How to Plant a Flower Bed

Planting a flower bed takes a little planning, proper tools, flowers appropriate for your region and hard work to prepare the bed. Planting a flower bed adds to the beauty of your home and serves as a source of food and nutrients for birds, bees and butterflies.

String

Posts (optional)

Shovel

Trowel

Garden snippers

Topsoil

Compost

Bulbs

Potting flowers and plants

Mulch

Bricks

Rocks

Railroad ties

Fencing

Put your flower bed in an area that receives adequate sunlight and has soil that drains well. Decide the shape of your flower bed: rectangular, square, round or abstract. Make your raised or ground-level flower bed by mixing ground soil with topsoil. For a raised flower bed, you'll need railroad ties, bricks or stones in the retaining wall that holds your soil.

Insert short posts into the ground along the perimeter to outline the shape of the flower bed. Securely tie one end of a piece of string to the first post. Proceed to the next post. Pull the string tightly to take up any slack and wrap the string several times around the second post. Repeat this step with each post. Secure the string to the final post by tying a knot.

Prepare the soil with a shovel, digging up 10 to 12 inches to loosen it.

Mix the ground soil with compost or topsoil if the ground soil is of poor quality. Spread the mixture evenly throughout the flower bed. In a raised flowerbed, add additional top soil to raise the height of the bed.

Using the trowel, dig a hole deep enough for the root structure of each plant and wide enough to allow the roots to expand. Remove each flower from its container, being careful not to break the roots. Place the flower into the hole. Use garden snippers to remove any damaged stems or leaves. Fill in the hole with the soil mixture and gently press the soil around the flower to secure it. Avoid packing the soil too hard around the flowers.

Water the flowers lightly and add more soil mixture as necessary. Spread a layer of mulch over the entire area to prevent grass and weeds from growing into the flower bed. Remove the posts and string and replace the outline with bricks, blocks, stones or fencing or use wooden beams or ties to support the soil.

When tying the string to each post, keep the string close to the ground so there is less chance of tripping over the string.

Newly-planted flowers should be kept moist, but do not overwater.