If you’re planning a landscape design and you want to decorate your backyard or front yard with a garden, tossing in a few flower bed ideas can be one great way to boost your home’s curb appeal and make your yard stand out. Flowers have long symbolized beauty, and there are few things more rewarding than executing a few flower bed ideas that showcase your home and yard’s natural beauty.
No matter if you’re designing a flower bed idea in front of your home or putting it in the backyard, you can create flower gardens that are both beautiful and simple to create. Also, you can incorporate flowers that bloom from spring until the early fall to give you a show all season long. To help inspire you as the weather warms up this spring, we’ve compiled a list of the most creative flower bed ideas, and you can get inspiration and put them in your own yard quickly and easily.
Contents
1. Pretty Pathways
Although it’s routine to have a pathway for most gardens or yards for people to meander through, it doesn’t have to be generic or bland. One easy way to brighten up your pathways is to incorporate flower bed ideas on both sides of the path to line it. Not only will these flowers effectively mark your path, but it makes a scenic route though your yard or garden. You can mix and match annuals or perennials to put out showstopping color, and adding a little height will help you further define your pathway’s boundaries in any light. Make sure you plants will do well in your planting zone and area.
Path With Pink Flowers In Vientiane by I G / CC BY 2.0
2. Perennial Splashes
One nice flower bed idea is to fill it full of perennials. These flowers will bloom throughout the summer months before dying back and returning in the spring. You can get them full sun, partial, shade, full shade, and more to ensure they do well. Try to install a bed with a serpentine border that snakes along your home with smaller white flowers and bigger pink ones. You can line it with stones or boxwood if you want to keep the feeling more natural, and other options include daylilies, barberries, miscanthus grass, or orange canna lilies.
Thriving perennial beds by UnconventionalEmma / CC BY-NC 2.0
3. Fill in the Side Yard
You know what the side yard is in your home. It’s usually a very small area alongside your home that you have difficulty planting. You can introduce a riot of colors with this flower bed idea. Plant bizzy lizzies all around the edge of your foundation bed to get sprays of white and pink blossoms. They’ll contrast nicely with the deep green hosta leaves that stick around all summer into fall. They also produce spires of small violet, lavender, or white flowers. Line your flower bed with brick or stone to create a clear edge from your flower bed to your yard.
Late spring view of the experimental bed by Ursula Murray Husted / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
4. Repurpose a Tree Stump
If you’ve had a tree removed from your yard, use these flower bed ideas to create a stunning focal point instead of spraying it with a stump killer and removing it. You can add a little potting soil and fertilizer to the stump and plant a taller plant in the center. Surround this plant by vines or trailing plants and have them spill down the sides of the stump onto the ground. You could even keep the flowers going by spreading them out around your stump like a natural flower garden. Ornamental grasses look very nice around your stump’s base too.
Stump planter by Doug McCaughan / CC BY-SA 2.0
5. Built-In Deck Beds
If you’re considering adding a deck onto your home or revamping your current one, a creative flower bed idea is to design one with planters built right in. For example, if you choose to give your deck a hard tile floor, you can add wooden planters to the edges of the deck. This allows you to have colorful blooms that contrast with your deck material, and you can enjoy the fragrant and colorful blooms all season long. Just make sure the planters are watertight so they don’t accidentally cause water damage to your new deck.
Pontoon SIP, ready by mannewaar / CC BY 2.0
6. Raised Beds
A raised garden bed is a fun way to put a flower bed idea into motion if you have limited mobility. Since they’re raised, you won’t have to bend as far down to plant and tend to your flowers. You can make them to any specification you like in different sizes and shapes. Many people like to have wood raised beds because they’re simple and straightforward to create, and they’re relatively easy to maintain. You can place them throughout your yard, line the pathway up to your door, or set them alongside your deck or patio for a spray of flowers during the summer.
Raised beds by PermaCultured / CC BY 2.0
7. Gravel Lined
Instead of having a thin border on your bed, make it more eye-catching by adding a thick gravel border to your flower bed idea. Gravel will help draw the eye while creating a clean space between your bed edge and the yard. It can also help to suppress weeds in smaller areas, so it’s very popular to do by the front of the house to get a neat look while reducing your maintenance. You can get single or multicolored stones and gravel to create this look, and it’s an easy and inexpensive way to cover a lot of area for a larger bed.
