Do-it-yourself vertical flower beds and flower beds
Do-it-yourself vertical flower beds and flower beds
A vertical flower bed is an atypical ground or hanging flower garden that takes up minimal space and can be arranged in the most unpredictable places.
Options for arranging vertically arranged flower beds (types, varieties, what they are made from):
- from a plastic (metal) pipe;
- in containers arranged in a pyramid;
- from a chain-link mesh rolled into a cylinder;
- in hanging paintings (panels, blocks);
- in wire balls (squares, rectangles, rhombuses);
- in the roofs of gazebos and terraces.
Plants and flowers for vertical flower beds
The most suitable hanging “candidates” for creating vertical flower beds include:
- Petunia (Surfinia, Calibrachoa, Thumbelina)
- Nasturtium
- Lobelia
- Mattiola
- Minitunia
- Dichondra
- Bacopa
- Pelargonium
- Begonia
- Fuchsia
In container floriculture (to obtain the most unexpected contrasts) they also use: allisum, viola, kufeya, catharanthus, laurentia, verbena, diascia and others.
Planting vertical flower beds is an effective method of vertical gardening in landscape design, which helps to visually perceive a narrow area as more harmonious and proportional. Vertical flower beds with beautiful flowering plants, ornamental grasses and cereals give small gardens additional volume.
What tools and materials will be needed
To work with cement you will need the following tools and materials:
Metal container. Its volume should not be less than 10 liters. The solution will be diluted in it. You can use a basin, a large bucket, a tank.
- Drill with screw mixer attachment, construction mixer for preparing mortar with a volume of more than 5 liters. Trowel, trowel for preparing a smaller volume of cement mixture.
- Construction plaster spatulas of different sizes, paint scraper, sandpaper. With their help, it will be possible to level the surface of the manufactured craft and remove excess cement.
- Apron, rubber gloves, wet wipes, dry, clean rag. These items will make work more comfortable and protect clothes and hands from contamination.
- Waterproof paint (regular or aerosol) for exterior use, primer (as a base for paint), brush. If desired, you can paint the resulting products (this is not a prerequisite, this is done only to obtain brighter things).
- Molds and frames for making figures. They can be very different - wood, plastic, metal, silicone, rubber. Flower pots, flowerpots, old boots, pieces of fabric, tires, bottles and much more are suitable.
To make your work easier, you can first make a drawing or sample of the planned craft.
How to make a vertical flowerbed of petunias with your own hands?
To give unsightly containers found at the garden center a picturesque look, you will need hanging plants of certain types. All floors of a multi-tiered pyramid flower bed can be planted with petunias from the “Surfinia”, “Ash Wave”, “Million Bells”, “Pink Wave” or “Salmon Wave” series. To diversify garden compositions, petunias are alternated with beautifully flowering plants that have a small root system: lobelias and matthiola.
The photo shows flowers for vertical flower beds in a pyramid of pots.
To make a vertical flower bed of petunias, you will need 5 flower pots of different diameters with a hole in the bottom. The largest pot is placed at the base of a vertical flowerbed. Its larger half is covered with moistened soil. Then a wooden or metal rod is inserted, onto which pots (vases) are strung one by one. Annual petunias are planted in a circle. When the plants grow, they will partially cover the pots. Watering a vertical flower bed is carried out in each pot as the soil dries.
A little lightness in decor
Strange as it may sound, an openwork ball made of cement mixture seems airy and weightless. To create it you need a ball that is inflated to the size you need.
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Using the same technique you can make garden lanterns and flower pots. Here decoration should be done both from the outside and from the inside.
To obtain monolithic balls, balls that are poured into a hole are suitable. After painting, they can be randomly scattered around the garden. It turns out stylish and effective.
You can see a variety of cement crafts step by step on the blogs of enthusiastic people. Here you can really choose something for your site.
Hanging vertical flowerbed-ball for petunia
The opinion about the complexity of arranging an air flower bed with petunias is erroneous. A vertical flower bed only looks like a complex design, but in fact it can be made with your own hands using available materials.
To create an air flower bed you will need thick and thin wire, pliers, universal peat-based soil, sphagnum moss and seedlings of the flowers themselves (petunia surfinia or violet vitrocca).
The photo shows how to make a vertical flower bed-ball in stages (step-by-step diagram)
Petunia seedlings are planted into a ball at a distance of 7 cm from each other. Having completely filled the flowerbed with plants, hang it in a well-lit place in the garden (but not under the scorching sun) and water it abundantly.
