Landscaping a Flower Bed to be a Foundation Border
Welcome to the DIY landscaping blog. Here are some more ways to add beauty and visual interest to your yard.I used to sit on the patio of my backyard and admire all of the landscaping projects the wife and I had completed. Then I would look at the bare foundation along the back of the house, and I would get the itch. You know the itch I’m talking about … when you look at a “blank space” in your yard and get the sudden desire to fill it in.
In my case, I did this by landscaping a flower bed to serve as a foundation boundary. It added some visual interest to an otherwise plain stretch of concrete, and it was fairly easy to do. There are many ways to install a plant bed along a house foundation. How you go about it will depend on many variables (climate, space, sun exposure, etc.). My method is by no means the only method. But it might give some useful ideas to see what I’ve done.
Here’s how I installed a landscaping bed to serve as a foundation boundary in my backyard:
The first step was grass removal, my least favorite part of a yardscaping project. Alas, it must be done if you want to have a nice and clean plant bed with no grass growing up through it. For this back-breaking process, I use the flat side of a pick (along with subsequent doses of ibuprofen!). Use extra caution when swinging the pick beside the foundation. In the picture above, you can also see my edging material laid out for installation.
Next, I installed my edging material. I recommend using some type of edging or border with all of your landscaping beds, but especially those that are surrounded by grass. It helps keep the mulch in and the grass out, which is exactly what you want. You can find a wide variety of edging products at your local garden center or Home Depot. For my landscaping bed / foundation border, I used about a dozen short edging strips because it’s easier to curve them for the type of bed I wanted.
Use a pick or shovel to create a shallow trench, and then place the edging material in it and pack the soil back down. This will hold the edge in place
In between this picture and the last one, I also put down some weed control material. But I forgot to get a picture of that stage. In this photo, you can see the finished product. For this plant bed I used cordyline (the taller reddish plant) and a green-and-white variety of mondo grass.
The cordyline will get about two feet tall with broad leaves as it matures, so this will hide the foundation somewhat. The mondo grass adds color and fills in the space between the primary plants. It will also grow and thicken as it matures.
Like I said, this is by no means the only way to create a landscaping plant bed to serve as a foundation border. You could use a wide variety of plants and flowers for this purpose, river rock, trellises or other landscape features. This is just one way to approach the challenge. At the very least, it will give you some good ideas to start with. Good luck.
Project Ideas | Brandon | 
March 7, 2009 2:17 pm
By Kim Web, March 25, 2009 @ 12:28 am
This the first time that I have come across your site. I love the way that you have done the boarder I just wanted to know if you put damp proofing there as don’t some flower beds s close to the foundation cause damp to the walls?
The bed looks just great and will look even better once the plants start to grow.
By admin, March 25, 2009 @ 6:46 am
Hi Kim. I did not use a border because our yard is graded away from the foundation, so moisture runs away from it. They are low-water / drought-tolerant plants too, so our average rainfall is enough to sustain them (no daily watering).
By Danell, May 20, 2009 @ 4:55 am
So glad to find someone who will share their work and it looks really great too! I am afraid we have put too much dirt next to our house and will cause problems with the foundation and moisture. We had a lot of extra dirt from another project and so we made this flower bed. We have put two edge pavers high and now I am afraid it will not be a good idea with having to water it. We are real novices at this as you can tell. I have been debating to just take back one of the pavers and lower the dirt height. Do you have any knowledge about this?
By Blake, May 20, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
Do you know if the top of the bed has to be lower than the top of the home foundation?
By Brandon, May 20, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
Blake - That depends on the level of the yard when you start the project, in comparison to the foundation. The main thing is to grade the bed away from the foundation so the water drains away.
By Brandon, May 20, 2009 @ 4:51 pm
Dannell - If you grade it away from the house, the water will drain in that direction. Also, if you choose native drought-tolerant plants, you won’t have to water much because the rain will take care of it. If you choose high-water plants, you probably shouldn’t put them by the foundation because you’ll be watering them all the time.
By Nick, June 3, 2009 @ 9:29 pm
That is a nice looking bed that you installed. It prevents water damage up against the house foundation and siding. Also, it provides nice visual scenery as well. Great job.
Nick