The planting plan is a first milestone on the way to the lavish flower bed. Important basic criteria and an imaginative plant composition pave the way for beginners to a flower paradise, like something out of a glossy magazine. Let yourself be inspired by ideas and tips on how to create a picturesque flower bed in a playful way. This is how it works without weeds and without digging.

Good planning saves a lot of work

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Planting plan ideas
  3. Planting plan for beginners
  4. Create a flower bed without weeds
  5. Flower Collections by Location
  6. Planting plan flower bed with grasses
  7. Ideas perennial flower bed
  8. Mediterranean flower bed
  9. Flower bed in the balcony box
  10. When to create?
  11. frequently asked Questions

    12. the essentials in brief

    • It is optically beautiful to combine high leading perennials (10-15%) with lower accompanying perennials (30-40%) and filler perennials (50-60%).
    • Weed growth can be prevented or reduced with weed fleece and mulch (€239.00).
    • A flower bed can be square, round or curved
    • If you want to enjoy the flower bed all year round, you can plant one or two types of plants for each season, all of which should be hardy

    Creating a flower bed - ideas for the planting plan

    The flower bed becomes a jewel in the garden if you record the local conditions at the location in advance in a plan sketch. Make a note of the light conditions and soil conditions, because the right choice of plants depends to a large extent on them. Determine the shape so that the finished flower bed is perfectly embedded in the overall picture of the garden. The images below demonstrate a variety of options for beautiful linework. The next step is to dedicate yourself to the planting plan. Let yourself be guided by the following ideas and basic criteria so that you create the flower bed of your dreams correctly:

    • Lead perennials as a framework: Tall perennials such as hollyhocks, delphiniums, phlox, phlox, peonies as backdrop and centre
    • companion perennials: semi-tall flowers, such as blanket flower, coneflower, lupine, scabious, bulb flowers
    • filler perennials: low gap fillers, such as cranesbill, lavender, tickseed, annual flowers (snapdragon, mallow, zinnia)
    • division: 10-15% leading perennials, 30-40% companion plants, 50-60% filler perennials

    Majestic leading perennials are impressively presented as solitaires. Accompanying and filler perennials come into their own in small groups. The larger the bed area, the more numerous a flower variety can be represented as tuff. The edge of the bed is reserved for low and compact perennials that reveal the imposing protagonists in the background or in the centre. Prime examples are long-blooming cushion flowers such as blue cushion, cushion phlox or the picturesque candytuft.

    Creating a flower bed - planting plan for beginners

    The following planting plan promises love at first sight for garden novices. The focus is on a plant community that is easy to care for and thrives in a sunny location. The shopping list and arrangement are designed for a round flower bed with an area of 5 m² and a circumference of around 10 m. With stones around the bed, the flower arrangement is perfect for a spot in the lawn. Special advantage for the beginner: all plants are hardy and appear again after the winter as if by magic:

    Shopping List:

    • 2 torch lilies (Kniphofia uvaria) in orange-red
    • 1 piece of mountain illex (Illex crenata)
    • 7 Blanket Flower (Gaillardia grandiflora)
    • 9 pieces Garden mock coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea 'Cheyenne Spirit)
    • 47 red houseleek (Sempervivum hybrid)
    • 16 blood-red cranesbills (Geranium sanguineum)

    Plant arrangement instructions

    The two torch lilies act as guide perennials that take up positions on the right and left in the background. Evergreen mountain illex takes a seat in the middle of the bed. Blanket flowers and false coneflowers are intended to be companion perennials, which makes a spatial proximity to the torch lilies sensible. At the edge of the bed, houseleeks with dark red colors are in the limelight. Where there are still gaps, the planting plan envisages blood-red cranesbills, ideally in small groups.

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    Create a flower bed without weeds - this is how it works

    Under the weight of rampant weeds, freshly planted flowers lose their will to live. It doesn't have to come to that if you create a flower bed without weeds. If you integrate effective weed protection into the planting plan, you will be spared the hassle of weeding, which more than halves the maintenance effort. The following instructions explain step by step how to do it right:

    1. Thoroughly rake the bed area, weed it, and clean it of roots and stones
    2. Distribute compost and dig under the garden soil
    3. Level the ground with a rake
    4. Lay weed fleece (€21.70) and protect against slipping with ground anchors
    5. Lay the plants on the fleece according to the planting plan
    6. Cut a cross into the fleece for each plant with a knife
    7. Soak the potted plant in water, unpot, place in the soil and water
    8. Place fleece corners as close as possible to the root neck

    Finally, take the weed fleece out of sight. This can be done cheaply and decoratively with gravel, wood chips (€23.53) or bark mulch. If you use fleece with a thickness of more than 90 g/m², weeds have no chance of breaking through.

    digression

    Create a flower bed without digging

    Sweaty digging is not mandatory when you create a new flower bed. Draw a fence around the intended area with stones, small wooden palisades or slats. Then lay out the surface with unprinted cardboard without staples. Please make sure that the edges overlap by at least 10 centimetres. Now fill the cardboard surface with 10 to 15 centimeters of sifted garden soil and let everything settle for a week. The final step is to apply a 10 to 15 centimeter layer of compost soil. It's so easy to create a flower bed without digging.