In the photo there is a hanging flower bed - a blooming ball with petunias, as an alternative to floor pots.
Tip: When thinking about the colors of a vertical flower bed with petunias, do not be afraid to mix flowers by color. For example, plant yellow ones with purple ones, pink ones with blue ones.
What is cement and how to work with it
Cement does not require professional skills or additional complex tools. It is one of the main materials used in construction work.
When cement interacts with water, the result is a plastic mass, which after a certain time hardens and becomes a stone-like body. Strong and durable.
To work with such raw materials, you need to choose a special place (preferably a larger one). Then lay plastic film everywhere and secure it well with something. This is necessary so that the cement does not spoil other surfaces. After all, everyone knows: once this material thickens, it will be difficult to dispose of it.
What tools and additional materials will be required:
- In order to dilute cement, you need a container with a volume of at least 10 liters. You will need a metal container or utensils made of other durable materials.
- To make the cement mortar homogeneous, you will need a mixer. A drill is also suitable, but only its attachment must be a screw one.
- Water. This is one of the main components, since all tools will need to be constantly washed under high pressure of water.
- For your comfort and safety, you need to purchase small things such as rags, rubber gloves and an apron.
- Forms for figures, which can be found in construction stores, as well as in special shops that sell various goods for creativity.
- Spatulas (preferably of different sizes), they will be very useful in your future work.
- Primer. Will be needed to cover crafts after drying. It acts as the main material for the coloring composition.
- Sand. It should be small and free of unnecessary debris.
- Cement. In this case, we offer brands M-200 or M-300.
Preparing cement mortar
An example of what the mixture should look like
The most important thing is that the mixture should be a homogeneous mass with a consistency reminiscent of thick sour cream. It is this density that will be ideal for pouring cement into molds or using it for necessary crafts.
Procedure:
- Pour sand into a pre-prepared container, followed by cement. These components should be mixed thoroughly.
- Add water.
Proportions per 1 kg of cement:
Cement brand | Fine sand | Water |
M-200 1 kg | 2.9 kg | 900 ml |
M-300 1 kg | 2 kg | 750 ml |
- If you want to make your craft colored, then at this stage add water-dispersion color. Thanks to this component, the products no longer necessarily need to be painted.
- Mix thoroughly and bring to a homogeneous mass.
Do-it-yourself vertical flower beds for petunia from a pipe
An element of the decor of a suburban area can be... a large diameter pipe, plastic or metal. How to make a compact vertical flower bed with petunias from a pipe?
To make it, you will need one large (external) pipe with holes for planting plants and one small (internal) pipe with holes for water to escape during watering. Plugs are placed at the bottom of both pipes.
The smaller structure is placed inside the outer pipe after the latter is securely fixed in a vertical position. A ten-centimeter layer of gravel is poured into the formed gap between the pipes for drainage. The top is filled with soil for petunias.
The final stage of creating a vertical flower bed from a pipe is planting seedlings.
In the photo of a vertical flower bed, the base is a pipe with round holes for planting plants.
Production stages
Since any product made from cement must dry well, after making it, cover the craft with polyethylene and “forget” for a week. Then the figure is coated with primer.
And the last step will be coloring. If the surface remains rough after priming, you can go over it with sandpaper or a file.Do-it-yourself vertical flowerbed made of chain-link mesh
An inexpensive way to decorate the garden area of a summer cottage is to make a vertical flower bed from a chain-link mesh. For a simple design you will need: a metal mesh chain-link with large cells, wire, a large flowerpot, geotextiles, seedlings.
The flowerpot into which the mesh will be inserted will be responsible for the stability of the flowerbed. The wire is needed to fix the shape of the cylinder and secure the geotextile fabric.
The resulting “tower” is filled with soil with a small addition of perlite sand.
Make holes for plants.
Plant flowers in a vertical flower bed.
Craft ideas for beginners
It’s worth starting with the simplest figures and sculptures. These can be mushrooms, gnomes, animals, various characters from fairy tales. Moreover, when it comes to bright figures, it is worth considering not so much the complexity of making the sculpture itself, but rather giving it brightness and compliance with the sketch. So, an ordinary mushroom is a stalk and a semicircle, but the correct coloring gives it a similarity with the idea.
