ideas for plants around deck edge

whitesatin

I want to plant something, low maintenance, to grow where the deck meets the grass (deck is around 30cm high). We will be putting a rail around the deck and I'm trying to soften the overall effect both summer and winter as I have a year-round summerhouse there. I love lavender and have some elsewhere but I know it attracts bees and the grandchildren will be playing there so maybe not such a good idea. I would welcome ideas for shrubs/flowers which will give a soft look. The garden is north west facing and gets a fair amount of sun.

smudger1964

How about a choisya..they are evergreen and come in a variety of different shades of green they do flower

whitesatin

smudger1964 wrote: »

How about a choisya..they are evergreen and come in a variety of different shades of green they do flower

Thanks for that, smudger1964. Funnily enough, we had to remove one of those to make way for the decking and summerhouse. It was quite large and I would certainly look for another one but maybe I'm after something a little bit less dense for around this area. Something that has some movement in it maybe?

missbiggles1

whitesatin wrote: »

I want to plant something, low maintenance, to grow where the deck meets the grass (deck is around 30cm high). We will be putting a rail around the deck and I'm trying to soften the overall effect both summer and winter as I have a year-round summerhouse there. I love lavender and have some elsewhere but I know it attracts bees and the grandchildren will be playing there so maybe not such a good idea. I would welcome ideas for shrubs/flowers which will give a soft look. The garden is north west facing and gets a fair amount of sun.

Mightn't it be a good idea to keep the grandchildren away from the edge of the deck anyway? I'd stick with lavender - the country needs bees.

whitesatin

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Mightn't it be a good idea to keep the grandchildren away from the edge of the deck anyway? I'd stick with lavender - the country needs bees.

I may not have explained myself properly. The deck will have a rail around it to make sure nobody falls off. It's behind the rail, on the grass that I want to grow plants, to soften the effect. The children like to play on the grass, kicking a football etc.

As for bees, I have already got so much lavender growing in the garden, both in the ground and in large pots so there is no danger of depriving the bees. We encourage all sorts in our garden and encourage the children to do so too.

I went to our local market today and spent quite a bit on plants. These include Phlomis Fruitcosa, Echinacea Aloha, Perovskia Blue Sprire and geranium Rozanne so I am very pleased.

Still on the lookout though.

TheGardener

How about some ornamental grasses - there are some fabby ones about now. They are tough, will stand the kids footballs, will soften the edges of the deck and on a warm summers evening - they 'swish' in the breeze. In the autumn they go 'blond' and look great with frost on them. Stipa are lovely - this is one of my favourites
I also planted some pompom alliums in amongst mine and the effect in the summer is lovely.

whitesatin

Thanks, TheGardener, I really love those grasses and had been thinking of alliums too. I have an area by the side of the summerhouse that I think both those would look great in.

andrewf75

Whatever you decide, please don't avoid plants that attract bees! They will go for the plants not your grandchildren and we desperately need bees.

Anne_Marie_2

What about some scented plants which you can enjoy whilst sitting on your deck? I'm primarily thinking of herbs here such as thyme, lemon balm, mint (in pot), rosemary etc. and perhaps some fragrant flowering plants or shrubs such as jasmine.

seven-day-weekend

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Mightn't it be a good idea to keep the grandchildren away from the edge of the deck anyway? I'd stick with lavender - the country needs bees.

Absolutely, and the bees won't hurt the grandchildren unless the grandchildren hurt them.

arbrighton

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Absolutely, and the bees won't hurt the grandchildren unless the grandchildren hurt them.

Very true. I am 34 and only stung by a bee for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was (probably) already dead, on the bottom of a shoe which I was trying to unknot the lace of!

I work in a primary school garden and the children are ridiculously frightened of bees. They don't realise how important they are