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Flower Bed Design question for a central bed that needs year round interest

#1 · 25th January 2022, 12:44 pm

Hi Garden Ninja!

Firstly, I would just like to say that discovering your Youtube videos over the past few days has made me extremely excited about gardening, they are so interesting to watch and you use language that is easy to understand for beginners, so thank you!

We bought our house a couple of years ago and decided to have our very small, paved garden updated. We had a new patio built with a ground level square flower bed in the middle (approx 1.5m squared) with two raised beds on either side.

My question is in regards to our central bed. I would like to incorporate some echinaceas and verbena bonariensis as I absolutely adore the colours. My worry is that these two plants together does not provide enough structure, considering this central bed is a focal point for the garden. I did consider maybe a small tree, or some shrubs, but not really sure where to start as there's so many! I watched your video in regards to the layering of different heights - but still feeling rather stuck for ideas!

Thanks for taking the time to read this 🙂

#2 · 28th January 2022, 8:18 am

Hello guest, your question is a bit of a tricky one, you require something to make a statement and or give a bit of structure to the central flower bed in your garden. Being the "Central Focal Point" it is very important to get this right from the word go, otherwise you're going to be putting plants in, don't like them, not suited to the conditions, they're too small, growing too tall and getting legy, plants only in flower for a couple of weeks, trial and error can work out a bit costly!!!!

I know that Lee offers a cost effective design consultation, in the long run this will save you money and some headaches. It is OK to ask what do folks recommend for your central bed but what is the rest of your garden like, is it a shady garden, sun kissed, what is your soil like, what plants have you in your raised beds, and have you borders around your garden, what's in them? the plants you wish as a main feature needs to be complimentary with these existing plants, and garden.

You mentioned Echinacea and Verbensis, I have both of these in my garden, but, I initially planted these at the rear of my house, but these ended up growing at an angle of about 45 degrees, growing toward the light/sun ? because trees either side of the flower bed took away essential light, these are now at home in the front garden? a lot to think about, so I reckon it's worth contacting Lee to see what service he can offer you.

I hope all goes well.

Bob

#3 · 2nd February 2022, 6:59 am

Hi,

I'm so glad you're enjoying my beginner gardening content!

Bob's answer, as always, is spot on. He's one of the top Ninjas on this forum.

My recommendation would be an online garden planning consultation to create a plan for a successful gardening bed.

However, if that's not an option for you then I'd read and watch my flower bed design guide. Also taking into consideration choosing plants that suit the following conditions you may have:

Happy Gardening!