Flowerbeds will add style, beauty and texture to landscaping. To separate the flowerbeds from the rest of the yard, or to protect the beautiful flowers from kids and pets, a stone flowerbed border is needed. The steps listed below can teach you how to make a functional and fashionable stone flowerbed border.
Preparation
Step 1
Know the purpose of the stone flowerbed border clearly. The purpose of the boarder will influence what type of stones you use. For example if you need the border to act as a retaining wall then you will need larger stone that fit tightly together.
Step 2
Study about your stone options. There are many rocks and rock products choices for you to create the stone flowerbed border. There are slab rocks, cut rocks, river rocks, colored stones and river stones. In order to get the best results, you should choose a rock that will meet your flowerbed's functional needs and its aesthetic needs.
Step 3
Decide what kind of materials you will need to create your stone flowerbed border. Some things that you may also need to buy: plastic border dividers, plastic sheathing, garden stakes, spray paint and rocks.
Step 4
Measure the dimensions of flowerbed to figure out how much sheathing, plastic border dividers and rock you will need.
Step 5
Buy your supplies. Local stores and rock haulers can be great places to find all shapes and sizes rocks, other materials that you will need to build your border also can find there.
Building
Step 1
Mark the outline of your stone flowerbed border with spray paint.
Step 2
Clear out the area behind the spray marks. Remove grass, native stones, weeds and other debris. If you will be placing large slab stones to build a retaining wall then you will also want to level the ground. Do this by scraping the dirt or by filling in depressions with sand or loose soil. Lay down plastic sheathing to prevent weeds from growing up between your rocks.
Step 3
Install the plastic garden divider border along the spray mark. This will separate your grass from the flower bed. You will want to work the plastic into the ground. The easiest way to do this is to dig down into the dirt, place the plastic border and then secure it with dirt. You will also want to add a plastic garden border between the stone border and the actual flower garden (only if you are using loose gravel). This will keep the rocks from spreading into your flower area.
Step 4
Place your stones. If you use loose gravel to create your border all you have to do is dump the rocks between your two borders and spread them out to create an even layer. If you build a stone retaining wall then you will want to begin with placing a single row of slab stones on the leveled dirt. Make sure that the stones are fitted tightly together. The second layer of stones needs to be staggered slightly to help hold the retaining wall together. If necessary, you can complete a third row; although, two rows are always enough.
Step 5
Fill the flowerbed with dirt to hold up the stone retaining wall flowerbed border and plant the flowers.