Troubleshooting The Perfect Flower Bed

Flower beds are a beautiful and exciting way to make your yard look unique, and well maintained. What many people do not realize is that planning a flower bed is far from easy. There are many pit-falls along the way if you do not plan out your flower bed in advance, and follow some simply guidelines. What follows are a number of potential problems, along with the solutions for each:

Problem: Forgetting the layout and where you planted each of your seeds.

Solution: This is easily fixed by drawing out a sketch of the flower bed before starting, and marking in the areas where you have already planted. This also helps you to visualize the layout of the flowerbed. Put larger plants near the back if it is up against a wall, and in the middle if you are going to have it open on all sides. This is so you do not trample the larger flowers trying to reach the smaller ones. Also, it is visually much more attractive.

Problem: Poor drainage for your flowerbed.

Solution: This is rectified by making sure that you slope the flowerbed to a degree. Also, make sure that you have the proper type of soil for the flowers that you plant. A soil that takes in water is a great guard against drainage. If you are careful and make sure to till the ground, you will have no problems here.

Problem: Pests eating your flowers or plants.

Solution: This can be solved any number of ways, but the most effective way is to place human hair in the soil. This is especially effective against racoons and possums, and also is helpful with rabbits. For pests of a smaller sort, you should make sure to use a non-chemical insecticide. These can be found at your local hardware store, or any plant store.

Problem: Out of control weeds.

Solution: Solve this by making sure to put a layer of black plastic or a 1/4 inch of newspaper under your soil and mulch. This is highly effective if you take the time to do this correctly. It is highly important that you allow for the plants to grow through and that you do weekly maintenance to keep the flower bed pristine and clean of weeds. Also, using an edger around the flower bed can help as well.

Problem: Uneven seed growth or flowers.

Solution: This can be solved by using household flower to mark off the flowerbed before planting. Simply put the flour in even lines before planting and measure in both directions. This will allow you to place the flowers exactly where you intend, and they will grow in a very clean orderly fashion.

A great flowerbed is about thinking ahead and planning for problems before they arrive. If you do the proper legwork, a great flowerbed is something that you can have every single year.

The great flower “bed” photo in this post was provided by quinnanya

Tagged as: Backyard, flowerbed, Gardening