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Started By
Message
Re-doing flower beds. Where to start?
Posted on 2/20/23 at 3:26 pm
Posted on 2/20/23 at 3:26 pm
Time to overhaul my front flower beds (builder grade). A lot of my plants are dead, destroyed by rabbits, or just ugly.
How do you go about selecting what flowers/shrubs to plant and where? I feel uneasy about hiring a company without giving any direction since I lack knowledge and creativity on this.
Does anyone have any recommendations on how to approach creating a plan and/or recommendations on your favorites flower bed items?
Googling topics/photos about this aren’t giving me examples that fit.
I am in the north DFW area and we have clay soils.
How do you go about selecting what flowers/shrubs to plant and where? I feel uneasy about hiring a company without giving any direction since I lack knowledge and creativity on this.
Does anyone have any recommendations on how to approach creating a plan and/or recommendations on your favorites flower bed items?
Googling topics/photos about this aren’t giving me examples that fit.
I am in the north DFW area and we have clay soils.
This post was edited on 2/20/23 at 3:36 pm
3
Posted on 2/20/23 at 4:13 pm to Lazy But Talented
quote:
I feel uneasy about hiring a company without giving any direction since I lack knowledge and creativity on this.
This seems to me like all the more reason to hire a pro who can tell you what/where to plant as a jumping off point. It’s not just as simple as picking out plants, especially if you don’t have good vision for this kinda stuff. I’ve seen some real terrible DIY beds.
Posted on 2/20/23 at 4:16 pm to Lazy But Talented
quote:start by taking this opportunity to improve your soils in the beds. then start thinking about plants
Time to overhaul my front flower beds (builder grade).
Posted on 2/20/23 at 4:51 pm to Lazy But Talented
if youre really serious get a landscape architect they will specify bed composition and will select plants that work toward a desired effect and last you can diy on the bed rebuilding to save
Posted on 2/22/23 at 12:37 pm to cgrand
quote:
start by taking this opportunity to improve your soils in the beds. then start thinking about plants
Care to expound on this a little more?
All I’ve done is refresh the mulch each year.
This post was edited on 2/22/23 at 12:37 pm
Posted on 2/22/23 at 2:12 pm to Lazy But Talented
quote:
Care to expound on this a little more?
assuming your house was new construction in a subdivision, when the building pad of compacted structural fill was installed, it generally goes 5' out in all directions.
again, assuming the normal SOP for homebuilding was followed, the landscaper came in and dumped a few inches of "garden mix" on top of that, and stuck some plants in the ground. so you have very poor soils below grade, and not much to work with above.
pull all those plants out and throw in the compost pile (or start a compost pile). start gathering as much organic material as you can. rotten leaves, shredded rotten bark, peat moss, "raised bed" soil, garden soil, sand, etc. whatever you can get your hands on, and pile it on/work it in. and then give it some time...consider a simple groundcover or similar the first year and let it cook. keep piling on loose materials after that and let them rot
patience now will deliver future results
Posted on 2/22/23 at 2:49 pm to cgrand
Awesome thanks for the insight.
We added probably 2-3” of soil when we raised the beds to add the boulders around it.
Has me wondering if they adjusted the drip irrigation or if they left it at the same depth. Not sure why I’m just questioning this a year plus later.
I’m meeting with a contractor today to discuss some options along with a couple other projects. Will report back on their proposal/suggestions.
We added probably 2-3” of soil when we raised the beds to add the boulders around it.
Has me wondering if they adjusted the drip irrigation or if they left it at the same depth. Not sure why I’m just questioning this a year plus later.
I’m meeting with a contractor today to discuss some options along with a couple other projects. Will report back on their proposal/suggestions.
This post was edited on 2/22/23 at 2:51 pm
Posted on 2/22/23 at 4:11 pm to Lazy But Talented
I’m in a similar boat as I am building mine from scratch.
It seems like there are a few aspects of landscape design that need to be tackled:
Soil quality
Proper plant selection
Irrigation
Mulch
We’ve gotten several quotes but I know I can do this myself.
On soil… i plan on tilling in several inches deep with the correct soil as someone noted above then building the beds on top of that with the same soil.
On plant selection… As far as what plants, any nursery would be able to point you in the right direction. I’ve found that every nursery I’ve been to has been more than willing to work with me as far as plant selection and what not. A good start is to ride around with the Mrs and take pictures of what you like and don’t like.
On irrigation… it sounds like you have a system in place, just research to be sure it’s installed properly.
And lastly, you have mulch experience so you’re good there.
Yes, if you want to go all out and money isn’t an object, hire someone to do the landscape or design your whole outdoor master plan. But I feel if you have the desire to learn and are willing to research and plan your own master plan using Google, Pinterest, etc, you can definitely do this yourself.
It seems like there are a few aspects of landscape design that need to be tackled:
Soil quality
Proper plant selection
Irrigation
Mulch
We’ve gotten several quotes but I know I can do this myself.
On soil… i plan on tilling in several inches deep with the correct soil as someone noted above then building the beds on top of that with the same soil.
On plant selection… As far as what plants, any nursery would be able to point you in the right direction. I’ve found that every nursery I’ve been to has been more than willing to work with me as far as plant selection and what not. A good start is to ride around with the Mrs and take pictures of what you like and don’t like.
On irrigation… it sounds like you have a system in place, just research to be sure it’s installed properly.
And lastly, you have mulch experience so you’re good there.
Yes, if you want to go all out and money isn’t an object, hire someone to do the landscape or design your whole outdoor master plan. But I feel if you have the desire to learn and are willing to research and plan your own master plan using Google, Pinterest, etc, you can definitely do this yourself.
Posted on 2/22/23 at 5:02 pm to poochie
I’m looking to do the same, mine in the back are way too big and take up too much of the total area around the pool, I’m thinking of shrinking them to increase the grass area.
I’d like to have the beds full of a mix of green and color but after just seeing almost everything die in the recent freeze I don’t see how anyone has this look year over year without spending a fortune on annual change outs
I’d like to have the beds full of a mix of green and color but after just seeing almost everything die in the recent freeze I don’t see how anyone has this look year over year without spending a fortune on annual change outs
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