How to Plant a Perennial Flower Border

The area along our back fence hadn’t been touched much in 30 years. Plants had come and gone and ivy had begun to take over. It was beyond our skills and strength so we hired a pro to tear out all that ivy deep enough that it wouldn’t come back.

Next, we borrowed stones from the front yard to outline the area we wanted to turn into a beautiful perennial bed.

Since the soil hadn’t been amended at all during those years we added at least 6″ of compost and carefully turned it all in. (Who am I kidding my husband did most of the heavy lifting….just keeping it honest!) We had help from our little granddaughter as well!

It was all watered in and allowed to sit through the winter before we began to dig up plants from the front garden bed to transplant. When making a new bed it’s always a good idea to look around your yard (and maybe a friend’s garden) to see what you can divide and replant! Rudbekia Goldstrum transplants very well. I dug up little starts that had sprung up all over our front garden. Next I divided some Shasta daisies that also transplant well. Note: It’s important to space your plants far enough apart to accommodate their full grown size. Most people tend to pants them too close! Mine were fine until a bunch of long forgotten Freesias popped up everywhere!

To fill in the rest I found some Sedum Autumn Joy, Lavender Provence, Salvia Blue Spires  and my favorite Echinacea, Pow Wow Wild Berry! Now, 18 months later, it’s full of flowers, fragrance and bees!