DIY: Rock Flower Border

My mother & I had a giant dirt pile in one corner of our shared backyard, leftover from a recent construction project. As we wondered & pondered what to do with it, I came up with the idea to just level out the dirt & plant wildflower seeds. Hours & hours of de-rocking later (two BIG bucket-fulls we couldn't even lift!), we finally had a decent plot. We sprinkled viola seeds + poppy AND double poppy seeds (oh my! I LOVE poppies!), plus a packet of wildflower seeds my dad had picked up—claiming 15 varieties of different flowers, yet not listing which ones. (We are excited to document & count each one. Ooh, think of the lovely collection of flowers I can sketch!)

I decided we needed some sort of cute flowerbed border, so I went to "The Pinterest". I immediately spied THIS pin, but it only led to a photo. No link. So I have no idea who to give the original credit to. But isn't it SO AWESOME?! I pared down the design to fit my space & came up with a simple row of flowers to create a border.

First, the girls & I gathered rocks from around the yard. We have a stockpile to choose from in all the flower beds around the house. Is it river rock? I don't know. They are smooth stones in varying sizes. We picked the roundest shapes we could find for the center of the flowers, & oblong stones for the petals. 

Next, we created the flowers, matching similar sized petals with centers. Our flowers ranged in size from about 6"- 11" across, with each flower holding between 7-9 petals. The larger the stones you have (within reason) the better. The bigger the size, the more weight they will have to sit firm in the dirt.

After you mark the shape of your border (we lined bricks along the edge at first) all that's left to do is place your flowers onto the dirt, one at a time. After arranging it, press the flower firmly into the dirt with your hands. Then carefully use your foot to sink the stones a bit more into the soil. 

This photo shows the border only half done. I think we had about 20 flowers total. We will need to do continued maintenance, especially as the grass begins to grow around the outside edge. And, after a while, if the stones begin to sink too deeply, just add more dirt underneath & re-position them.

I'm so anxious for that corner of the yard to be full of a crazy mess of color. I've already spotted several seedlings that have sprouted. Can't wait to take photos of it in full bloom!

Hope you enjoyed this simple DIY, which is SUPER easy, TOTALLY kid-friendly, & EXTREMELY charming as well!

Happy rock collecting!