25 Awesome Ideas for Landscaping With Sunflowers

Landscaping with sunflowers seems so tempting, especially when spring and summer seasons have arrived! Besides being easy to grow, these sunflowers produce a strong visual effect that can bring your garden to life. Their yellow flowers invite butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to visit. No wonder many people design gardens with these warm-weather plants as fun gardening activities.

Therefore, we would love to add more inspiration for you to start landscaping with sunflowers. You can incorporate them in your landscape beds with other perennials or grow them as companion plants in a vegetable garden. Growing perennial sunflowers also allows you to display fresh, cut flower arrangements in flower vases.

Wanna try to have a sunflower landscape? Let’s check out the collection below!

How Do Sunflowers Use As A Landscaping Plant?

Sunflowers have several favorite varieties that are used for landscaping. However, most people differentiate them based on their size. Two kinds are commonly grown in the sunflower garden, which are tall and dwarf sunflowers. In general, yellow dwarf sunflowers will be great to grow in the garden with other perennials to make a stunning focal point. Besides that, they are also usually grown as companion plants for the vegetable garden in the backyard.

On the other hand, tall sunflowers are suitable for privacy screens due to their dense flowers and foliage. Moreover, they also grow as garden borders and fences to protect the plants growing around them.

Some people are being creative in designing a natural playground where sunflowers grow around the spot. Wherever you grow these bright yellow plants, you must save a sunny spot with 6-8 hours of sunlight exposure. Also, prepare rich, well-drained, loose soil to ensure your flowers thrive.

How Do You Keep Your Sunflowers Standing Up?

In some cases, people often notice their sunflowers get droopy. Of course, this view is not aesthetically pleasing because your garden will look messy. One of the main reasons these flowers look wilted is the heavy flower heads due to their seeds.

Hence, you must harvest them by the time they are mature. Or, cut the head before they grow seeds. Apart from that, dehydration is also a factor that causes your flowers to look wilted. If this issue occurs, you can give them about one inch of water per week, especially during their growing season. 

Another reason sunflowers are floppy is they are a tall variety, but you don’t plant them near supports. Tall varieties will eventually bend because they hold the weight of the leaves and flowers. Therefore, they will be better to grow near a fence or wall.

If you forgot about it, you could provide stakes, a trellis, bamboo, or canes. Then, tie the stem using the rope on the support to make your sunflowers stand up. Don’t tie it too tight to avoid harm.

Stunning Sunflower Landscape Design

One of the advantages of sunflowers is that they are easy to grow and maintain. For that reason, many people make it one of their favorite flowers and plant it in their yards. Suppose you are interested in having a sunflower landscape design in your home. In that case, you can find the best one that suits your taste from one of our compilations below!

1. Front Yard Sunflowers Landscaping

landscaping with sunflowers
Front Yard Sunflowers Landscaping

Have a large enough area in front of your terrace? Take advantage of it to transform the whole landscape with sunflowers! They portray the yellow flowers that stand out in the garden, while the green leaves balance out the vibrant shade. In addition, you can plant it along the side of the road facing your front door. We recommend growing lawns to cover the grounds to make them less dull. You can also spread gravel around if your climate isn’t suitable for grasses.

2. Vibrant Sunflower Garden Layer

landscaping with sunflowers
Vibrant Sunflower Garden Layer

Sunflowers are generally planted to add color to the garden. The striking yellow shades will effortlessly brighten up the area where the flowers bloom. To create a colorful garden, you can layer sunflowers with other flowers, such as sage, lavender, or daisies. Also, add gravel to cover the soil and lawns as a sweetener. For this setting, the dwarf varieties will make the best appeal as they don’t overshadow the other flowering plants from displaying their beauty.

3. Simple Sunflower Garden

landscaping with sunflowers
Simple Sunflower Garden

Sometimes, simplicity makes the most astonishing appeal for a garden. You don’t need to plant various flowers. The sunflowers themselves can easily stand out, thanks to their beautiful blooms. However, you must be creative to make them a focal point. Considering the vibrant flowers, growing them against a flat wall under your window sill will be better. For the base, you can plant ground covers like crimson clover, which makes an excellent companion plant for sunflowers, helping to repel pests.

