DIY Flower Garden w/ Water Centerpiece

Note: This Article is unfinished & still in production phase.


Flower gardens add a burst of color to your home. A fountain adds a tranquil feel to your yard. Check out our guide for creating a beautiful flower garden for under $150!

What you’ll need

ItemStyle Cost
Outdoor Water Fountain3 tiered resing barrel fountain
(Ours was from Lowes)
$60.99
EdgingWooden Edging
For tiered click here, striaght click here
$9.98
/3FT
Tools Required
Edging ShovelMetal RakeThatcher or Tiller
A walkthrough of of our flower garden. From grass – garden

A Hoe and a Wheelbarrow are not required but will speed things up.
The budget for this DIY flower garden is < $150 (depending on what plants you choose).

  • Border / edging.
    We went with tiered Brown wood edging.
    Measure the perimeter of your garden to figure out how much edging you’ll need. For a tiered look go with this style. For a straight look use these.
Adding edging border brings a garden together & stops your garden from growing into your lawn.

Complementary Style
Buy products with the same style like this Tiered Edging & Fountain

Where do I start?

Take a good look at your lawn. Note which areas get the most sunlight & take note of the natural slope of your lawn. Your garden should be on relatively level ground. Make sure the area you choose gets at least 6 -8 hours of sunlight a day. Sunlight & level are important to a gardens health, Proportion is key to making a garden look natural.
Don’t be afraid to make your garden extend into your lawn. Long, skinny beds that hug your home or fence-line are a common mistake when designing a garden

Sunlight & level are important to a gardens health, Proportion is key to making a garden look natural

Pick a spot in your lawn that gets adequate sunlight. Start by raking & removing grass. Remove Grass, Thatch soil, Edge, Add top soil, select border, Raise the center of your bed to make your water piece pop.

The border, centerpiece & layout should compliment eachother, matching the design oif your garden


Keep it simple. 

Having a clear, simple vision when planning your flower garden is key. Every piece should flow with the next. Leave room in between features/plants for a natural look and to keep your garden from looking “cluttered”. Purchase multiples of the same plant to keep your gardens layout consistent.
The earthy tones of the Water Centerpiece compliment the wooden border. Tree canopies & green grass surround the garden creating a rich tapestry of color and texture. The flowers we used evoke the same earthy / zen style that’s reflected in the design.


This garden starts square in the middle of the chain link fence which divides the front and back yard. We’re going for a “zen” look here, so it’s important to keep the layout proportionate with your Fence / Property Line. The fencing made keeping our proportions right simple.

Where do I place my garden in my lawn?

You’ll want to make the garden bed in an area of your lawn that’s easy to access. Our garden has a rectangular shape with curved edges. Its roughly twelve – feet long and five-feet-wide.
The water piece is placed in the center (About 1′ foot out, leaving 2′ 1/2 feet in front for flowers). leaving enough space on either side for accents. This yards fencing made keeping things proportional easy. There are 3 sets of chain link fencing and the garden takes up one set of chain link

Note: Article draft ends here. Will be updated & finished soon. Thanks for Visiting HiddenLeafLandscaping!


Gallery

Best Perennials for 2020

Creating a flower bed from scratch is cost efficient & gives both the customer and client a sense of pride after watching their garden grow and seeing the completed project.
There are 2 main categories of plants, Annual & Perennial. Perennial flowers will re-bloom year to year while annual flowers will only bloom once.
Some popular Perennial flowers include:

Red Columbine

Exposure:Sun / light shade
Bloom Time:Summer
Zones:4 to 8
Height: 15″ to 20″
Width: 10″ to 15″

A long time Jersey favorite, Blooms in springtime, as late as early summer. limestone rich soil that drains well.
Reaches heights of about 3 feet, grows taller rather than spreading, Due to its tendency for tall growth, works in a bed with most other flowers(provided that they don’t overshadow the Red Columbine)

Cutleaf Cone Flowers

Exposure:Sun / light shade
Bloom Time:Summer – Fall
Zones:4 to 8
Height: 1′ to 7″
Width: 10″ to 15″
An herbaceous perennial plant is 3-8′ tall; it branches occasionally in the upper half.The alternate leaves are up to 12″ long and 12″ across, becoming gradually smaller as they ascend the stems. With a Long bloom period- up to 2 months This plant is a sunshine spectacle in the garden when it reaches 7 feet. Produces a bounty of beautiful blooms. No serious pest issues.

