Flower beds can give the yard a new life, making it look interesting and beautiful. Creating a garden is an art, an art that requires forethought and good planning. There are no hard and fast rules about how a flower garden should look, but it should have an aesthetic appeal, and must be easily manageable. Designs for Garden Flower Beds When flowers are planted in a bed, they give the garden a neat, clean and pleasing appearance. The beds are an excellent way of segregating perennials from annuals and bi-annuals. The use of shrubs, bushes, or small flowering trees can be used to mark the borders. Following are a few tips that can help one design garden flower beds. Building a flower bed requires planning. The first thing that needs to be done is to asses yourself as a gardener. Are you ready to get your hands dirty, whether you plan to hire help, or your interest in flowers is a passing thing. Once you are clear, it would be easy to decide the number of beds, and the kind and the variety of flowers plants one wants. Make a rough sketch of the flower bed, which should contain its length and width size, and visualize the arrangement and the type of flowers you are planning to plant. Choose a sunny spot which has a good drainage system. Outline the boundary of the flower bed using nylon ropes. Decide on the shape, it could be a square, rectangle, circle, or any other design. Using a small shovel, dig up the entire bed at least 10 - 15 inches deep, and level and demarcate the soil as per the design. If you plan to include designs that have layers, provide adequate support to the soil to prevent soil erosion while watering. One also needs to take precautionary measures to prevent disease and pests in the soil from damaging the seeds or saplings. Use a good measure of organic composite and pesticide while preparing the soil. Whether sowing seeds or planting saplings, tall plants should be placed at the back of the bed near the fence, while smaller ones should be planted in the front. For beds that have no fences as their borders, shrubs and bushes, or small plants can be grown as border edgings, with smaller plants inside. Plants that require frequent attention, like pruning, mulching, grooming or spraying, must be always grown where they can be easily accessed. Watering a flower bed should be done carefully. Water should be sprayed equally from all sides, and excess water should have place to drain out. Flower Bed Ideas

• A traditional flower bed uses roses that are planted in borders, and also mixed with small flowering trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Another rose bed design includes the use of the same variety of roses in different colors, or vice versa.

• While deciding flower colors, make an impact with vibrant colors, and never group dull or light colors with each other. However, this requires a good understanding of the type, size and colors of different flowers. One can even grow different colored foliage to create a dramatic effect, or to subdue too many dark-colored flowers.

• A raised garden bed with layers of trailing varieties of flower plants, like deep purple petunias, followed by sunny yellows, or a spread of blue Viola with yellow and orange Sweet Williams on the borders will have a mesmerizing visual effect. Try growing trailers like sweet peas, nasturtium or morning glory on the fences as the background.

There are many ways one can add beauty to the flower beds. While creating a number of flower beds in a garden, one must take care to create a harmonious flow between them. This is essential to give the whole landscape an aesthetic visual appeal.