    Flower Collection - inspiration for every location

    When combining, attention should be paid to the growth height of the flowers

    Floral bed compositions always become a successful project when flowers, perennials and grasses are given the right location. Please always consider the local lighting conditions when choosing plants when creating a flower bed. This premise in no way limits the choices. As the following flower collection shows, you can draw from the full range of magnificently blooming flower types for all locations:

    Sunny south side heyday penumbra heyday shade north side heyday
    Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida) August to October Foxglove (digitalis) June to August Elf Flower (Epimedium diphyllum) April and May
    Cranesbill (Geranium) June to October Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) April to July Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis) February to April
    Lavender (Lavendula) June to September Astilbe (Astilbe) August to October Funkie (Hosta) June to September
    Maideneye (Coreopsis grandiflora) June to August Tall Flame Flower (Phlox paniculata) July to September St. John's wort (Hypericum androsaemum) July to October
    Blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora) July to September Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) May to July Nettle king (Lamium orvala) May to July
    Larkspur (Delphinium) June to October Fuchsia (Fuchsia) July to October Wood Anemone (Anemone) March to May
    Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) July to September Purple Bells (Heuchera) June to September Fern Corydalis (Corydalis cheilanthifolia) April to June
    Magnificent Candle (Gaura lindheimerii) May until October Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) April and May Mountain Cranesbill (Geranium nodosum) August to November
    Coneflower (Helenium x cultorum) June to August Early summer phlox (Phlox idahonis) May to July Memorial (Omphalodes) March to May
    flame flower (phlox) June to August Rose Primrose (Primula rosea) March to May Dog Rose (Rosa canina) June to October
    roses (pink) June to November Hydrangeas (Hydrangea) June to September Christmas rose (Helleborus) November to February

    The multi-faceted collection is rounded off with onion flowers for a colorful start to blossoms in early spring. Snowdrops, March-flowers and crocuses act as a neat vanguard before the big blossom spectacle picks up speed in mid-May.

    Flowerbed for bees - priority is given to simple flowers

    When creating a flower bed for bees with children, please give preference to flowers with simple flowers. They are unfilled flower bowls that create a stage in the bed for the big buzzing and humming. On the other hand, lavishly filled flowers are a disappointing sham for bees, bumblebees and butterflies.

    Bed design with flowers and grasses - planting plan

    Foxglove combines well with grasses

    Flowers like to have a decorative dialogue with filigree grasses. In the middle of the lawn or along the house wall, the dream team of flowers and ornamental grasses transforms mundane green areas and house walls into poetic eye-catchers. The following planting plan would like to fire your imagination for a successful bed design with perennials and grasses. The plan is suitable for sun and partial shade as well as a bed area of 8.5 m² with white marble gravel as a floor covering. The focus is on easy-care and hardy plants.

    Shopping List

    • 2 Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurrea)
    • 2 Chinese reeds 'Hermann Müssel' (Miscanthus sinensis)
    • 6 garden sedges 'Everlime' (Carex oshimensis)
    • 6 purple bells white (Heuchera hybrid)
    • 34 sacks of marble gravel 'Carrara' white, 40-60 mm grain size, 15 kg per sack

    Note for families: if you create the flower bed with children, please exchange poisonous foxgloves. Harmless alternatives are hollyhocks, sun bride or sunflower.

    Plant arrangement instructions

    In the flower bed with grasses, an aura of understated elegance is created if you do not place the plants too close together. Foxglove or a non-toxic alternative dominates in the background on the right and left sides. Chinese reed keeps a sufficient distance to the flowering perennials so that garden sedges settle in the spaces between them as accompanying plants. Three small tuffs, each with two purple bells, loosen things up. Impressive contrasts are created when you choose white marble gravel as the floor covering.

    Show creative courage for the morbid beauty of retracted ornamental grasses. In autumn, tie the dead clumps together with colorful jute ribbons. When winter frost makes grass and ears of corn glisten in the sun or a snow cap perches on seed heads, the lack of bloom is easy to get over.

    Flower beds are poems that gardeners write on the garden floor.

    Ideas for a perennial flower bed

    Spring is the time for flower bulbs

    A flower bed all year round in Sunday garb is a long-cherished wish for many hobby gardeners. In order for the plan to succeed, it depends on a hardy plant combination that does not reveal everything at once. For each season, choose a blooming star or two that will wow with pretty foliage for the rest of the year. This collection of ideas may serve as an example and guide for a perennial flower bed:

    • spring Flower bulbs open the flower dance: snowdrops, daffodils, spring flowers and tulips
    • summer Leading perennials with a long flowering period: phlox, coneflower, rose mallow, scabious, steppe sage
    • fall Blossoms until the first frost: winter aster, phlox, goldenrod, monkshood, roses
    • winter Ornamental foliage plants and winter bloomers: hosta, snow rose, purple bells

    In perennial flower beds, compact flowering shrubs take on the function of scaffolding. The selected shrubs should not steal the show from the flowers, but complement them harmoniously. Snow forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum) and dwarf almonds (Prunus tenella) start in spring. Summer lilac (Buddleja davidii) and weigela (Weigelia) adorn the flower bed in summer and pass the floral scepter on to opulent hydrangeas (Hydrangea) in autumn. In winter, winter snowball (viburnum) sets picturesque accents.

    tips

    If a liaison of flowers and vegetables reigns supreme in the planting plan, give your flower bed a cottage garden flair. Climbing peas boast purple butterfly flowers. The historic field bean variety 'Crimson Flowered' inspires with ruby red flowers. Parsley and carrots adorn unusual umbelliferous flowers.

    Design a Mediterranean flower bed - tips for the planting plan

    Lavender must not be missing in the Mediterranean flower bed

    A flower bed shines Mediterranean if you mark Mediterranean flowers, perennials, herbs and shrubs in the planting plan. Authentic plants from the Mediterranean thrive as sun worshipers and prefer a mostly dry and nutrient-poor soil. Under these conditions, the following plants are perfect for a Mediterranean flower bed in a sunny rock garden on the south side:

    • True lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
    • Rockrose (Helianthemum)
    • Fuchsia (Fuchsia papagena)
    • Cosmos bipinnatus (Cosmos bipinnatus)
    • Sage (Salvia nemorosa)
    • Oregano (Origanum vulgare)
    • Mediterranean Snowball (Viburnum tinus)
    • Photinia fraseri 'Red Robin'

    Add the finishing touch to a Mediterranean flower bed with matching accessories. If you plant the bed in front of a house wall, wall fountains and colorful terracotta mosaics create a southern ambience. Plant some flowers and herbs in hand-painted terracotta tubs that you place in the middle of the flower bed as stylish accessories.

    Flower bed on the balcony - ideas for balcony boxes

    With the right choice of plants, the balcony becomes a balcony garden

    The flower box on the balcony is the territory of annual magnificent flowers. The exposed position encourages a planting plan that draws from the full. On the south side, hanging petunias 'New Celebration' and three-colored morning glories 'Ensign Mixture' transform the balcony into a summer fairy tale with casually dangling cascades of flowers. Standing and in the interstices soar brightly colored pygmy snapdragons or bright blue males faithfully.

    In the balcony box on the north side, those who don't want to sunbathe are staged with a floral presence. Edellieschen, begonias, stinging nettles and hostas transform the poorly lit location into an enchanted flower bed. Shade-tolerant ornamental grasses imaginatively round off the planting plan, such as white grove rushes or easy-care shade sedges.

    When is the best time of year?

    The time window opens twice a year to create a flower bed in the garden. In spring, the planting season begins in mid-May, when the worst danger of ground frost has passed after the ice saints. Autumn is the ideal time for perennials and shrubs to put down roots in the garden soil.

    Balcony gardeners preferably plant a flower bed in a box in spring from the end of April/beginning of May. By the time the beautiful season is in full swing, flowers, perennials and flowering vegetables have unfolded their full splendor.

    frequently asked Questions

    We are planning to create a flower bed on a hillside. What is particularly important?

    The most important measure is stable slope protection. The degree of the slope determines the choice of means. A dry stone wall made of natural stone is recommended. In order to make the flower bed on the slope modern, gabions with stone fillings come into focus. Wooden palisades or old railway sleepers exude historical cottage garden flair. For the planting plan, please note primarily deep-rooted plants that additionally stabilize the soil. On the southern slope, florets, bergenias and grasses are good choices.

    What stylistic means can I use to create a flower bed in a modern way?

    High priests of modern garden design advocate clean lines, geometric shapes, natural materials and tasteful accessories to create a contemporary flower bed. A narrow, rectangular or round border made of natural stone marks the starting point. Gravel or bark mulch cover the ground. Solar balls and spotlights set modern accents. Trendy flowers and shrubs are the main protagonists, such as ball hydrangeas 'Annabelle' or bearskin fescue 'Pic Carlit'.

    We are planning to create a colorful mixed flower bed in the garden. Which soil should we use?

    The best substrate for flowers, perennials and shrubs is loose, permeable, rich in humus and nutrients. A mix of compost and sand in a ratio of 3:1 is welcome for most plants.If it's a Mediterranean flower bed with lavender, sage, and other sunbathers, increase the amount of sand. If the flower bed adorns the rock garden, mix in small-grain gravel into the soil to optimize permeability and reduce nutrient levels.

    tips

    The online bed planner from Obi provides excellent support for the creative planting plan. You choose your favorite from a wide range of imaginative design options. On request, Obi will send you a planting plan, shopping list with costs and instructions for planting free of charge by e-mail. As a beginner, you can easily create your own flower bed yourself, cheaply and comprehensibly.

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Vegetable garden