The same applies to animals and characters from fairy tales - the shapes themselves are simple, but not everyone knows how to beautifully paint the figures they make. Below are many options for simple crafts with which you can start creating sculptures and concrete products.
Do-it-yourself vertical flower beds from improvised materials
If you have a free piece of land and available materials of any origin, all you need is an idea for a flower bed. It is better for beginners to start by creating summer vertically oriented flower beds - there is a larger choice of plants.
Plastic and metal barrels, car tires and wheels are used to create flower beds when they don’t want to buy flower containers in the store and when they want to make an original vertical flower bed.
The picture shows how to make a vertical flower bed from barrels, car tires, hanging bags, pallets and even slate.
The photo shows vertical flower beds made from scrap materials
What else goes into the solution?
Concrete has performed well. True, it is most often used for the basis of platforms for fountains, sculptural pedestals, etc.
You can also make crafts from cement and plaster. It is added to the solution to impart plasticity to the material. When working with this duet you need to be more careful, since the plaster sets quite quickly.
Vertical flower beds on the walls - paintings of fresh flowers
One of the vertical gardening techniques is “green walls” of plants. Like other types of creativity, “painting” with flowers is a fascinating process. For a better perception of the flower garden, you need a calm, neutral background.
Which plants to choose for a vertical canvas of flowers?
To create a bright and original plot, creative gardeners recommend ground covers and succulents. The root system of these plants grows with its roots in the width of the soil, and not in depth, resulting in an amazing wall carpet. The wall composition must include different types of juveniles - this ground cover plant does not bloom, but looks extremely impressive due to the beautiful rosette of dense leaves.
Where and how to plant flowers so that they grow vertically and do not fall?
A picture of plants requires a frame; for this, a frame-tray is made with a bottom made of plywood covered with geotextile. To prevent the earth mixture (soil with substrate) from spilling out in a vertical position, it is watered and covered without bending with a wire mesh with large cells.
How to plant ground cover and make succulent compositions?
Perennials are planted vertically so that the shades of inflorescences, leaves, and their shape contrast with each other. The palette is limited to three to five colors, planting plants of brighter colors in and diagonally. Place the succulents through the mesh using a wooden stick.
Growing seedlings
The secret of success is proper planting and rational care. Petunias grow quickly, spreading to the sides, eventually hanging down to a length of 40-100 centimeters. Cultivation begins with planting or purchasing seedlings. Seedlings are planted in mid-May (less risk of frost) in fertile soil in a sunny place.
Important! Petunias are very sensitive to weather conditions!
Growing the plant is not suitable for beginners, but the efforts will certainly pay off with beautiful flowering that lasts throughout the season until the first frost.
When to plant seedlings?
To create flower beds, annual plants are often used (with the exception of planting trees and shrubs in large pots), characterized by a long germination period and low resistance to temperature fluctuations. The first planting of plants on seedlings, taking into account the “summer” flowering, begins in February!
Petunia is a rather sensitive plant. It is better to ensure “wintering” in greenhouse conditions; by May the plant will become much more developed than its counterparts located outside the greenhouse.
Transplanting seedlings
The secret to exceptionally lush plants is replanting in late May or early June. Planting takes place in small plastic pots, where the flowers can grow freely and the root system is effectively protected from the cold. In order for the effect to persist after transplanting into the final pot, you first need to slightly moisten the flower, and then place it exactly at the same depth as the seed pot - then the plant will not be “shocked”. Frequent watering twice a day will ensure consistent conditions over the following weeks.
For convenience, before boarding, you should choose one of the options:
- combine soil with a hydrogel that absorbs and releases water without human supervision,
- or fill the container with a 2-3 cm layer of bark or peat to reduce water evaporation and weed development.
It is very important before planting any container: flower pot, flower towers or lawn, to always remove the “old” soil to reduce the risk of disease and parasite transmission. The old soil is replaced with peat.
Top dressing
Seasonal plants recommended for urban planting require intensive feeding. A special mixture of fertilizers will be required, constantly supplied to the roots. For petunia, synthetic fertilizers are applied in low concentrations (0.1%), applied maximum every 2 weeks directly to the substrate. For the best effect, apply multi-component fertilizer every 7-10 days (especially for blooming flowers, not nitrogen).
How to water?
Cascade petunias love water, and although excess water should be removed, the plant must be watered regularly (twice a day on hot days). Many varieties have their own water requirements.