Design of flower beds in the country: the basic rules and ideas for creating a flower garden

When all the large-scale work on the site is finished - the house is erected, the fence is built, the trees are planted, the paths are laid, and the grounds are paved, it is time to think of the design of the flowerbeds at the dacha in order to give your own country ownership the finished look. A habitable, cozy hacienda is unthinkable without beautiful flower beds, creating a mood and a joyful feeling of country life.

Varieties of country flower beds

Flowerbed - the general name of all floral or ornamental plantings, fenced or having a clear form.

• Varieties of beds: free (landscape), regular (strict forms, symmetrically made), from letnik, perennials, including ornamental trees, shrubs, various types of conifers.
• Mixborder is a flowerbed of elongated shape along paths enclosing structures, where plants are selected in height from the shorter to the higher, and in terms of flowering so as to look spectacularly for the majority of the vegetative period.

• The parterre is a vast flower garden of strict form (square, rectangle), which occupies a central place in the garden, where the plants are planted with contrasting patterns.
• Rabatka is a strip bordering paths where relatively low flowering plants create a distinct ornament.
• Making a front garden implies planning flower gardens from the gate to the entrance of the house, with the presence of tapeworms (single plants that attract attention) to create a beautiful exterior of the cottage, viewed from the driveways.

When picking up plants for flowerbeds, consider the timing of flowering, so that some flowers are replaced by others, and the flowerbed is not empty. Keep in mind that each plant species has its own "early birds" and "owls", i.e. varieties that bloom later with a difference of 2-3 weeks.

An important point in the breakdown of a flower bed, which must be taken into account, is the possibility of viewing it. Some flower beds assume a circular view, i.e. they are equally spectacular from several view points. Beds of planar type look better from elevations, are interesting for use in areas with slopes and terraces. Vertically and horizontally oriented flower gardens emphasize the necessary dominants, visually expand the space or add a dormancy to the dacha corner.

Where to begin

Having decided to create a decorative corner in your garden plot - a flower bed, you need to perform several successive operations:

• Gather illustrative material (this will help magazines with schemes flower beds, sites on landscape design, gardening forums on the Internet).
• Determine the desires and capabilities (what plants like, what will survive in a particular climate, what are the material resources allocated for the purchase of planting material).

To reduce financial costs will help the personal cultivation of the required number of copies of the seeds. This process takes more time, but does not hit the family wallet, especially if the area of ​​the flower beds is large, and the number of plants is approaching a hundred or more.

• Break a flower bed, think over its fence (stone, wood, concrete, plastic, earthen groove separating the flower garden from the lawn).
• Prepare the land for planting (add the necessary components of the soil, make the required fertilizers).
• Create a scheme (own sketch), taking into account the size (height and width) of plants.
• Deciding how to plant a flower bed - for growth or so that it looks good on the first day. Calculate the density of transplanting.
• Place pots with plants on the square to check the correctness and harmony of their placement not on paper, but visually.
• Planting, watering. Zamulchirovat open areas of land between plants, leaving clean land for 10-15 cm from the stalks (trunks).
• Maintain plant survival rate (provide the necessary watering, shading, if the weather is very hot).
• Enjoy the result and start building new plans.

What plants to choose

For the flower garden to charm guests and delight the family for a long time (for example, peonies and clematis grow in one place for several decades), select only climate-resistant, unpretentious plants. Having landed extremely liked, but demanding to care and shelters, poorly tolerated Russian winters specimens, you will carefully look after them.

However, after 3-5 years, removing dead bushes that have not survived the winter in spring, you will understand that there is no more strength to care for caprices. At this point, you will decide to replace all the "southerners" zoned ornamental plants. So why not immediately pay attention to those flowers that feel good in your climate?

The initial selection for beds of suitable planting material, varieties and species that are resistant to the climatic conditions of the region, has many advantages:

• Facilitated care (no serious winter shelter is required).
• Preservation of one’s own nervous system (no worries for poorly concealed or at the wrong time open plants, fear of vypryaniya, soaking, damage by moles or mice who like to host in the winter under shelters).
• Lower financial costs (there are no costs for the purchase of new plants for replacement).
• Labor costs have been reduced (there is no annual digging up of "dead" specimens and the landing of new ones in their place).
• The neater appearance of flower beds in winter (smooth snowy spaces with shrubs covered with hoarfrost or snow caps look much more presentable than wooden boxes or arc structures throughout the site).

Every enthusiastic summer resident, who feels himself a landscape designer of a single plot, needs a rest. Without time to admire your own accomplishments, there will be no enjoyment of the task and suburban life in general. Therefore plant more unpretentious plants, they will allow to enjoy surrounding beauty more.

Fashion trends and custom solutions

Modern landscape design offers a wide variety of compositions of flower gardens of a country site. The main direction is "harmony in simplicity." You can implement it in several ways.

Also an interesting technique is the creation of vertical flower beds. Strengthening floral containers on the walls of buildings and planting bright letniki in them will decorate dull corners of the garden, and creating columns with petunias placed all the way will add originality and rich aroma, turning an even stretch into a luxurious volumetric flower garden. Clematis planted near the old tree (you can use the species as more resistant to adverse conditions) will cover the trunk with a floral wave, delighting the summer resident with incessant flowering for 3 months.

Decorative registration of beds on the dacha

The rules of landscape design allow you to decorate flower beds with various decorations. Virtually any of them, with some effort, it is possible to do it yourself. Such a move is especially pertinent when arranging central flowerbeds, where a decorative element is viewed from all sides, as well as "secret corners" for relaxation, hidden from a direct view and full of intimate charm.

As a basis around which the composition of the flowerbed is formed, often use:

• mosaic balls, bird feeders, sundials;
• wooden snags, carts, logs, stumps, wheels;
• sculptures;
• mirrors;
• trellises, arches, figured designs;
• plants with a dense crown, trimmed in the form of various shapes (topiary art).

Each of these elements is soloist in a flower bed. Plants of various sizes create a general background, and some specimens (for example, climbing roses) often perform with a decoration duet.

In addition to the central elements, a large role in the decoration of flower beds is played by:

• fences;
• solar lamps;
• Mulching colored chips, different shades of gravel.

In the latter case, the alternation of multi-colored undulating stripes can emphasize an interesting form of flower beds or advantageously submit a bright plant.

The combination of beautiful and useful

Recently, in landscape design it has become to use decorative beds in a regular style instead of flower beds. Placing an artistically broken vegetable garden close to home allows you to enjoy a beautiful view, concentrated smells of spicy herbs and save time (everything you need for a salad is close by).

In the original (the French royal garden) the framing of the beds was made of trimmed boxwood. In our climate, this plant requires shelter for the winter, but even it does not guarantee survival. And his "deputy" - privet will take a long time to cut to keep the curb in perfect shape.

Therefore, when dividing flower beds by the type of "ornamental garden", it is better to restrict the creation of raised beds from a bar, thick treated boards with a platband along the upper perimeter, or lay out walls made of slab stone.

Having laid an earthen composition inside the beds, it will only be necessary to plant garden plants in even rows or geometric patterns. Contrast patterns can be obtained by arranging different varieties of lettuce (green, red, lemon), purple and green basil, varieties of ornamental cabbage (it can be eaten), breaking the space into cells, using the border of radish or dill as a border.