Horticulturist Maureen Gilmer fills a sidewalk bed in front of a home with color using a variety of shades and styles of annuals. She starts with tall pink and red annuals in the back row to provide shade and visual interest. The next two rows of flowers are each slightly shorter than the row behind, so that the whole bed is graduated in height from short to tall. This project is not considered difficult, but you will need to do a lot planting. For an average do-it-yourselfer, the project's requirements are: Skill level: 3 (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most difficult) Time needed: 11 hours Supplies: Potting soil (optional potted accents)
Plant material
Fertilizer/compost Tools:
Standard gardening tools (shovel, iron rake) Instructions: - Choose brightly colored annuals. Violas are almost always a good option since they will thrive in almost any U.S. climate
- Properly prepare the soil by spading the entire plot. Gilmer recommends a spading fork (figure A) rather than a shovel.
- Add three to four inches of compost to the plot. Mix in the compost with the soil and rake smooth.
Expert tip (Annie Hall, garden designer): The color combinations with the most visual impact are the ones opposite one another on the color wheel. For example, orange against purple, blue against yellow and red against green.
RESOURCES :
Plants from Ball Horticultural Company
Various plant material
Ball Horticulture Company
Website: www.simplybeautifulgardens.com
GUESTS :
Annie Hall
Phone: 949-458-3974
Email: ahall@gardendesigns.com
Website: www.gardendesigns.com
Garden Designer
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