Planting up a flower bed

bouicca21

I have a ground floor flat that backs on to a huge garden that is partly mine but mostly communal.

The garden is potentially lovely but overgrown - the management company pay someone to cut the grass but not to look after the flower beds. After consultation with the other residents I am going to take over looking after one part of one flower bed - essentially it's the bit I can see from my flat, between my new patio and a yew tree that helpfully screens the rest of the mess.

Not very MSE, but I am paying a firm to clear it as I know I won't be able to cope with the enormous tree roots (several large trees were cut down a few years ago, but no attempt was made to deal with the stumps and roots).

So I am ending up with a bed that is 40 foot long and about 7 foot wide. The garden itself faces northish and the bed is on the west side facing east. The part closest to me gets sun early and is then shady for most of the day; the rest is sunny for most of the day.

The only plant left is a buddleia, that following Dafty Duck's advice elsewhere I have cut down to about a foot in the hope that it provides at least some colour next year.

I am begging plants from friends and have taken cuttings myself. So I will end up with some plants for free. I know I will have reasonably sized skimmia, agapanthus, euphorbia, osteospermum, some ornamental grasses and acanthus; my own cuttings include jerusalem sage (taken last spring so big enough to plant out), fuschia, hydrangea, lavender, skimmia and hebe (all taken this autumn and too small to plant out). I also have several tiny euphorbias that have appeared in the front garden, presumably self seeded.

So, sorry for the long winded post, what I am after is advice about what plants go best near each other (presumably one doesn't put the grey of lavender foliage near the grey of the Jerusalem sage) and suggestions for plants to buy that are reasonably cheap to fill in and look good fairly quickly. (I've already promised myself a lavatera, or maybe two.) Just buying bulbs is going to cost a fortune ... and I need to buy containers and plants for the patio too.

REEN

You could take inspiration from Gertrude Jekyll and Christopher Lloyd's gardens. You have a nice width of border to make some interesting plant combinations.

Grow Wild give away native wildflower seeds, they would fill in gaps until your permanent plants get going.

missbiggles1

Have you dug up anything suitable from any of the other, overgrown beds?

bouicca21

Just the euphorbia and ornamental grasses from the small front garden. Although the other beds are overgrown, the neighbours have all suddenly become interested in gardening and have put dibs on various bits. I had hoped we could operate like some kind of collective and make some joint decisions, but no, everyone wants their own bit. Though in reality I doubt they'll actually do anything. And they probably realise that the bit that I am most concerned about is the one that is costliest to clear, so very happy for me to pay for it.

Actually there is very little worth rescuing in the rest of the garden. There is a rather sad strangled forsythia in the area beyond the yew and a mock orange (?) surviving rather well in a tiny border next to the drive. Apart from that it's ivy, bramble and what I thought was rampant brunnera but may actually be alkanet. There is an area between two large trees that is very shady and crying out for ferns and hostas but currently it's just nettles.

RAS

My first thoughts are that it is a very large bed. It is reasonable to reach about 60-70cms when managing plants, so a 1.2metre wide bed is manageable from both sides. I would suggest you consider putting stepping stones some 60 cms from the back of the bed to enable you to reach the whole area when stuff starts to grow. The will be hidden so old paving slabs will be fine.

The other thought is that in the first few years you may find annuals or short-term perennials useful to provide bulk whilst the more permanent planting gets going. Even LyDl does cheap flower seeds. So sweet peas or morning glory along the back with sunflowers at the far end, fronted by drifts of nigella, low growing nasties, marigolds etc. 4 packets for £1 most years.

RAS

bouicca21 wrote: »

There is an area between two large trees that is very shady and crying out for ferns and hostas but currently it's just nettles.

May be a bit dry? Consider foxgloves, primulas, vinca?

I_have_spoken

So I am ending up with a bed that is 40 foot long and about 7 foot wide

Good size, worth while taking some care in the design and planting instead of plopping in one of everything, instead plant in groups of 3 or 5.

I'd give some instant height by putting in a basic garden arch at the half-way point for clematis etc.

Two wigwams either side will let you do sweet-peas from seed or an ornamental bean, potager style.

Some evergreens to give some structure even in the winter?

You could get fancy any lay out the bed into a 'cool' half with white/grey/blue foliage/colours and a 'hot' half which gets the sun and is orange and reds with maybe some more exoctic plants like cannas.

The first year you can get instant impact with annual seeds from a 'shake and rake' box for minimal £

This is my garden before and after -





The 'cool' border



Hotter end

bouicca21

If only I could get it half as nice as that ...

How long did it take?

I_have_spoken

That's 3 seasons.

NB I've been enjoying 365 Days of Colour In Your Garden, well worth £6 to get ideas over the winter and be ready to start in 2016 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0857832697