The most important characteristic of perennial flower beds is tough soil. Their residents, once established, don't take kindly to being disturbed, and as much as you try to dig around their roots, the dirt tends to get much harder than it would in an annual border.

This is both a good thing, because many plants really thrive with more weight on their roots, and a bad thing, because heavy soil tends to drain poorly and make weeds harder to pull. If you are a plant propagation enthusiast, mulching is not an option because it can be very damaging to young seedlings.

For this reason the perennial garden requires almost round the clock weeding, pruning and deadheading to keep it looking neat, and still, after all the work, unless it was a complete full-grown plant installation, you shouldn't expect the flawless look of annual borders.

This slight randomness is part of its charm, and its plants tend to fill up quickly, pushing against each other to cover the space until no square inch remains. I love my delphinium and rose border, despite the fact the delphiniums grew too close to the front, engulfing a soon to bloom lily, and the rambling roses are stretching their flexible canes everywhere but where they were supposed to, smothering everything underneath. A few smaller plants around their feet look mostly overwhelmed, but since they get enough rain and sunshine, they keep growing.

Author's Bio: 

Main Areas: Garden Writing; Sustainable Gardening; Homegrown Harvest
Published Books: “Terra Two”; “Generations”, "Letters to Lelia", "The Plant - a Steampunk Story"
Career Focus: Author; Consummate Gardener;
Affiliation: All Year Garden; The Weekly Gardener; Francis Rosenfeld's Blog

I started blogging in 2010, to share the joy of growing all things green and the beauty of the garden through the seasons. Two garden blogs were born: allyeargarden.com and theweeklygardener.com, a periodical that followed it one year later. I wanted to assemble an informal compendium of the things I learned from my grandfather, wonderful books, educational websites, and my own experience, in the hope that other people might use it in their own gardening practice.