Why Plant Bedding Is The Next Big Thing

Planted in bulk, plant bedding is an easy, effective way to add a pop of color to flowerbeds, hanging baskets, or pots. It’s often used to create unique landscapes and fill empty spaces in gardens.

Let’s explore this trending method that will turn your backyard into the colorful oasis you’ve always wanted.

What are bedding plants?

Bedding plants are flowers or vegetables planted in large quantities. You might also hear them referred to as patio plants. They’re produced and nurtured in greenhouses and then sold across garden centers. Some examples of these plants include marigolds, pansies, petunias, and celosia.

Known for their rapid growth, they’re great for filling spaces in gardens to provide coverage. These fast-growing plants are specifically grown to decorate landscapes in unique ways.

Plant bedding is the act of sowing flowering bedding plants to make temporary, colorful displays. You can plant them during any season of the year.

These garden plants are popular due to their cost-effectiveness and instant bloom quality. They have a budget-friendly and low maintenance reputation. As a result, plant bedding is being seen more and more across lawns every season.

How to determine your plant’s health

It’s important to ensure that your plant is healthy before you buy at any garden center or retail outlet. The quality of bedding flowers can differ between shipments. This is why you should know the key indicators of poor plant health.

It’s all in the roots

Buying annual bedding plants with unhealthy roots is like buying a car with 300,000 miles– it’s just not going to last. A plant that has an unhealthy root system won’t perform well once planted into your landscape.

This is why when you’re browsing garden centers, you should look for roots that are bright and white. You don’t need to panic if the roots aren’t eggshell white from head to tail. What’s most important is that they’re very white at the tips. And of course, always avoid purchasing any bedding plants that show black or brown roots.

Besides checking the color of the roots, you’ll also want to check their displacement in the pot. Roots should fill out the whole pot to make sure the plant and soil come out as one unit. You don’t want the protective, surrounding soil to crumble and fall when you pull the plant out of its container.

Other signs to watch for

In addition to white roots that fill the pot, there are a few other signs of optimal health for plant bedding. A strong, stocky main stem is crucial to securing a robust plant. It will provide good branching for many secondary stems, leaves, and flowers.

You’ll also want to check how many open flowers there are on the plant. The more open flowers, the slower the plant will grow and fill gaps in your landscape. Though it can be tempting, avoid insisting the plant you buy already has pretty open flowers.

You’ll also need to look for signs of insect damage and diseases. Make sure there are no holes in leaves, excessive leaf loss, or yellow spots. Your plant should be a rich green color.

If you’re concerned about keeping your plant healthy after you buy it, consider sowing it in a raised garden bed. This will ensure you have complete control over the soil it’s grown in.

Where and when to use plant bedding

Location, Location, Location!

We all know how important location is. Where you live, where you work, where you travel– it’s all about location. So, it makes sense that you’d want your landscape bedding displayed in the best area for viewing pleasure.

Bedding flowers are strong visual plants. So, they’re often used to draw the eye toward a design in a landscape. With that being said, it’s easy to go overboard when creating your layout. If there are too many focal points, it can negate the purpose of highlighting a specific area. To avoid this confusion, it’s best to space out your favorite viewpoints along the landscape.

A popular location for plant bedding is in the corner of outdoor rooms. You may find these plants in hanging baskets or pots in the corners of porches and sunrooms. For flowerbeds, it’s common to see them along the entryway of a home or lining the side of a house.

A great location can increase aesthetics, but it can also help a plant thrive. Some plants need to be in constant sunlight, while others need indirect light or even shade.

Selecting a variety of bedding flowers that thrive under the same conditions is key to a robust garden. Look at which direction your garden faces, and you’ll be able to tell how much sunlight it will get each season.

Timing is everything

There’s no point in putting in the work to create your beautiful garden if your flowers don’t survive. Knowing the optimal times for plant bedding will make your life a whole lot easier.

It’s not rocket science, but there is a strategy to ensure a healthy array of flowers throughout the year. The general rule of thumb is to plant your bedding flowers the season before they’re due to bloom.

Still, it can be confusing to know exactly when to start plant bedding. This is because there are so many factors at play. Answering these questions will help when deciding on timing.

Does your plant grow from a bulb or a seed?
Is your flower going to be grown indoors before you move it outside?
Will you sow your plant directly into your garden?
What’s the typical length of time it takes for your plant to bloom?

If you’re unsure of the best time to plant, you can always check the information on the plant label or seed packets.

Gardeners replant their bedding flowers in late spring to bloom in the summer and in early fall to bloom in the winter or spring.

So, when you’re bedding plants for summer, you’ll want to plant them after there’s no longer any threat of frost. This is because they’re sensitive to freeze damage. If you do plant them at the optimal time, they should bloom beautifully and last until early to mid-autumn. A few popular bedding plants for summer are geraniums, sweet alyssum, and red salvia.

How to map out your color scheme

Bedding plants give the widest range of colors compared to any other group of plants. So, why not take advantage of their amazing, natural colors?

Landscape bedding can enhance your favorite outdoor areas where you socialize. This might be your backyard, deck, or patio. Follow these tips for creating beautiful color schemes. Soon, your neighbors will be asking, “How did you do all this?!”

Do plant bedding in groups to make a block of color instead of planting individually.
Use your dark green plants in the background to help your bright-colored plants stand out.
Put your pastel-colored plants in the shade to help your shaded areas look less gloomy.
Make sure to create subtle transitions when moving from one color to another. A strong contrast between colors can be displeasing to the eye.

Monochromatic scheme

This type of color design uses a variety of tints and shades that are all born from the same color. You can supplement this pattern with any of your white or gray plants.

Analogous color scheme

Plant bedding for an analogous color scheme uses two colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. Example analogous colors could be blue and blue-purple or blue and blue-green.

You can also increase aesthetics by planting flowerbeds with rocks instead of mulch.

Don’t knock it ’til you rock it

Mulch is typically the go-to for gardens because it provides nutrients and smothers weeds. But did you know that using rocks will give your plant bedding a cleaner, brighter look?

Rocks are helpful if you encounter drainage problems in your yard. This is due to their quick ability to drain water. Also, unlike mulch, rocks require little maintenance. You can spread them around your flowerbeds in a short amount of time.

If you have open bed areas, rocks are great for laying over the space. They’re more visually appealing to the eye than a big patch of mulch.

Rocks protect your plants as they can withstand a high amount of stress, especially if you don’t want to worry about your plants getting trampled over. Your rocks will tolerate more pressure than mulch.

Want help reaching your plant bedding goals? Contact us today to hire a professional landscape architect!