Plan a beautiful perennial flower garden! Flowers not only add beauty to our lives and our landscapes but also lift our spirits and improve our well-being. Here are five of our favorite flower garden layouts, designed by Almanac readers, plus a gorgeous video of our perennial flower bed.
Why Flowers?
We all love flowers. Flowers are friendly. With a 99-cent seed pack and one hour, think how much joy you can bring to your life, your neighborhood, and the planet!
In addition to their ornamental value, flower gardens can help improve the pollination of fruit and vegetable crops. By choosing simple flowers such as calendula, marigolds, and zinnias and a few overwintering biennials to provide early nectar sources, you can attract beneficial insects that will help control pests naturally.
Flower borders are often designed with taller plants at the back, small edging plants at the front, and mid-sized flowers filling the area between them. It’s worth considering when each plant will bloom to produce color throughout the season.
If you’re interested in creating a perennial flower bed or what is sometimes called a herbaceous border, enjoy this video by one of our Almanac garden planners!
Also, here are five complementary flower garden layouts designed by Almanac readers to help give you ideas and inspiration!
Five Free Flower Garden Plans
1. Flower Garden Layout (Farm)
All the flowers in the garden beds were planted with seed to bloom in spring and summer. The goal was beautiful bouquets! —Woodstock Flower Farm
Garden Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Garden Size: 34’ 11” x 25’ 0” Garden Type: Small farm Garden Layout: Raised Beds Sun or Shade: Sunny Garden Soil Type: Good soil
See plant list and more details about this garden here.
2. Flower Garden Layout (Farm)
This flower garden is 2400 square feet. All of the flowers were direct-seeded. The goal was to grow a cut-your-own garden and to also sell flower bouquets!
Garden Location: Rushville, IL Garden Size: 41’ 11” x 59’ 11” Garden Layout: Traditional rows Sun or Shade: Sunny Garden Soil Type: Good soil
See the plant list and more details about this garden here.
3. Flower Garden Layout: Traditional Rows
Garden Location: Outside Cincinnati Garden Size: 28’ 11” x 19’ 11” Garden Type: Backyard garden Garden Layout: Traditional rows Sun or Shade: Sunny Garden Soil Type: Heavy, clay soil See full plant list!
4. Flower Garden Layout
Garden Location: Sterling, VA Garden Size: 3’ 5” x 25’ 0” Garden Type: Front garden, border layout Sun or Shade: Sunny Garden Soil Type: Good soil
See plant list and more details about this garden here.
5. Flower Garden Layout
Garden Location: Ohio Garden Size: 19’ 11” x 29’ 11” Garden Type: Backyard Sun or Shade: Sunny Garden Soil Type: Heavy/Clay soil
See plant list and more details about this garden here.
Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann