Ideas for some plants for the garden

Hiberth

Hi,

I have a small garden around the back of the house.  It has two low retaining walls around the perimeter.  If possible, I would like some ideas for some plants for these two areas.  I'm hoping to put a membrane in the area in front of the walls an then puts some kind of chippings or slate pieces there.  I'll post some photos later.

Hiberth

So there we are with with the two retaining walls.  The building behind is a neighbouring property.

-taff

Use this link

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-form

or this link

https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/

And have a search for some likely candidates. Then you'llknow what you're looking for roughly and can plan accordingly.

Hiberth

Thanks.  I’m just terrible at designing layout.   I don’t have a very good eye for such things.  I’ll take a look.

Mutton_Geoff

The house I live in now had a keen gardener previously, as each year passes, I'm impressed by the continual variation of display as the seasons pass. The plants are all perennials (annuals are such hard work and should be confined to pots). From bulbs in the spring to late season clematis and roses, there is colour for most of the year.

There are plenty of websites you can use to visualise and have a look at some gardening magazines like Gardeners World, Amateur Gardening, Easy Gardens etc. You can sign up to your local library online and use your library card number to read them for free on the Pressreader app or website.

TELLIT01

Without knowing how much sun the area gets and at what time of day, along with the type of soil it's difficult to make any recommendations.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

IMO Tumbled plum slate is very nice (although may prove expensive):

https://decorativeaggregates.com/product/plum-paddlestones

Hopeless with plants so can't help on that aspect. 

Hiberth

TELLIT01 said:

Without knowing how much sun the area gets and at what time of day, along with the type of soil it's difficult to make any recommendations.

I would say it's a silty loam.  It gets quite a bit of sun when the sun is out of course as it's south south east facing.

Thanks for all the replies.

FreeBear

Herbs. Plenty of herbs (but not mint). Then you have some fresh ingredients to cook with. Also worth looking at decorative plants that can be eaten.

troffasky

I think some strawberries tumbling down from one level to the next would be nice. I also like ivy-leaved toadflax, even though it's common as muck. If it gets too much it's pretty easy to rip out, as it's fairly delicate. I think it would do very well in that brick/stone wall you've got.

Clive_Woody

I often go to my garden centre (well I did before the current madness) and look in their reduced section and buy hardy annuals that are at the end of their season but are fine to plant and wait until next year for flowers. You can get some real bargains if you are prepared to wait. I have my phone with me and will google the plant name to confirm suitability (soil preference,  aspect, height, spread, and what they will look like in bloom)

I would also suggest planting clumps of bulbs (daffs, tulips, snowdrops, bluebells, etc) that will come up every year and require no effort once planted, other than a bit of deadheading.