extinguish the flame in time and prevent the stump from burning out entirely.
When choosing flowers for a stump, it is worth looking for varieties whose root system will not penetrate too deeply into the ground. For the flower bed to remain beautiful and blooming, it is necessary that the roots of the plants are located superficially. For example, pansies, marigolds, cornflowers, geraniums, saxifrage, forget-me-nots, petunias will look great in such a flower bed.
The area around the stump can also be decorated in a variety of ways. You can install figurines of garden gnomes or animals around an unusual flower bed, lay out decorative stones or break another flower bed around the stump, the crown of which he will become.
The main thing is not to forget that the smaller the container in which the flowerbed is broken, the more often you will have to water the flowers growing there. A limited amount of soil will dry out quickly, and therefore plants may suffer from a lack of fluid. In the heat, flowers growing in containers are best watered twice a day; a good solution would be to add special helium granules to the soil to keep water in the soil.
Uncommon, but there are artificial or even natural reservoirs in areas. Happy owners of such a landscape trick should think about setting up a flower bed … right on the water.
Floating flower beds can be a truly unique landscape feature … Making such a flower bed is easier than it might seem at first glance. First you need to find a light base that will stick to the water, and make cells for flowers in it. It is best if this base is porous: then the plants on the island will be able to receive the nutrients they need directly from the reservoir, and therefore will not require watering. For this, foam, plastic and even light boards are suitable.
A suitable base for a floating flower bed can be found and bought at a garden store, but such a base will have a significant drawback: the correct geometric shape. In the pond, she will look alien and unnatural. If you make the base yourself, then it will be possible to give it any shape: a small irregular island will undoubtedly look best.
But this is the aesthetic side of the issue. It will be more important to take into account the immersion depth of the future flower bed, because you cannot allow water to flood plants with a root system close to the surface, this threatens them with death. Another thing is moisture-loving plants. In general, the immersion depth can be adjusted using gravel and small pebbles..
If it is necessary for the floating island to remain in a certain place in the reservoir, it is worth fixing it with an anchor. A good design solution would be to install LED lamps on a similar flowerbed.: they tolerate high humidity and give the reservoir a fabulous look in the dark. All flaws such as ugly sides or protruding parts of the structure can be decorated with moss.
A floating flower bed, by the way, will ideally fit into the ecosystem of a reservoir if it is inhabited by aquatic inhabitants. The island can become a resting place for turtles and frogs; it will provide coolness for fish on hot days. In addition, such a flower bed will serve as an additional filter for water, allowing you to weed out waste products of creatures living in the pond, and will reduce the amount of algae.
Special care for such a flower bed will not be needed: due to the limited space, weeds will not germinate on it, and for obvious reasons, it does not need regular watering. In addition, on such an island there will definitely not be ground pests like moles and shrews.
Not all plants are suitable for a floating flower bed … In addition to the fact that these plants must be quite hygrophilous, it is also worth considering that the floating structure will not be able to hold unnecessarily heavy bushes and trees. It is best when arranging such a flower bed, for example, albists, irises, lilies, as well as ornamental grasses, sundews, buttercups, ferns … Special attention should be paid to marsh plants like lingonberries, cranberries and cloudberries: they perfectly complement the water space and add special, wild colors to it.
Finally, it is worth stopping for a while on vertical flower beds. Beautiful trapezoidal or columnar flower beds can amaze anyone with their unusualness.
One of the unobvious options for a vertical flower bed is an alpine slide … It allows the gardener to profitably combine flowering and non-flowering plants and uses landscape elements in its design. Plants are generally located here in an extremely chaotic manner, which, together with large stones, creates a feeling of a wild natural landscape.
Another moderately common type of vertical flower bed is flower concrete screen … It is customary to decorate it with curly flowers and install it on fences, porches or gazebos. One of its varieties is a three-dimensional figure, which is created using a metal frame or a wooden base.
In general, petunia can be considered the most popular plant for vertical (and suspended) flower beds.… It has a fairly diverse color palette, besides, these colors can be combined; most often in floriculture, preference is given to annual varieties of this plant.
The stems of petunias are curly, which is a clear advantage for vertical and hanging flower beds, and the root system does not require much space. Yes and in terms of proximity to other plants, petunia is not picky, and thanks to its hot homeland, this plant tolerates heat with honor, although it loves abundant watering.
See the next video for a master class on creating a flower bed.
