How to Place a Flower Bed by a Stone Fence

Grow flowers in front of a stone fence to soften its appearance.

Stone fences add charm and distinction to your landscape. Whether you recently built it, or it has sat on the land for centuries, the fence can be an attractive backdrop to a flower bed. In addition, the flowers will add a more manicured appearance to your yard. The possibilities are endless--make the flower bed as small or as large as you want.

Things You'll Need

• Landscape spray paint
• Compost
• Plants
• Landscape cloth
• Scissors
• Shovel
• Mulch

Instructions

1. Plan out the flower bed. Use landscape spray paint to draw and outline on the grass. Make the flower bed rectangle for a standard appearance, or make the edges scalloped for a custom look. The flower bed can extend just 2 to 3 feet from the wall if you have limited space, or up to 8 feet to provide room for continuous bloom and growth.

2. Prepare the land in advance of planting. The fall before spring planting, remove grass and other plants from the future flower bed. Pull weeds up by their roots to avoid regrowth. Till the soil to loosen the top 6 inches. Add compost to the local soil if it's wet or rocky.

3. Spread landscape cloth down over the soil. It will keep weeds from growing and help retain soil moisture. Cut the cloth to fit the flower bed.

4. Select flowers that are suited to the sunlight conditions in the planting area. If it's shaded by the stone fence for most of the day, choose shade-loving flowers like impatiens or hostas. If the space in the sun 6 to 8 hours daily, plant daisies or black-eyed Susans. Take into account blooming time. Vary the plants so you have something constantly blooming.

5. Set the flowers around the bed while they are still in their containers to plan out the garden. Keep in mind the mature height of each plant. Put the taller plants in the back, closer to the stone fence, and transition to shorter plants toward the front of the bed. Place plants that are under 1 foot tall in the front third of the bed, those that are between 1 and 3 feet tall in the middle and those taller than 3 feet in the back.

6. Cut an "X" in the landscape cloth where each flower will be planted. Insert a spade or shovel through the cloth into the soil and dig a hole large enough for the root ball.

7. Remove the flower from its nursery container and loosen the root mass gently. Place the flower in the hole and fill in around it with some of the removed soil. Press down to remove air pockets and water thoroughly.

8. Step back as you plant to assess the appearance of the flower bed. Flowers tend to have the biggest impact when planted in groupings of three. Allow enough space between each flower for it to spread.

9. Spread mulch around the base of each plant for a finished look. It will also retain soil moisture and cut down on weeds.

References

• Cornell University: Flower Garden Design Basics
• Arizona Cooperative Extension: Flower Bed - Perennials
• Colorado State University Extension: Flower Bed Dimensions