How Landscape Mounds Are Made

With the garden season just around the corner, you might be considering a redesign of your front yard or garden layout. Before you break ground, you should take a moment to familiarize yourself with berms or landscape mounds.

This is the backbone of any landscape presentation and is essential to the look and health of your garden. If you’re thinking of adding mounds to your next landscaping project in London, we’ve created a quick and simple how-to guide for you to start the process!

All About Landscape Mounds

Landscape berms or mounds are specifically made to raise plants and give privacy to flat spaces in the garden while also improving the drainage in the soil. They’re usually made in rock gardens and plant beds that are drought tolerant. When done right, berms can make a garden attractive, especially on flat areas. Building your landscape berm is not as complicated as you might think.

Designing Landscape Mounds and Berms

Before berms or landscape mounds are built, the design should be planned rigorously beforehand. The purpose of the mound should be taken into consideration including the drainage pattern of the garden. What flowers are you planting? What is the root structure and height of the plants you’re going to feature?
Alternatively, landscape berms and dividers typically have a length that is four or five times their height. Berms also have a crescent-like or curve shape to give it an organic look. They may also have several peaks to provide added intrigue and shape depending on the size and purpose of your garden.

Preparing a Space for a Landscape Mound

Once the garden mound design is ready, it’s now time to plot and mark the lawn using landscaping paint. Again, you must take into consideration the purpose of your garden and the height of the featured plants. Once done, the turf layer should be removed before setting up the berm. The clutter should also be removed to create a defined space for the designed mound before filling it up.

Building a Garden Mound

Building a berm or mound on a garden usually uses various kinds of fills such as sand, soil, asphalt, rubble, and even plant debris. Any of these fillers or a combination of them is formed to achieve the desired shape of the berm and tempered to guarantee a compact finish. When building a berm, gather the following landscape tools and ensure they are fit and operable. These tools include the basic spade, shovel, and garden hose as well as fillers like topsoil, fill dirt, clay soil, rock shale, bark mulch, as well as your main and decorative plants. Sketch out your design in advance and remember that when deployed skillfully asymmetric designs allows the eye to wander through the plant features easier.

Naturalizing Landscape Mounds and Planting

Once the garden mound is compact, it’s now the time to naturalize it by putting flagstones or vegetation on top. It will give the landscape berms a natural look. After that, the landscaping project will now be ready for vegetation and some mulch. Follow your planting timeline and make plenty of room for the feature plants and root structures.

Always keep in mind that there are no certain rules for building a garden mound. It usually depends on the owner’s preference, the garden needs, and the landscape outline. In building landscape mounds, creativity is always the best. And never get intimidated! Reach out to Sensibuild today and we’ll provide inspiration and an expert touch to your landscaping project.