11/19

Woohoo! Homemade Flower Beds!

D.I.Y. Project, Home Decor, Outdoor Spaces
By Elsie Larson

Wohoo! Custom flower beds!Hi, friends! Today I wanted to share a project we’ve been working on this month that hugely improved our curb appeal! We built flower beds!!!

So, this past summer Jeremy and I had the exterior of our home painted white (it was an orangish brown brick before). During that process, we had quite a few of our bushes removed. We spent a long time at the nursery one day looking at different options for bushes or plants for the front of our home. We didn’t want to do bushes (except for a couple peony bushes, but they are highly seasonal and wouldn’t look good all year round), so we finally decided to go with flower beds that we would rotate with seasonal flowers! We are still keeping some bushes on the sides of the home, but for the front this was an option I was much more excited about. I LOVE seasonal flowers!

A few months ago I got a quote to build brick flower beds, similar in size to what you see here. The quote was ‘SPENSIVE, you guys. So we looked into DIY options and figured out we could cut the cost down from around 5k to around 1k (and these flower beds are BIG!). The best part is, it’s a super simple building project. We’ll share below what supplies we used and the basics of how we built it in case it’s something you want to look into.

For months our house felt super incomplete because, even though it had its fresh coat of white paint, there were no plants of any kind along the front of the house.

Wohoo! Custom flower beds! Here’s how it looks today! I’m so so so so so thrilled with the flower beds. It was the perfect choice for us because they add so much color to our exterior.

Fun fact—I had a mini freak out the week before we painted our home and was like, “Jeremy! If we’re paying all this money to get the house painted, shouldn’t we paint it pink or something instead of just white?” You can guess what his answer was. Haha!

But now that I see it all coming together, with the fun door, the flowers and the changing decorations on the steps, I really think white was the right choice. I mean—obviously!

There’s still so much I want to do next year including working on our grass “bald spots”, trying to grow wildflowers from seeds, growing peony bushes for the first time, planting some bigger bushes (considering white hydrangeas, but still looking at options). And don’t even let me get started on the backyard.

That said, it feels really good to get these first few steps completed. I didn’t even think we’d get around to doing any outdoor projects in 2016, and we knocked out two really big ones. High fives!

Wohoo! Custom flower beds! Basic Instructions-

Supplies:
–PVC boards
–4″ x 4″ pressure treated wooden posts
-concrete mix
–post hole diggers
-level
-screws
-power drill
-flower bed lining
-miter saw or circular saw
-soil
-staple gun

Once you have measured your space where you’re going to be building the flowerbeds, dig your post holes every 6′ or 8′ depending on what size boards you choose and about 18″ deep. (We used 8′ boards, so the post holes were dug every 7′ 8″ to leave a 2 inch overlap for your continuing boards.) Once you have all of your post holes dug, measure and cut your 4″x4″ posts to whatever height you want your raised beds to be, one post for every hole you dug (keep in mind to add that 18″ from your post hole to your measurement!). Set your posts with concrete by placing your post in the hole and simply dumping the concrete mix in around your post and then adding water and mixing with a piece of scrap wood. With a level, keep checking every side of your post to make sure it is perfectly level. Keep doing this for about a minute until it seems like it’s not going to move on you.

After all of your posts are set, I would recommend letting them harden completely for at least 2 to 3 hours. Once your cement is completely dry, it’s time for your boards. Starting on one side, mount your boards with screws starting from the bottom and working your way to the top, making sure each one is perfectly level as you go. Continue until all boards are fastened. Next, take your fabric bed lining and lay it in the bottom of your flower beds. Using a staple gun, staple your lining up to a few inches above where your soil level will be all along the inside of your beds. Next shovel in your soil. (Or if you’re getting it delivered from a local nursery, see if the person delivering can dump the soil directly into the beds if they have access to back up their truck. It helps save you from a lot of potential back pain!)

Wohoo! Custom flower beds! And I’ll leave you with this fun little snapshot of Penelope and Scarlett helping me a couple weeks ago. How freaking cute is that?!

I love that these flower beds are one part decoration, one part activity! #memories

Hope you are having a great great weekend! xx -Elsie

Credits//Author and Photography: Elsie Larson and Collin DuPree. Photos edited with the NEW A Beautiful Mess actions. 

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