Chrysanthemum

Exposure:Full sun
Bloom Time:September to frost
Zones:4 to 8
Height: 1.50 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet

Popular perennial all over the world, Chrysanthemum thrives in New Jersey gardens. Outlasting even most annuals this flower blooms in colors ranging from white, yellow to orange.
Important planting tips: These particular perennials have a wide spread, leave room for them spread out asthey can clump together if planted too closely and stunt growth.

Achillea ‘Firefly Amethyst’ (Yarrow)

Exposure: Full Sun
Bloom Time:Summer
Zones: 3 to 8
Height: 18″ to 22″
Width: 32″ to 36″

This new Achillea variety is one tough plant! It is drought tolerant, doesn’t like rich soil, and resists deer and rabbits. As an added bonus, it isn’t invasive like some varieties of Yarrow can be. One standout variety is ‘Firefly Amethyst’. It’s flowers start out bright pink and fade to a lighter color, giving a multi-shade of pink effect. If pink isn’t for you Achillea is also available in yellow, white and peach

Allium ‘Serendipity’ (Ornamental Onion)

Serendipity’ is a low-growing Allium it’s long bloom time of 46 weeks will provide your garden with color all summer long.

Exposure:Sun / Part Shade
Bloom Time:Summer
Zones:4 to 8
Height: 15″ to 20″
Width: 10″ to 15″

A low-growing Allium that forms a mound of round purple blooms in the summer. This Allium attracts butterflies and resists deer and rabbits.
If you leave the flowers on the plant, it may self-seed. However, if you prefer a more orderly garden, removing the spent blooms & will prevent self-seeding.

Dicentra ‘Pink Diamonds’ (Fern-leaved Bleeding Heart)

Exposure: Sun / Part Sun
Bloom Time: Spring, Fall
Zones: 3 to 9
Height: 12″ to 16″
Width: 16″ to 18″

Pink flowers and leafy blue-green leaves. Grows well in sun, blooms twice yearly in the spring and fall.

While Dicentra ‘Pink Diamonds’ does have the same pink flowers and leafy blue-green leaves that Dicentra are known for, that’s where the similarities stop. It grows well in the sun and does not disappear in the summer. And to top that, it re-blooms. So you can have those pretty pink blooms in your garden in the late spring and the early fall. Just be sure to plant them in well-drained soil. It doesn’t like to keep its feet wet

Salvia ‘White Profesion’ (Perennial Salvia)

A spiky forming Perennial that re-blooms.

Exposure: Sun
Bloom Time:Spring / Summer
Zones:3 to 8
Height: 16″ to 20″
Width: 16″ to 20″

You may be thinking “What’s so new about Salvia? They’re everywhere!” While this may look like your average perennial salvia, it has one distinct advantage. It’s re-blooming! Which means you can have perennial salvia adding its spiky blooms to your garden for a longer period. It’s only available in white as of now.

Echinacea ‘Orange You Awesome’ (Coneflower)

Beautiful tangerine orange flowers with dark cones that are just stunning.

Exposure:Sun
Bloom Time:Summer – Fall
Zones:4 to 8
Height: 18″ to 22″
Width: 16″ to 20″

Looking for a flower that is easy to grow and will add a ton of color to your garden? Check out these new Coneflower varieties. They love sunny and hot locations which is perfect for those tough spots in your yard. Not a fan of deep orange? There’s also a yellow variety called ‘Yellow My Darling’ that you may like better.

Blanket Flower

Low maintenance cut flowers with low water needs that grows in Sand, Chalk, Loam. Perfect for borders.
Exposure:Full Sun
Bloom Time:Summer – Fall
Zones:3 to 8
Height: 1′ to 2′
Width: 2′ to 3′

Also called Gaillardia, this perennial is a drought and heat tolerant member of the wildflower family. Blanket Flowers are an excellent choice for creating flower bed borders in poor quality soil, and they typically form 3-inch daisy-like blooms in red, gold, or brown. Despite its short lifespan, Blanket Flower is a simple seed-to-flower in a year perennial that thrives in a temperate climate.

Contact Hidden Leaf Landscaping for your next home project

That’s it for “2020 Best Perennials” for now. Thanks for reading & get to planting! Check back with Hidden Leaf Landscaping for more Gardening, lawn care, & landscaping help and don’t forget to contact us for your next home project or lawn care needs.