Today’s Garden Ideas

Tired of having to trim the grass along your fence line where your mower can’t quite reach? How about planting a fence garden instead? Not only will it add beauty to your yard but by planting a few climbing plants you can break up the monotony of the fence line.

Preparing Your Flowerbed

Like any other flowerbed prepping the soil is your first step. Remove the grass 2 feet out from the fence and 3 feet out from the posts. Till the soil and thoroughly mix in some compost or organic fertilizer.

Be sure to choose plants that are suitable for your planting zone. Also take note whether your fence flower garden will be mostly in the sun or shade. Finally, you may want to have blooms season long so be sure to choose plant species that flower in different seasons. And of course choose low maintenance plants and shrubs.

If you are planting along a post-and-rail fence be sure to remove the grass on either side of the fence. You can then create a mirror image of your garden on either side of the posts. Or, plant taller flowers on one side of your fence grading down to ground cover on the other side. A third design option is planting tall flowers under the fence rail that will grow up on either side of rail and then shorter flowers on either side.

Choosing Your Plants

Some flowering plant ideas for a post-and-rail fence might be Daylilies that can grow up to 4 feet tall and come in varying shades of yellow and red or Alyssum a 4 inch groundcover with white or pink spring blooms.

Bellflower, an 18 inch purple flower will bloom in summer while Sedum, up to 2 feet in length will turn a deep maroon color in fall.

For a privacy fence begin planting up against the fence using vines or crawlers like Clematis or Bougainvillea. You may want to nail a trellis to the fence so these climbers having something to grab onto while they grow. In front of the taller blooms try a medium size flowering plant like the red blooming Yarrow, or blue-green Dwarf Balloon Flower.

Smaller species that might suite your fence garden include Marigold and Dianthus. Finally the groundcover will give your fence garden a nice border outline. If blue is your favorite color try using Plumbago or, if you prefer purple, Lobelia has a deep rich violet hue.

Don’t be afraid to mix and match colors and textures for a more interesting fence garden. You can also try different kinds of gardens by cultivating a few garden beds along your fence line spread out from each other. Perhaps one bed could be vegetables. Beans make great climbers and tomatoes and peppers are excellent medium size plants with carrots or onions forming the bed border. Or a wildflower garden might be fun to try. Even a garden of flowers all one color might look spectacular. Your imagination is the limit.

PLANTS FOR A GARDEN ALONG A FENCE
TYPE	PLANT	DESCRIPTION
	Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’	H and S: 2ft; green, 5-6in., Broccoli-like flower buds turn pink in late summer, then deep maroon in fall; fleshy, oval, green leaves; flower heads are attractive through winter; zones 3-9
	Artemisia ‘Silver King’	H and S: 2-4ft; perennial grown for its delicately textured, fragrant, silvery, gray-green foliage; prefers full sun and well-drained soil; drought tolerant; zones 3-9
	Impatiens	H and S: 2ft; flat, five-petaled flowers from early summer to frost in scarlet, orange-red, salmon, white, pink or lilac; oval, green leaves; annual; all zones
	Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia Fulgida)	H: 1.5-3ft., S: 2ft; orange-yellow, Daisy-like flowers with dark brown centers from late summer into fall; narrow, lance-like leaves; needs full sun and moist, well-drained soil; attractive seedheads through winter; zones 3-9