4. Raised Sunflowers Bed

landscaping with sunflowers
Raised Sunflowers Bed

Some people want to grow sunflowers but are concerned about space. Luckily, raised beds will work just fine to grow sunflowers for the front yard! You can use wood or metal-based containers to make one. Choose dwarf varieties that don’t need stakes as they grow older to avoid overcrowding. If you wish to raise them with other flowers, choose those with different shades to give a striking color contrast. Apart from that, make sure they work great as companion plants. Otherwise, they will share pests, which will be detrimental to both plants.

5. Fiery Sunflowers Setting

landscaping with sunflowers
Fiery Sunflowers Setting

Instead of leaving your pumpkin or zucchini fields empty, growing sunflowers will be better to spice up your outdoor area. Besides providing a bright color for the surrounding landscape, they also serve as an insect repellent that lures pests to their flowers. Thus, preventing them from invading your veggies. Those flowers also invite pollinators to your field. Furthermore, you can start by designing raised beds to plant sunflowers in the gardening zones. Then, give a distance of about one meter to the zucchini or pumpkin trellis.

6. Veggie Gardening With Sunflowers

landscaping with sunflowers
Veggie Gardening With Sunflowers

There’s nothing wrong with giving a touch of another color, from sunflowers to the vegetable garden, to liven up the atmosphere. The light color of the flowers will light up against the greenery of the leafy veggies. To get the most appealing landscape, we recommend tall varieties that will easily catch everyone’s attention,  thanks to their height. You can plant them against the wooden fence or wall that will later support their stalks.

7. Sunflowers Mini Garden

landscaping with sunflowers
Sunflowers Mini Garden

Suppose you wish to grow sunflowers but want to avoid your garden being dominated by flowers. In that case, you can adopt this sunflower mini-garden idea. Using the small white fence, you can limit the space for planting these flowers while allowing other parts to grow different flowers or plants. Install a mini post box and a wooden plank to decorate the surroundings. In addition, we suggest you design the area near the fence due to lengthy sunflower varieties that tend to bend as they grow older.

8. Cheerful Sunflower Backyard

landscaping with sunflowers
Cheerful Sunflower Backyard

Who doesn’t want a comfy backyard with a long bench to chill? Moreover, accompanied by various flowers blooming around it. Complete the beauty by planting sunflowers that will highlight the summer hallmark in the area. Nonetheless, you better grow them on the back so they won’t cover the beauty of other flowers. Especially if you raise the tall varieties. Set a beach chair against the flower bed to make it a captivating background.

9. Gorgeous Sunflowers Privacy Screen

landscaping with sunflowers
Gorgeous Sunflowers Privacy Screen

Many rely on shrubs to make a dense privacy screen. Usually, they rely on viburnums. But, little did they know that sunflowers can be an alternative to cover the garden. Even with a bonus of gorgeous flowers! To design a practical and beautiful screen, choose tall sunflower varieties you can grow from seeds. Sow the seeds around the open area of your house in the spring, then watch them bloom! Knowing that they can droopy, you must stack support at the back of the dense growth.

10. Lavish Cottage Garden

landscaping with sunflowers
Lavish Cottage Garden

Combining some flowers with sunflowers may be the best way to create a lavish cottage garden. The diverse colors and textures make this spot easily a favorite among other parts of your house. You can be more playful by mixing and matching the flowering plants based on the height to highlight the layers. If you choose the tall sunflowers, pick others with dwarf varieties. And instead of growing grasses, it would be better to spread stones or gravel to avoid overwhelming the landscape.

11. Giant Sunflowers Garden Setting

landscaping with sunflowers
Giant Sunflowers Garden Setting

In case you have flowers that cannot withstand direct sunset, you can plant giant sunflowers to protect them from exposure. Thanks to their huge flower heads, they also work great to add a beautiful hallmark to the flower garden. In addition, the long stalks also provide a unique touch that makes it easy to recognize. To get their most beauty and the best protection, grow them in a side-by-side spot to create a crowd. Also, make sure they raise against the fence to support their stalks.

12. Exquisite Sunflower Garden Path

landscaping with sunflowers
Exquisite Sunflower Garden Path

Don’t let the beauty of sunflowers be wasted! Use them to decorate the dull space of your garden path. The bright yellow flowers offer a cheerful vibe, while the green leaves give a refreshing touch to the landscape. You can also mix them with low-growing plants or ground covers with similar colors to brighten up the garden even more. Also, combining dwarf and tall varieties can be brilliant if you want to dominate your garden with their stunning blooms.

