17 Beautiful Flower Bed Ideas for the Side of Your House

The side of your house is prime real estate for creating a gorgeous flower bed that will boost your home’s curb appeal. With the right plant selection and design, side of house flowerbeds can add color, texture, and beauty to your outdoor space. When designed thoughtfully, these beds can enhance the architectural style of your home.

If you have a blank side yard or an uninspired planting bed try one of these stunning flower bed ideas to transform this space into an eye-catching garden feature.

Choose the Right Plants

When selecting plants for side yard flower beds consider the following

• Sun exposure – Note how much sunlight the area receives and choose plants accordingly. Most beds benefit from at least 4-6 hours of sun.

• Size and spread – Check plant heights and spreads to ensure they fit the space without overwhelming it. Use smaller plants against the house.

• Bloom time – Choose a mix of plants that bloom in spring, summer and fall for continuous color.

• Pollinators – Include flowers that attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Some top plants are lantana, bee balm, cosmos, zinnias, and coneflowers.

• Foliage – Don’t overlook plants with colorful, variegated, or interesting foliage to add texture and color before and after blooming.

Fabulous Flower Bed Shapes and Styles

The shape and style of your flower bed can enhance your home’s architecture and also make a visual impact. Consider these options:

• Curved beds – Flowing, curved beds work well for Craftsman or cottage style homes. Repeat the curve on both sides of steps or walkways.

• Straight-edged beds -Rectangular and square shaped beds look tidy and complementary against ranch style homes with straight lines.

• Spilling beds – Let plants tumble over the edges for a romantic, natural look.

• Elevated beds – Build a flower bed atop a low retaining wall for visual interest.

• Repeat shapes -Echo the shape; for example, flank a rounded planting bed with matching round pots.

Clever Design Details

A few simple design choices can take your side yard flower beds to the next level:

• Border beds with bricks, stones, or metal edging for crisp definition.

• Add trellises, obelisks, or plant supports to train climbing vines or flowers.

• Include garden art, sculptures, or containers for added color and interest.

• Plant fragrant flowers like gardenias, lilacs, lavender, and sweet alyssum.

• Illuminate beds with low voltage or solar path lights.

• Use screens or lattices to partition the bed from utility areas.

Fabulous Side Yard Flower Bed Ideas

Here are 17 gorgeous ways to create stellar flower beds along the side of your home:

1. Embrace Cool Hues

For a soothing, understated look, use shades of blue, purple and pink in your plant choices. Try catmint, Russian sage, lavender, asters, and hydrangeas. Allow plants to gently spill over the edges.

2. Showcase Your Style

Select flowers and design elements that complement your home’s architecture. For example, use roses, peonies, and cottage style plants near a Craftsman bungalow. Or choose succulents, grasses, and eucalyptus in a midcentury modern bed.

3. Surround with Sensory Perennials

Choose aromatic plants like gardenias, moonflowers, thyme, lavender, and lemon verbena. Plant them next to entryways, decks, or patios where their fragrances can be enjoyed.

4. Go for Drama with Colors

Bright, vivid blooms pack a punch. Try combining hot tones like red salvias, orange or yellow lantanas, pink gaura, and purple verbena. Underplant them with silver foliage plants like dusty miller.

5. Show off with Specimen Plants

Make a statement by using repetition. Plant a row of matching shrubs like hydrangeas along the length of the bed or place identical urns filled with overflowing flowers at intervals.

6. Accent with Ornamental Grasses

Add movement and texture with ornamental grasses. Try miscanthus, blue fescue, maiden grass or purple fountain grass. Let them sway gracefully in the breeze.

7. Cottage-style Charm

A casual English cottage garden look is always inviting. Stuff the bed full of roses, larkspur, daisies, lavender and other romantic flowers. Allow plants to gently mingle and spill over edges.

8. Go Tropical

Large-leafed elephant ears, cannas and banana trees lend exotic good looks. Under plant them with impatiens, caladiums, or begonias. Tuck in a few garden totems for added flair.

9. Pretty Pastels

For a soft, dreamy feel, use a mix of pale flowers in pinks, lavenders, blues, whites and creams. Try asters, catmint, lavender, coral bells, forget-me-nots, and Madonna lilies.

10. Embrace Geometry

Give your bed a modern punch with interesting shapes and lines. Try square trimmed boxwood shrubs or grasses, spiky Yucca plants, and flowers with interesting forms like orchids or bird-of-paradise.

11. Pick a Theme

Give your bed a fun theme, like a butterfly and bee habitat. Or make it a hummingbird haven by planting red flowers and tubular blooms they favor.

12. Go for Gravel

Use gravel or river rock instead of mulch, which adds great texture. Plant succulents, grasses, herbs and flowers that thrive in hot, dry areas. Add large rocks and boulders.

13. Light it Up

Install low voltage garden lights to illuminate and accentuate the flower bed at night. Try uplights in small spotlights nestled in the bed, or path lighting.

14. Screen with Serenity

Hide eyesores like utility areas, AC units and pool equipment behind a tall, full flower bed, trellised vines or lattices. Popular screening plants are boxwood shrubs, bamboo and golden evergreens like false cypress.

15. Accent the Architecture

Choose symmetric, angular plant shapes and forms to accentuate a contemporary style home. Rectangular hedges, strappy grasses, succulents, and flowers like orchids and birds of paradise work well.

16. Go Vertical

Use trellises, columns, arbors, and obelisks to train climbing vines and flowers upward instead of outward. Showy options include clematis, roses, jasmine, and morning glory.

17. Embrace Nature’s Cues

Mimic colors and textures found in your lawn and landscape. For example, repeat green shrubs used in front yard beds. Echo colors from flowering trees, variegated shrubs and mulches.

With the right plant selection, shape, and design details, you can transform a blank side yard area into a gorgeous garden space that makes your home more inviting. Use these creative flower bed ideas as inspiration to boost your curb appeal and highlight your home’s beautiful architecture and style. A well-designed side yard flower bed welcomes visitors and delights passersby.