There is no doubt that flowers are an integral part of any garden. They add color and beauty to the garden and no garden can be complete unless it is blooming with different flowers. But you need to make sure that you plan the design and layout of the garden in such a way that it showcases and enhances the beauty of the flowers. Planting a variety of flowers haphazardly in the garden will make your garden look shabby. So the best thing to do is to opt for flower beds. Flower beds are areas that are specially prepared for growing flowers. They are typically designed with an edging to highlight the flowers. Planning the design and layout of your flower beds is very important since different flowers need different care. Another important factor is the style of your home. The design of flower as well as your garden design should complement the architectural style of your home. Here we are going to discuss some ideas for designing flower beds. Before you start making flower beds, first decide on the kind of flower garden you want. Do you want a modern garden with clean structured design or a free-flowing country-style garden. If you live in a cottage or ranch, a country-style garden will look great. For a country-style garden, the flower bed designs can be more free-flowing and unstructured. Flower bed designs are basically of two types; flower bed borders and island flower beds. Island Flower Beds: For island flower beds, the flower beds are individual beds which are planted in isolation with single colored blooms or different flowers of the same color. They are the main attraction of a garden and when done right can look quite stunning. Island flower bed designs are always done in a series of three or more flower beds for harmony and structure. The flower beds can be rectangular, round or oval-shaped. Flower Bed Borders: Border flower beds as the name suggests are flower beds in which flowers are planted as borders for driveways and along the edges of the house. These flower bed borders are also planted along the perimeter of the fence where the fresh blooms soften up the look of a wooden or metal fence. Tips for Designing a Flower Bed Flower beds enhance the curb appeal of your home and makes your garden look lush and lovely. To create a visual impact with your garden, here are a few tips. • When you decide on the kind of flower bed design you want for your garden, an important consideration that you cannot overlook is the kind of flowers that you are going to plant. The flowers that you choose to plant should bloom at the same time of the year for best results. • There should be a harmony of colors, forms and textures of the flowers or your garden will not look good. You can either choose a cool color palette or a warm color palette while choosing the flower colors. • If you are going for a warm color palette then red, orange and yellow looks quite enticing and these colors also work well together. They complement each other and are harmonious. If you are going for cool colors for flower bed then try a mix of lavender, green and blue colored blooms for the flower bed design. • Combining small flowers with very large ones does not work well in a flower bed. As far as possible opt for flowers that are of similar size and form. • Having said that, there are no hard and fast rules in flower bed designs, and you can certainly try planting flowers in contrasting colors as well as flowers of different sizes. Petunias and Geraniums are some good flowers that you can plant in your flower bed. • If you are looking for raised flower bed ideas then a good idea is to go for different heights in flowers. Raised flower beds give you the flexibility to have flowering plants with different heights and this gives the garden more interest. These were some ideas for flower bed designs. A well planned and well executed flower bed design and flower garden layout can enhance the beauty of your landscaping project and give your garden a natural look. Flowers like hydrangea, crocus, lavender, roses, geranium, heather, iris, amaryllis, gladiolus and begonia are ideal for small flower beds as they give the best results. Whether you incorporate flower bed designs in the form of borders or islands, they can add beauty and elegance to your garden.