13. Sunflower Side Garden

landscaping with sunflowers
Sunflower Side Garden

Take advantage of the area next to your house to create a stunning sunflower garden. You can grow them next to the fence, all along the front yard, to offer a breathtaking sight once they are fully blooming. In addition, we suggest adding an extra touch of purple clusters of tiny flowers around to provide a colorful contrast. Also, arrange stones to cover the soil and prevent waterlogging. Grow lawns to offer additional greenery to your outdoor space.

14. Summer Sunflower Yard

landscaping with sunflowers
Summer Sunflower Yard

Like other plants, summer is the ideal time to grow sunfinity sunflowers as they love the warm weather the season offers. Their blooming yellow flowers stand out in the landscape. Especially if you plant it near a fence or white wall that provides a plain background for the blooms. If you get bored with yellow shades, try growing companion plants with bright orange, pink, or purple flowers. But make sure not to outweigh the main character here!

15. Thick Sunflowers Bed

landscaping with sunflowers
Thick Sunflowers Bed

Thinking of building a sunflower bed but need help figuring out where to start? Try a trellis! You can grow them by having pumpkins in your garden. To have this design, you will need some lengthy sunflower varieties. Then, grow them close to each other until they grow thick with heart-shaped leaves and big flower heads. Next, tie their stalks into a trellis to ensure they keep standing tall despite the heavy blooms. Arrange such a setting near your garden fence or vegetable garden to create an eye-catching sight!

16. Perennial Sunflowers Garden

Perennial Sunflowers Garden
Perennial Sunflowers Garden

Perennials never cease to amaze you with color arrays that come back every year. In case you are interested in having a perennial garden, you can feature them in your sunflower garden. The most important thing is to acknowledge their heights. If you have tall sunflowers, grow them at the back, while others can grow in front of their enormous blooms. Pick those with colorful, tiny flowers to offer a variety of colors that create an aesthetic appeal. You can incorporate this setting with ornamental grasses for a dramatic sight.

17. Vertical Sunflower Backyard

Vertical Backyard
Vertical Sunflower Backyard

This idea will be the ideal bet for those who have a small area to plant sunflowers. It features a long, vertical trellis to support sunflowers’ growth. Not only that, but the frame also allows the bright flowers to stand out with minimal leaves. You can arrange the stalks on several sides of the support so that it looks like flowers are on each side. To avoid appearing to be growing alone, you better grow lawns. Or, install some trellises and grow some more sunflowers on them.

18. Rustic Sunflower Setting

Rustic Sunflower Setting
Rustic Sunflower Setting

Modern themes are interesting, but rustic settings are still a favorite for designing a flower garden with sunflowers. Although it looks simple, arranging sunflowers in front of the window sill with some low-growing perennials is impressive. Not to mention setting a large wooden barrel and an old watering that can simply portray the rustic landscape the garden has. Meanwhile, the lawns add a flat green background to hang around the area comfortably.

Sunflowers Border And Fence Landscape

You can rely on tall sunflowers when it comes to stunning natural borders and fences. In addition, they can serve as a great privacy screen for your outdoor space. If you are interested in having such a design, you better check out some of the insights below to find the best match for your home.

19. Dense Sunflowers Fencing

Dense Sunflowers Fencing
Dense Sunflowers Fencing

Installing a white garden fence is common. But decorating it with sunflowers? That’s another level of creativity! And the good news is it’s easy to create. First, you must install the fence. They grow sunflowers along the bar. Make sure you plant them close enough to the wall, as they will serve as support. Next, grow lawns around the garden to make a green carpet. You can also add light bulbs to the fence where the light will beautifully illuminate the area at night.

20. Mini Sunflowers Bar

Mini Sunflowers Bar
Mini Sunflowers Bar

Color up your old, rusty fence with sunflowers. The striking yellow flowers will surely decorate the area, while the green leaves provide a fresh touch. Besides, the fence also works as a grid to support your sunflowers’ stalks. You can add some flowering plants with different blooms to spice it up. Use wooden beds to allow a larger planting area if you have narrow space. In this additional space, you can plant vegetables you may harvest during the season.

