How to Landscape a Perennial Yard with Flowers and Shrubs on a Budget

Flowers and Shrubs in Perennial Yard only Have to be Planted ONCE

Planting perennial flower beds to enhance your yard and home can be done without a landscaper.

This information starts with a yard that is already planted with grass and trees, and the goal is to make flower beds and design an attractive EXISTING yard. Once your perennial beds are planted, there will be little to do but fertilize once a month in the summer.

Things You'll Need

• Garden tools
• An idea of what plants will grow in your area
• Drawing paper for a design plan
• Bricks, roll edging, something to divide the areas
• Garden hose to lay out the beds one by one.
• Eventually, plants, flowers, shrubs.

Instructions

1. 

   Develop a plan.

   Start with a PLAN for what you want the yard to look like when done. Take one small area or flower bed and work with it first. Use a hose to design the shape, (this will keep you from making it square and look like you do not know current trends) then make the border of your choice to divide the grass from the flowers. This divider can be bricks or rolled edging preferably. The little pickets are attractive for a season, but wear quickly and are not recommended for long-term appeal.

2. 

   Place the border first.

   Once you have the border in place, MAKE SURE there are no weeds or grass in the bed you want to plant. This is important, because if you do not remove the grass, it will be a long-term problem for the flower bed.

   If you need to amend the soil, and it will require a significant quantity, you might contact your city and see if they have suggestions for acquiring a large quantity of topsoil or better. You do not want fill dirt, since it will require more amendments such as mulch and fertilizer, will get hard and not easy to work with, and in general will be a deterrent for plant growth.

3. 

   Make some decisions on selection of perennials.

   Once your bed is ready, THEN decide what plants you would like to have in that location. This is determined by sun or shade and your ZONE for planting and weather. We live in central Texas, so we are in Zone 8. If you want to plant bulbs, place the large shrubs or trees first, then the large bulbs that need to be planted deep. Once that is done, you can plant other plants at a shallow depth over the SAME area--so you have bulbs blooming in the spring, and when they die out, you will have other foliage or flowers blooming.

4. 

   Drive or walk through your neighborhood.

   If you are planting shrubs, determine the average size in your area by driving around town or walking through your neighborhood. This is also a good way to decide what plants would be good for your flower bed, too, and if you admire plants at our house, you may come away with many starter plants. There are others who give plants away, too.

5. 

   Buy plants cheap, or trade if you can.

   If your town has a local nursery or home store, CHECK to see if they have a half-price shelf. Many plants are available from garage sales, trading with friends, or half price shelves.

   Try to buy perennials--plants that will thrive from year to year, but if you want some instant color, you can get a few annuals to make it attractive immediately.

6. 

   Skimp on perennial planting.

   Plant fewer plants than you think you need. I see landscapers all over town who plant too much. It looks nice for a season, but the shrubs get large and are too close together, the small plants die out for lack of sun, and the landscaping is not attractive.

   You can be smart and save money by letting the flower bed grow on its own. The first season will look sparse, but you can watch the little plants grow, and multiply to fill the bed.

7. 

   Care for the perennials as soon as they are planted.

   Once your flower bed is planted, WATER it every day for about a week to let the plants get started. You can also use a hormone for root growth if you are feeling generous--or wealthy. After the plants take root, do NOT water them every day, but water when the ground is dry. Stick your finger or a stick in the soil around the plant to check.

Tips & Warnings

• Take a break before you start the next flower bed or landscaping task. You want to keep up your enthusiasm for the project, and trying to do too much at a time will make it discouraging.

• Watch for sprinklers, gas lines, underground electrical lines, sewer or water lines maybe, if you dig deep.

• Copyright by Linda Richard 2009.

• We often write about landscaping and flower gardens. See Resources below for more articles like this one.

Resources

• Flowers Landscape Books for Sale
• Fix Bare Spots in a Yard or Landscaping
• Grow Container Plants in a Yard
• Grow Esperanza Yellow Bells
• Grow Cacti Dish Garden
• Harvest Flower Seeds
• Grow Perennial Herbs for Flowers or Food
• Grow a Mimosa or Silk Tree for your Landscape
• Attract Birds Wildlife Butterflies to a Yard
• Grow Irises that Bloom
• Make Money Selling Plants and Flowers
• Grow Dwarf Amaryllis
• Grow Root Beer Plant
• Gardening Books for Sale