Dry Gardens in England by ukgardenphotos / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
8. Sink Clay Pots into the Ground
You can do a form of container gardening by cleaning out an area in your yard and sinking the bottom portion of your terracotta or clay pots right into the ground. This can help keep some plants like mint contained because they tend to take over. It also adds a little height to the area. Once you have the pots in and your plants situated, you can take this flower bed idea up another notch and scatter smaller stones around them to create a garden bed that is clearly defined from the rest of the yard. The same-sized containers create a uniform look while mismatched sizes are more whimsical.
New Guinea Impatiens and Lamium by Bill Barber / CC BY-NC 2.0
9. Wheelbarrow Centerpiece
Do you have an old wheelbarrow sitting around gathering dust? If so, you can use it in this flower bed idea to turn it into a gorgeous centerpiece. This works better in larger beds, but all you have to do is install it in the center of the bed. Fill the wheelbarrow itself with a host of colorful and bright flowers, and plant these same flowers around the wheelbarrow’s base. If you have an old garden statue or streetlamp laying around, install it behind the wheelbarrow to give it height. Ideally, you’ll pick bright flowers that contrast nicely with the older look of your wheelbarrow.
ERII birthday by gwyn_bard / CC BY-NC 2.0
10. Repurpose a Vintage Suitcase
It’s easy to repurpose an old suitcase just like you can a wheelbarrow. Get a chair and prop your suitcase on the chair. Fill it with garden soil and plant a host of different flowers. You can then plant your flowers and set it alongside your garden or pathway to create a whimsical look. If you’re not ready to let go of that old suitcase entirely, put your plants in containers first before filling in the suitcase’s base with your planted flowers. You can even stack a few suitcases to create a tiered planter with flowers spilling down the edges.
An old luggage, a new planter! By Michael MK Kohr / CC BY 2.0
11. Add River Rocks
Larger river rocks look great in rock gardens, but they’re also an excellent way to line your flower bed. It works well to help define the space between the bed and the rest of the yard, and you won’t need as many rocks since they’re significantly larger than gravel. For this flower bed idea, you’ll create a gently curving border and follow it with your plants to make the viewer think of a stream or a waterfall as they look at it. To make it look more authentic, get different colored and sized rocks to line the border.
Chrysanthemum ‘Grandeur’, 2018 photo by F. D. Richards / CC BY-SA 2.0
12. Rose and Lavender add Romance
When you’re considering flower bed ideas, many people don’t think to mix roses and lavender, but this is a fantastic way to evoke a romantic feel in your yard. The lavender has a very strong floral scent when you brush by it, and the roses will add bright hues of pink, red, orange, yellow, white, and more, depending on the species. Also, the lavender can add more height to your bed, and both types of plants have similar growing conditions. You can dry them both too in order to create a beautiful arrangement.
Norney Wood Open Garden – Shacklford, Surrey by Mark / CC BY 2.0
13. Use Shrubs to Fill in Spaces
Small yards can easily be a blessing in disguise. After all, they require less work, and you can easily make a statement if you pick out the right plants without worrying about overwhelming aspects of it. Adding things like holly shrubs or bigger hydrangeas create a lush border to your lawn, and this flower bed idea ensures you have color all season long. At the edge of your border, you can set up a trellis and encourage a few vines to quietly climb it to create a whimsical feel. The vines can also wind up any old trees, benches, or any other items you want to incorporate.
Hotel Roanoke logo shrubs by Brent Moore / CC BY-NC 2.0
14. Go Vertical
Instead of your plain horizontal flower bed, this flower bed idea takes it vertical. You can easily create a stunning display by getting a piece of PVC or iron piping and staking it into the ground. Thread terracotta pots through the piping and set them at angles so they balance one another out. Each planter will go up a step in height while tilting the opposite direction, and the flowers can spill out over the edge. You do want to ensure that the stack is stable before you add your plants to stop it from collapsing in on itself when you fill it. Add a few flowering vines and encourage them to climb up the center.
