Flower Beds

When it comes to building garden beds in Nanaimo, there are a few things to consider before you start digging and moving ground. Size, Design and location, watering. It may also be useful to call the local nanaimo utility company if you plan on digging in some big trees for safety.

What size shall i make my flower beds

When it comes to figuring out size it is often best to look at the area you have to work with and the plants ad shrubs etc that you want to put in it.

Designing your flower beds

What shape are you wanting to make your flower bed and what other factors are near it…buildings, hedges, trees etc. Will you need access thru the bed ie step stones to get from side to the other.

What is the best location for my flower beds.

If you have alot of plants and shrubs to go in this bed, it is advisable to check there sun/shade tolerances before building your beds. you don’t want to build a bed that gets all day sun when alot of your plants need part shade.

Watering your new bed

Are you planning to water these flower beds by hand or not. if you have irrigation plans, then now is a good time to run pipe and set heads before finishing edging and planting.

Once you have decided this, then its time to start building. First mark out the shape you had in mind using either marker paint or running a hose to show the edges of the bed. After this then strip of the turf using a shovel and barrow if its a fairly small bed or rent a turf cutter if quite large (most Nanaimo tool rentals have them). Now you can see the actual shape of the flower beds.

 

Bed edging

Now is a good time to consider how you want the edges of the bed to look. The three options we like to use are: Brick edge, Composite edging or deep edge.

• Brick edge

This method is often known as lawn edge, a row of pavers or bricks that creates a clean definition between the lawn and the bed. Built on a crush base and concreted in place for strength. A great way to keep the grass from creeping in to your flower beds over time

• Composite lawn edging

Not to be confused with Black Jack edging which is the black lawn edging pipe finish that you can get from most Home depot or Rona stores in Nanaimo….this stuff in our opinion is garbage. Composite Edging looks like composite decking, but is thin and gives nice curves, we like to create the shapes we want and then get the board to stay in place with rebar sticks, plumbers strapping and screws. Most Nanaimo hardware stores sell Composite edging for flower beds

• Deep edge

This is the cheapest of lawn edging out there and also a great way to gain soil for your flower beds if you running abit short. on the edge of the bed cut straight down into the ground to create a vertical edge and then pull the soil back up into the bed, By doing this you have made a clean division between the lawn and the bed. If your thinking of finishing the bed in mulch or decorative rock then make sure you cut down deep enough to still be left with a good sized deep edge once finished or otherwise your grass will travel into the mulch or rock in time. Grass only likes to grow across not down which makes the deep edge so effective.

Once your bed is shaped and your edging complete, you can now take a trip to your local Nanaimo nurseries for flower bed plants and shrubs. Before doing so, maybe consider a feature tree or feature rock to accent the bed.