Border plant ideas
choppy39
9 years ago
Hi anyone have any great border plants ideas please. South facing sun all day long, new fencing eventually, don't want to obscure the view, big bold, limit colour range non fussy
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (18)
choppy39
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Planting ideas
Comments (14)As a keen gardener, (and a professional textile designer by trade) I have had to cope with similar problem of my own in the past, marrying the aesthetic with the practical and fairly easy to do in such a space with the same type of morning light. I read many books and talked to many gardeners and came to much the same conclusions as a earlier commentator above (Tom Flanagan). I would say his suggestions are excellent, he obviously knows what he is talking about. Low growing ground cover plants, won't give you any height (which you really need) and climbing plants won't give you any foliage or flowers in winter (they can look messy very quickly too), lavender and such like, fine is high summer, not so the rest of the year. No, I would go with his suggestions of of a few hebe, daphne, euonymus, viburnum davidii and skimmia. These will give height and all year round foliage, and provide the backbone of the border. You can then add a few extra perennials if you wish and most of all - bulbs, which are much under used in these situations, but absolutely brilliant! You can have ones that flower in spring, summer, autumn and even winter (the wonderful kaffir lily which comes in bright pink or red flowers from late autumn through winter, even in the snow). This means you have colour among the backbone of shrubs, providing year round interest. The great thing is, you don't need to do anything much with bulbs either, once you've planted them the first year. Good luck!...See MoreGarden -planting ideas
Comments (5)Your choice of planting sounds good, just be aware that as laurel and Red Robin are shrubs, they can get bushy and might encroach or your space in the garden, however they are slow growing and can take a good trimming. Fatsia is a great plant, I have the spider variety in a pot and looks fab. I also have the tetrapanax Rex as suggested by Sven (great suggestions by Sven btw), it's still young and slugs and snails seem to love it:( gorgeous plant tho. Few more suggestions: Choisya (Mexican orange blossom) Can grow bushy but take a good pruning when established Ceanothus (Californian lilac) Lovely blue flowers Loropetalum Never tried this, looks bushy but great colour. For a really big leaf try Gunnera, they can get huge btw. Crocosmia 'red lucifer' would look great in between shrubs. Hope this helps....See MoreGarden Plant Ideas :-)
Comments (5)Well done on all the work done so far. It’s looking great. However, in my opinion, the bed along the left hand fence is too narrow, especially for the kind of plants you’re after which are often on the larger side. I like the triangular shape as it gives a modern feel but also think a curve in that corner point would work well, losing some of the lawn and making the bed bigger. That would give you room to plant your tree fern in the ground in the corner there rather than in the pot. Tree ferns have shallow roots that spread outwards & in time, that pot wouldn’t be big enough. We have 2 that I bought as 6 inch high ferns & now (17years later) the trunks alone would fill that pot. Other suggestions for tropical type plants are fatsia japonica & canna lilies though you’d need to check whether they would suit your north west position. Agapanthus would look good but also like the sun. Clematis to climb up your fence come in lots lots of colour options. Star jasmine which is evergreen would also be good fence cover. However both would need support - trellis or wires to climb up. Hydrangea Annabelle, although not quite the look you’re after are lovely & would suit a more shaded garden. However, most of these would need bigger beds to grow in. In smaller beds, lavender, euonymous, box & hebes would fit & suit your garden but perhaps wouldn’t create the look you’re after. However, they would look good & are easy to look after. Have fun finishing your garden & post some more photos when it’s done....See MoreHelp with planting a border from scratch
Comments (16)Hi Keswing. Looks good. Ok, so did a very rough plan with your image but obviously better if you can lay things out with the pots before planting to see if you think they look right. Do check on the label or online for its eventual height and spread. Managed to fit most things in but with the cannas I thought you could leave in pots and just place the pot in the border. They can quite be tender to frost so keeping them in pots will enable you to move and tend to them more easily. Most Mahonias are called Oregon grape, it’s just the common name and like I said they can be big or small, more info here : https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/mahonia If you wanted something tall for privacy have look at one of the x-media varieties, ‘X- media, Winter sun’ would be my choice. I inherited one in my own garden and it‘s adored by the birds although a little prickly (see pic.) I‘ve never bought plants online as I just tend to look at plants in the garden centre then wonder where I can put them 😂. I’m sure most reputable growers will ensure their plants are transported well tho. Anyway here’s the rough plan (hope it makes sense) and my mahonia....See More
PROEarth and Fire Lab
9 years agoWhat about climbing roses in pale pink together with English lavender? I would also add shrubs in lime green to the mix.. Maybe use some colorful ceramic pots along the fence? More handmade ceramics: http://www.earthandfirelab.com/#!pots/c1774
choppy39 thanked Earth and Fire Labalicesgranny
9 years agoThat boarder is nice, just a bit to park like for me.
What about dogwood in the lime/pale green colour planted in a group they look great. Not much to look after them either just pruning. Then you could maybe put seasonal plants/flowers in purple colours between them.
Longwood Gardens · More Infochoppy39 thanked alicesgranny
Luciana
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoMy suggestion though would be to give your garden a bit of a pizazz by either cutting some triangles here and there or giving the edges a slight sinuous shape. My MIL has a mad border, but I won't be able to tell you the names for her plants (maybe you recognise them); what I like about it is that she has a mixture of native and exotic plants of different heights - last pic.
I also found this blog; it looks like you could borrow some ideas from there. http://myaberdeengarden.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/end-of-month-view-april/
Good luck!
choppy39 thanked Lucianachoppy39
9 years agojulietate97
9 years agojulietate97
9 years agochoppy39
9 years agochoppy39
9 years ago
Oxford Botanica