Vertical Garden by Gail Langellotto / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
15. Create a Living Wall
Maybe you don’t have room for a traditional flower bed but you’re still missing the bright and cheerful look of flowers. If so, you can create a living wall and fill it with a host of succulents, plants, vines, or whatever strikes your fancy. If you have an old wooden trellis lying around, you can convert it into your vertical wall and stick petunias, gloxinias, and flowering lady mantle out each hole. They’ll give you pops of color that stand out, no matter where you decide to put your wall. You can attach it straight to your home or set it an an angle by your deck.
Vertical Garden by petrOlly / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
16. Hang an Antique Cauldron
You can inject a little whimsy into your yard by setting up a circular area for this flower bed idea. Ring it with stones and apply a red-hued mulch to the ground. Set up a hanger in the middle of the bed and attach the cauldron. It doesn’t have to hang. You can set it right on the ground and attach a chain to give the illusion that it’s hanging. Fill the cauldron with flowers. You can add logs at the bottom and plant cheerful orange, red, and yellow annual flowers amongst the logs to mimic the look of fire.
Cauldron by Sarah Walkington / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
17. Birch-Lined Bed
If you have access to birch logs, you can cut them all to the same height, turn them up on one end, and use them to ring your bed with this flower bed idea. You will want to create a mounded-style bed so the logs don’t cover your flowers. You could even get a raised bed and adhere the logs to the outside to give the illusion that they’re holding your bed up. Plant brightly-colored plants in the center. It’s also nice to add a few trailing plants or vines and have them spill down the sides and onto your yard.
Birch Log by Tom Kelly / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
18. Old Log Planter
It’s easy to turn an older log into a fantastic planter that is the focal point of your yard. To do this, you’ll have to get an older log and hollow it out to create a space for your plants. Once you have your space, set up the planter and brace it to ensure it doesn’t move. You can sit it directly on the ground or have it raised. Pick out your plants and fill your planter after you apply a thick layer of mulch between the potting soil and the wood. You can easily replant it every spring so it’s in full bloom by summer.
Log Planter by Aaron Wolf / CC BY-SA 2.0
19. Light up the Beds
Who says you have to enjoy your plants and flowers only during the daylight hours? This flower bed idea allows you to illuminate your beds after dusk, and this means that you can enjoy them much longer each day. Once you plant your bed, set up areas for solar light installation. You could line the edge of the whole bed with a string or rope lights if you wanted, or you could stick larger solar lights amongst your smaller plants to make them stand out. Just make sure they get enough light during the day to glow at night.
Just one or two solar lights by Elfleda / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
20. Repurpose an Old Bed Frame
One fun trend that is really catching on is creating flower bed ideas using older furniture. If you have an old bed frame laying around, you can set it up outside. You can either sink it into the ground until it’s flush, or you can fill the inside of the bed frame with planters. Drape the top of the headboard with a flush of flowers and vines by attaching a flower box to the backside of it. Fill in the front of the bed frame with lush shrubs, foliage, or hostas to complete the look. This will rot after a few seasons, but this can add to the whimsical look.
bedframe • trellis by Don Shall / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
21. Color-Coordinated Designs
Usually, when people look at flowers, they’re expecting to see a riot of colors. However, this flower bed idea changes this by creating a very bright and bold look with tightly regimented flower colors. You could add a section of tulips in one color, and continue this pattern out using solid red, blue, and yellow. Throwing in a few secondary hues like orange or pink will help soften the shift if you think the first is too jarring. This creates an eye-catching design that is sure to stun anyone who sees it, especially if you have a more minimalist design in the first place.
Tulips by Mike Mozart / CC BY 2.0
22. Ring Your Trees
Many people shy away from planting anything around their trees because they think that the tree and the plants will compete for nutrients. This is true to a point, but the trick to pull off this flower bed idea is to keep your flowers three or four inches away from the tree. Create a solid ring of flowers that spreads out from the tree’s base. It works well when you’re creating a forest garden because the tree will shade your flowers. This helps naturally draw your eye to this area, especially if you use softer white or lavender hues offset by lush green grass.
