Want to grow flowers - please help!!

Megansmum

Hi all,

I want to grow flowers in my garden but have no idea what to pick.

My garden slopes down and i want to add a border down the slope against my fence and across the bottom - which is a bit of a frost trap.

Along the top I have a raised bed in which i grow fruit, i.e strawberrys, rasberry,kiwi, blueberry mini apple tree and mini cherry tree etc.

I would like lavender (does that come back year after year?) . I also want plants/flowers that grow one year, die off and come back again themselves the following year...... little maintenance!!

Any help / advice please? Looking in db browns and spaldings I cant figure which come back on their own!!

Thanks and best wishes

ukmaggie45

Lavender will come back, but you need to prune it after it flowers or it just grows into a large and woody bush. It likes a lot of sun.

The kind of plants you are looking for are hardy perennials - they come back every year. Which way does your garden face? It makes a difference which plants you can grow - north facing is likely to be shady, south facing sunny (good for veggies), some plants prefer to have roots in shade and grow into the sun and so on.

Vixie_Pixie

lavender is great!! Ours comes back year after year and the bees love it! Smells gorgeous too!

look out for the word "perennial" in the seed catalogues etc..

Jack's_mummy

Penstemon are nice. I just chop mine back in the spring when they start to show new growth at the base. Takes all of 5 mins

knithryn

hardy perennials = tough enough to come back year after year, usually need the dead stems to be cut back in early winter, usually takes two years (or more) to flower from seed...includes things like clematis which would grow and sprawl over and along your fence

tender perennials= need to lift the plant and bring it indoors for winter

annuals=grow from seed to mature plant, flower and die in one year (hardy annuals -seeds are grown directly into the soil, half-hadry annuals - start the seed off indoors)

shrubs=usually 'bushes', some keep their leaves over winter, look for flowering ones and ones with nice leaf colour/structure, beware of how big they can grow

For quick cheap impact you can't beat annuals, but for long term garden 'design' you need some shrubby stuff to give year long height and structure.
Lavender is wonderful but...it can get woody and leggy, and young specimens don't always survive the winter. It's a plant that likes fairly dry soil too, so don't plant it in a boggy hole, and I would avoid planting it in the frost pocket that you mention. It also doesn't have a hugely long life span, maybe 6 or 7 years typically before it needs to be replaced.

On the 'work' side ie making it low maintenance, the hardy perennials WILL often need to be staked to stop them flopping over, and then cut back in early winter, but otherwise they are great for just getting on and doing their stuff. Added to that, once they have been in your garden for a few years you can lift the plant, divide it into pieces and replant each section (or swap with friends for other plants) so you can slowly fill up a garden quite cheaply.
I would suggest thinking of a colour scheme or theme (eg blues silvers and whites, or edible). Start with a couple of shrubs that fit the scheme, a couple of hardy perennials and then plenty of hardy annuals. Then over the months, keep an eye open at garden centres etc for any reduced plants that fit the scheme. (Or ask for specific plants for Christmas presents, or garden centre vouchers).

Zazen999

Although with annuals, you can leave them to self seed and they will come back each year if you don't pull the seedlings out

Megansmum

Hi,

Thanks everyone for that.

By little maintenence I just meant not replacing every year, I am happy to cut back , stake etc.

So it sounds like I need hardy perennials!!

The garden is south facing and the soil is a mixture of clay and bricks!!

Sooooo, my question now is, other than clematis, which flowers/plants are hardy perennials that don't mind clay soil?

I believe...is it " canna 's " are perennials?? My dad used to have them and chop them to soil level over winter, then the next year they came back - often with new baby ones??.......or is this a false childhood memory??

Megansmum

are roses hardy perennials?

what about ornamental grasses??

Zazen999

Megansmum wrote: »

are roses hardy perennials?

what about ornamental grasses??

Yes, both are perennial and will grow back year after year.

Have you thought of going to a nursery? Colliers in Borrowash [which I have no affiliation with] is a good one which sells plenty of hardy perennial plants.

knithryn

Some good info on dealing with clay http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=305

There's a good list of plants here http://www.shrublandparknurseries.co.uk/plant_list_pages/plants_for_clay_soils.html but no pic unfortunately

Another thing to do is to look at the gardens in your street. Knock on the door and ask what a plant is if you see something nice in someone's garden. You'll rarely get a cold response, more likely information, perhaps even a piece of the plant. If it grows in their garden, chances are it will grow in yours too (though check if it is the same shade/sun position).

If you have a theme we might be able to provide more specific examples... I mean have you pets, or children (thinking about poisonous plants and avoiding them)? Want to cut flowers for the house? Cottage garden (ie lots of colour), modern, tranquil, edible plants, what colour is the fence?
I'd love to spend some time finding you specific suggestions. Go on, tell me more about what you'd like...I've got a few great books I can look up for you..

Megansmum

Thanks knithryn, that would be great.

Usually i would have time to google stuff but at the minute with work, college and dd2 (2 yrs old) i have about 5 mins a day on here - hence why i am asking for help and advice!

We have no pets just the 2 year old daughter who loves being in the garden! In the spring i want to paint the fences in bright colours, i want to make the whole garden a bright fun sensory place for dd2.

I would like lots of bright coloured flowers in the garden, but I would like some height variance too - perhaps tall grasses along the back? I have always wanted a japanese acer but it would need to be in the bottom corner - do they tollerate partial shade? I'm not one for having flowers in the house - i don't even own a vase to put them in!

Other than that I've no idea really! Plants without thorns? Some edible ones would be good - last year she loved pulling up carrots and potatoes that I grew in tubs and rubble sacks! As i said though, i do have fruit growing along the top in the raised bed and blueberries in pots.

Thanks again - i am so excited to see what you can come up with!! When the whole thing is done - when the snow has gone - i will post photos of the finished look!!