Front garden help - not too sunny

fresh_start

Hi,

My front garden is about 4m wide and 1.5m deep, but covered in crazy paving, with a dwarf wall at the front and a rickety fence. Long term plans are to remove the paving , lay gravel down and either plant a hedge or replace the fence with metal railings.

Anyway......I would like to try to brighten it up and give it more kerb appeal in the mean time, so am after some ideas and advice.

I have a 1.8m window, which I am thinking of putting window boxes under with suitable flowers.......ideas?

Also, I would like to put a few tubs in the garden with suitable plants, again....ideas? Bearing in mind I will end up moving them next year so that I can replace the paving with gravel. I will end up putting the tubs back in place.
I don’t want the garden to be covered in plants, plus would rather it be fairly low maintenance.

Really am a novice with plants, so need some help. Its a north..ish facing garden and doesn’t get too much sun.
Cheers!

blossomhill_2

There really are hardy geraniums for every situation, low maint and colourful

(I don't know if you have considered just removing some of the paving pieces and filling the gaps with alpines, herbs and decorative gravel/slate chips/scree LINK)

RAS

Underplant your tubs with bulbs - now is the time to put them in anyway. Then you get two shows for one.

Also consider the smaller hebes?

lily117

I would choose hardy fuschias and geraniums, also what RAS suggests with the bulbs.

Coz800

Would you have room for some herbs or small flowering shrubs? If you go for evergreens they'll provide interest all year. You could plant larger shrubs if you keep them in pots too. How about bay, box, skimmia, euonymus, hebe, mint (keep contained as it spreads!) or azalea? Hostas and ferns are good for shade. Or you could go for a small standard tree/shrub. Ornamental grasses can look striking too, if you go for one of the colourful or variegated types.

[Deleted User]

Re your window boxes, they'd be great for changing according to the seasons, maybe some small leaved, variagated ivy as a constant, and then chop and change other plants amongst it - I tried white impatiens (busy lizzies) in the window box of my north facing garden (many years ago) and they did really well. A friend of mine had ornamental cabbages in hers !

A shrub that did particularly well in a large tub was Fatsia japonica - looks exotic but is surprisingly hardy and very architectural.

I would second Hebes and underplanting with bulbs. Hostas can be stunning ("mulch" the top of the soil with sharp grit or crushed egg shells to deter snails who love them).

I went for evergreens and white flowers - which worked well in a north facing garden.

Mrs_Huggett

I agree with Blossomhill's idea of simply taking up parts of the paving and planting up (use landscaping fabric) then covering the area with gravel, watch out for areas where the gravel can escape, and use a mix of sand and cement to make a tiny hadrian's wall, or edge with small bricks or cobbles. Use gravel that is no smaller than 15mm because the local cats WILL use it as a loo!!! All the plants mentioned in everyone's posts are really good choices. Our front garden is huge, and was once a desolate crazy paved expanse of utter misery!!!