Trees with flower bed by Edward Kim / CC BY-NC 2.0
23. Incorporate Herbs
You don’t have to restrict your flower bed ideas to shrubs or flowers. Instead, you can toss in a larger herb garden out on your patio, deck, or in the yard. It works particularly well if you mix in herbs around the base of your trees in a raised flower bed. Consider planting things like sage, onions, chives, and dill before throwing in some yellow or orange flowers like chrysanthemums to bring a welcome pop of color. You can also add juniper and allium to bring a little height and drama to your arrangement. Do pay attention to planting conditions to ensure they all thrive.
Herbs by Hornbeam Arts / CC BY-NC 2.0
24. Climbing Gardens
Wisteria vine is a gorgeous flower bed idea when you want to create a climbing garden. This works particularly well if you have a fence you want to cover. Start planting your vines right by the base of the fence and encourage them to climb up and over. They’ll spill over one side of the fence and bloom all spring and summer long. You can also line the fence with brighter plants and flowers along the base to encourage people to stop and take a look. This bed can have a natural border or you can easily create a stone border to keep your plants inside.
Bougainvillea Over Fence by Randy Robertson / CC BY 2.0
25. Minimalistic Doorway Planting
You don’t want to overwhelm your front door when people walk up, so this flower bed idea is more simple and straightforward. Instead of going all out with flowers, you’ll create a larger area running away from your door around the front of your home. Place a few large shrubs strategically throughout your design. Once you get them in the ground, coat the area with a thick layer of mulch. Red and black-hued mulch can really stand out if you have a lighter-colored house. Not only does this look sharp, but it helps to reduce your maintenance while keeping everything healthy.
IMG_20160506_102111899 by Rolard Roberts / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
26. Plant the Pond
While you could argue that a nicely designed pond is a focal point in itself, many people make the mistake of leaving it bare around the edges. This flower bed idea incorporates water plants inside the pond, and you can plant other flowers right up to your pond’s edge. Remember, you don’t want to obscure the view of the pond itself, but you do want to draw attention to it. Plant low-growing flowers or lush foliage and ornamental grasses around the pond’s edge. Get a few water lilies or other aquatic plants and put them in your pond. If you have a water feature, this will help draw the eye too.
Backyard, pond by Cassey / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
27. Create Designs
Instead of planting your flowers in regimented sections or throwing them haphazardly into the bed, use this flower bed idea. Create designs using your flowers. You could easily make a larger flower picture by planting one type of flower in the shape of an outline of the flower. Fill in the design’s petals with a lighter shade. This does require a lot of planning on your part to ensure that the final picture looks like what you imagined, but it can work well for both small and large spaces because you can design it to fit perfectly.
Vintage Saint Paul Minnesota Postcard by Joe Haupt / CC BY-SA 2.0
28. Tiered Planter Boxes
Anyone who has planter boxes knows that you don’t have to have everything the same height. This flower bed idea allows you to create a tiered setup in your yard. You can easily build one planter box higher than the other and set them alongside one another so they give the illusion that they’re cascading into one another. This works particularly well if you have vines or plants that tend to lean over the side and spill over from one box to another. You can do a straight line of them in your yard, or you can create a fun pattern.
New Cedar Planter Boxes by Tom Carmony / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
29. Ditch the Edges
A lot of the time, people like to have a very defined edge for their flower beds, and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it’s easy for everything to end up looking symmetrical. Instead, this flower bed idea ditches the edges. You bring your flower beds right up to your yard and let them be. This creates a much more natural look and feel for your whole yard, especially if you have a lot of flower beds scattered around the space. Try a few smaller beds first to see if you like how it looks and go from there.
Bed of Flowers by Renee Grayson / CC BY 2.0
Bottom Line
These 29 creative flower bed ideas can help you inject a little imagination into your next landscape design. They work for both small and large spaces, and it’s easy to mix and match until you find the right flower bed ideas that work well for you. Experiment a little and create a showstopping look that is the envy of the neighborhood this summer.
Jen Stark
Jen is a master gardener, interior designer and home improvement expert. She has completed many home improvement, decor and remodeling projects with her family over the past 10 years on their 4,500 sf Victorian house. She is also a passionate farmer who keeps goats, chickens, turkeys cows and pigs on her farm, and an instructor for her community’s Organic and Sustainable Farming project.
