Create a New Garden Border

Plant a bed of mixed perennials for a colorful, easy-care garden.

Excerpted from How to Grow Practically Everything
Filed under: Gardening

Firm In

Place the plant in the hole. Add some granular fertilizer to the excavated soil, and use this to fill in around the plant. Firm it in with your hands.

Finishing Touches

When you have planted the whole border, use a hose to water the plants thoroughly. A good soaking will settle the soil around the plants, helping them establish. If any roots are exposed by the watering, cover them with soil.

Watering New Border Vital to Growing Success

Caring for Your Plants

Apply a mulch to the whole border. Perennials take about a year to establish fully, and if planted in spring, they should have a healthy root system by fall. Until then, the plants will need to be watered regularly, even daily during periods of drought. After planting, feed them every year in spring with an all-purpose fertilizer and reapply a mulch.