21. Tall Sunflowers Curb Appeal

Tall Sunflowers Curb Appeal
Tall Sunflowers Curb Appeal

A white background is all you need to make your sunflowers look eye-catching hundreds of times! It elevates the blooms’ color while the flowers also decorate the space. Instead of growing only sunflowers, adding different colors will make your garden look more attractive. You can try impatiens or marigolds to plant between sunflower stalks. Besides being beautiful, these flowers also help deter pests. With this combination, this space can quickly turn into a focal point in your backyard.

22. Suburban Sunflower Hedge Style

Suburban Hedge Style
Suburban Sunflower Hedge Style

If you live in a suburban area with ample land, this sunflower hedge style is worth trying! Despite looking so simple, it can elevate the appeal of a broken wooden fence to make it more lively and colorful. The striking yellow flowers serve as natural decorations, with the fresh green leaves as an excellent background. Not to mention the healthy lawns that stretch along the fence, making this area look even more impressive. To get this setting, tall varieties of sunflowers are required. However, make sure you consider the fence height so that the blooms can peek out in between.

23. Outdoor Round Playing Area

Outdoor Round Playing Area
Outdoor Sunflowers Playing Area

We are sure that your kids will love this outdoor sunflower playing area. It looks simple, with sunflowers growing in a circle around the installed pavements. Then, a small brick chair in the middle can be their seating area when they are tired of playing. Such a setting also allows your children to embrace the beauty of nature and is a means of introducing types of flowers. In addition, we recommend growing turf grass around to provide a safe space for the kids to play around the area.

24. Vibrant Sunflowers Fence

Vibrant Fence
Vibrant Sunflowers Fence

Fencing with sunflowers is relatively easy. You only need sunflowers and plant them near a fence, like this vibrant sunflower fence. Especially if the fence’s color is neutral, allowing the blooms to stand out among the greenery. However, you must ensure that the flowers are planted close together to form a beautiful flower bed. Also, it will be better to layer the sunflowers where the short varieties are in the front and the tall ones are in the back. The arrangement also provides a natural screen to your property where the flowers are densely growing.

25. Field Sunflowers Border

Field Border
Field Sunflowers Border

Sunflowers are known as good companion plants for crops as they can deter pests. And for that reason, it is your chance to make a sunflower border on your land. Besides being beneficial for your crops, the flowers also liven up the lonely and boring atmosphere in your land. You can also plant several rows of flowering plants with diverse colors to add shade to the landscape. Among all flowers, we suggest you grow marigolds. They can repel insects that usually get sunflowers into trouble.

Final Thoughts

A sunflower is a flowering plant that grows beautiful blooms in spring. Its huge yellow petals and blue centers make it among homeowners’ favorites to include the blooms in the garden. Luckily, landscaping with sunflowers is easy, so commoners can easily arrange flowers.

Moreover, there are several types of sunflowers that you can combine, including the dwarf, tall, and sunfinity varieties. The tall ones are usually grown for borders, fences, and privacy screens. Meanwhile, others are planted in perennial gardens or as companion plants. As a bonus, you can have fresh-cut sunflowers from the garden without buying them!


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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Are sunflowers good for your yard?

Not only are they attractive, but sunflowers are also good for your yard. They are loaded with nectar; thus, having sunflowers in your garden will invite pollinators to visit. Besides, growing sunflowers is also beneficial for vegetable gardens as they divert pests from invading the crops. In addition, these stunning flowers help reduce soil compactness while holding it together at the same time.

Where should you put sunflowers in your yard?

Like its name, the sunflower loves the sun! Hence, you must grow sunflowers in a site with at least six to eight hours of direct sun exposure to thrive. We recommend planting them in the south-facing or east-facing areas to ensure the light condition they need.

Moreover, they also prefer loose and well-drained soils due to their long and tap roots that can grow deeper in the ground. 

What month do you plant sunflowers?

Springtime is the best season to sow sunflower seeds in your garden. The soil gets warm after going through the spring frost. Thus it won’t pose a danger to young plants.

You can start planting at any time between April and May as long as the temperature reaches 50°F or 10°C. However, if you live in the Northern United States and Canada, planting sunflowers will be best around April to mid-June.

Are sunflowers hard to grow?

Sunflowers are fast-growing annual plants you can easily grow in your garden. They are hardy and have excellent tolerance to summer heat and drought, making them easy to care for.

Since sunflowers are native to North America, growing these charming and graceful plants around the states is not tricky. You must only ensure to plant them in a sunny area with around 6-8 hours of full sun exposure.

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