Blue shed with 2x4 wooden flower garden borders painted blue installed with 2xEDGE Forest Green Staples.

DIY Flower Bed: Easily Make Beautiful Garden Borders

By Lisa Brooks
TABLE OF CONTENTS

👋Hi There

So....

For years I put off re-siding our cute little blue shed. But this Fall I caught a dirt cheap sale on mums at a garden center and the idea to create a flower bed in front of the shed entered my head and wouldn't leave.

What captured my imagination was installing landscape edging around the flower bed that would match the shed. After all, I'd have to paint the new siding; why not use some of that paint on the flowerbed borders and create something truly unique?

Sitting on the deck, gazing at the shed, a vision of the finished project came into view. I watched a chipmunk hop out of the shed through a hole in the siding and thought: this is the year.

Re-siding the shed and breaking up super compacted dirt to make the flower bed were labor intensive tasks. Installing the garden border? That was fast and easy.

If you're thinking about adding garden beds to your own garden or outdoor space and want to make flower beds the easy way, this post is for you.

Read on!

In The Beginning....

The siding on the south side of our shed was badly deteriorated. It gets hours and hours of full sun (great for a flower garden; not so great for wood siding) and so it was flaking, cracking, and breaking down.

Woman removing old, decrepit wood siding from a utility shed.

The siding job was straight forward: demolish the old siding, install the new siding, caulk, paint. That took a Saturday afternoon.

With the siding done, I turned my attention to the new bed I needed to create.

Breaking (Super Hard) Ground

The ground where I planned to make my flower bed was hard. Like - super hard!

I couldn't work a pitchfork or a spade even an inch into the soil. So I grabbed my pick-axe - ⛏️! - and got to work.

Woman loosening clay soil with a pick axe.

I planned to install flower bed edges so that the bed ran the twelve-foot length of the shed and came out about two-feet. Breaking up the ground and digging down about six to eight inches took about an hour including plenty of breaks (it was hot and I'm no spring chicken...).

The clay soil broke apart in large clumps. I walked over it, stomping as I went to crush the clumps. Then I used a rock rake to further break up the clumps and smooth and even out the bed.

Woman smoothing out clay soil with a rock rake.

Because the ground was so barren, a weed barrier - eg., landscape fabric, cardboard, etc. - wasn't necessary.

With the bed smoothed out it was time to prep and install my garden edging. Yay!

Making the Flower Garden Border

Untreated Lumber ➡️ Colorful Border

To add visual interest my edging design included painting the garden borders to match the shed.

I couldn't pull that off with typical edging materials so plastic edging, rubber edging, brick edging, concrete edging, stone edging - all were a no-go. Paintable, stainable wooden edging was the ticket!

I had some untreated 2x4 lumber on hand. Typically I would use lumber suitable for ground contact to create wood edging. But since I was painting the edging with the same exterior-grade paint I used on the shed, I was curious to see how the painted untreated lumber would hold up over time. So I used it.

A piece of 2x4 lumber being painted in prep to install as landscape edging.

I've read that you can get several years of useful life out of untreated wood used in exterior projects. It'll be interesting to see how long the painted untreated lumber lasts. I'll keep you posted!

With all of the prep done, it was time to install my flower bed borders.

Two-By Edging Installation

Siding the shed, breaking up the soil - so far this project has been hard work!

Finally though, I'm on the downhill. And the wind is at my back because I'm using 2xEDGE (two-by edge) Staples to install my flower bed garden edges. The staples require just a 16-ounce rubber mallet for installation.

Two-by (2x) lumber makes great looking garden spaces that feature clean lines and offer a modern look. No need to dig a shallow trench - or a deep one, and no need to drill holes in the wood for screws or make holes in the wood with nails - which would weaken the wood and decrease its useful life even if it were pressure treated.

Available in a variety of colors (for this project I'm pairing Forest Green staples with my painted two-by-four lumber) you can feel free to go color crazy with your landscape design in ways that you just can't with other edging products.

Woman using a rubber mallet to install painted 2x4 lumber as landscape edging with a Forest Green 2xEDGE Staple.

Depending on the landscape beds you're creating you might need additional tools.

For instance, if you're installing lawn edging you may need to use your lawn mower and/or half-moon edger pre-installation.

If you're installing edging in an area that's full of weeds you may need to grab your string trimmer to clear the way for edging.

Final Step: Planting & Mulching (Or Vice Versa)

I'm not sure which is my favorite part - tapping in the 2xEDGE Staples which is super satisfying, or finally getting my hands in the dirt to put in the plants and add mulch. Or - wait - grabbing the garden hose for the inaugural watering in. Hard call....

Woman digging a hole in a flower bed to plant chrysanthemums.

Why Use Mulch?

Anyway, as I mentioned, I grabbed mums from a garden center attached to a home improvement store. I also picked up organic cedar mulch.

I didn't need much mulch for this flower bed. I used about two-thirds of a 3-cubic foot bag of mulch.

Colorful chrysanthemums planted in a flower bed edges with painted 2x4 lumber.

I wanted to use organic mulch for a few reasons.

While the compacted soil that I started with looked a bit more hopeful once I loosened it up, I wanted to boost the nutrients available to the plants by adding organic mulch.

Over the years, adding natural material such as mulch, wood chips, and other organic matter, will help to amend and build up the soil - a long-term win for the plants.

The new flower bed is a full sun planting area. Mulch will help keep the plant roots cooler and also keep moisture in the soil.

So, Now You Know👍🏼

I love the way this little DIY flower bed turned out. The garden borders painted the same color as the shed, makes the garden edges feel like they're wrapping around the plants and giving them a hug.🤗

Chrysanthemums planted in a long flower bed next to a blue shed with wooden garden borders painted to match the shed.

After tackling all of the tough work to replace the siding on the shed and swinging a pick-axe to break up the soil, the quick and easy installation of the garden borders was a welcome change of pace - and fun to do.

If you're going for a contemporary look in your garden, using two-by lumber is an excellent way to create smooth lines and clean edges.

If the size of your garden is vast or you need to add landscape edging to a large area, two by lumber is also a great way to create affordable edging.

The ability to paint or stain wooden edging opens up a world of color that isn't available when using typical edging options like plastic, brick pavers, concrete, railroad ties, etc.

And, of course, you can skip the paint or stain and to create a rustic look with two-by lumber (you have many lumber options to choose from to create a natural-looking border).

Photo Credit📸

Photos included in this article were taken by 2xEDGE and are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

A Forest Green 2xEDGE Staple installed on a painted 2x4 to create a flower bed with mums in the background.

Related Links You Might Like🎁

How To Install Landscape and Garden Edging (DIY)

How To Make a Mulch Bed in Your Garden (Easy DIY Guide)

Best Wood For Landscape Edging? Two-by (2x) Lumber

You've Got Options! Choosing the Lumber That's Right For Your Project

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