Simple gardening advice

NibblyPig

I have never done any gardening before. I moved house recently. I don't actually have a garden but there is a kind of flower bed along the front of the house.

Here's a picture:



I pulled all the bushes and plants out including the roots. As you can see the neighbours don't care about theirs and it is massively overgrown, so things CAN thrive in it.

What I would like to do is plant some nice bushes in.

Here's the next house along the road:


It looks lovely. I asked them what they planted but they said they would have to find out.

I would like to plant something similar, or the same, I don't mind. But my two questions are... what can I plant that is kind of bushy like that but not prickly and won't hopefully grow to monstrous heights?

And how do I plant it, I have never planted anything before, do I just dig a small hole and chuck it in?

Many thanks for any advice!

getmore4less

The bad one just need cutting back.

Could be a budlia they grow anywhere
(Good chance you will get them growing in your bit seeded from that one)

The good one looks like laurel that will grow massive if not cut back every year.
 bedding  underneath

If the right aspect a row of tomato might grow well to feed you.

grumbler

getmore4less said:

The good one looks like laurel that will grow massive if not cut back every year.
 

Even if cut, it'll produce a thick, tree-like trunk.

Its cuttings are pretty easy to root.

NibblyPig

I would love to grow some tomatoes but since they are right next to the road it's not massively suitable.

I just want something that will look nice and I can easily trim it as someone that has no idea how to trim a plant, and then maybe I can put some little flowers in between like the house down the road has done. 

ka7e

You need an evergreen hedging plant that is easily trimmed. The best time to buy bare root "whips" or small plants is in the Autumn, so they have the winter to establish a good root system. Most are recommended to be planted about a foot apart and it helps if you dig in a good compost to prepare the soil. A mitochondrial rooting gel helps, too.

I planted a cotoneaster hedge in Feb and it is starting to look the real deal - lots of watering needed if we have a dry spell, even in winter. Laurel and privet can be a bit thuggish with root systems that might cause heave in the paviours. Box, lonicera nitida, cotoneaster and euonymus can be kept to a neat hedge or you could go for something a bit more showy with fragranced flowers, like the Daisy Bush or Osmanthus × burkwoodi. (I obviously spent way to much time researching this for my garden!)

Soot2006

I was going to recommend a cotoneaster as well.  There are a few varieties; once established, they are very hardy and resistant to almost anything, including the road fumes. And they respond well to trimming - you'd get yourself a little hand held hedge trimmer and cut it to shape every now and then at the height you like. You can treat it like a box hedge with leaves to the ground.

And for extra fun, grow a little wild rambling rose through it for some dashes of pretty colour in spring and summer.

Eldi_Dos

A variety of about 8 to 10 pampas grass would fill that space, soon act as screen and have the added advantage of doing their own weeding once established.

Yazmina

It might be worth trying to find out what sort of soil you have.  Some plants will grow anywhere, but some favour certain types of soil.  Also how much sun does the area receive? It looks quite shady from the pics, but does it get sun at any particular part of the day?  Fish, blood and bone is a good fertiliser, but is very attractive to foxes so a more general fertiliser might be better.  I regularly look for tips on the gardeners world site: Find Out Your Soil Type - BBC Gardeners' World Magazine (gardenersworld.com)  

FreeBear

Eldi_Dos said: A variety of about 8 to 10 pampas grass would fill that space, soon act as screen and have the added advantage of doing their own weeding once established.

Pampas grows to a height of 2.5-3m with a spread of 1.8m or more. Even a dwarf variety is totally unsuitable for a small space. The leaves are like saw blades and will give a nasty cut to anyone getting up close & personal with the plant. Oh, and when dry, burns very, very well.

A Myrtle would look good in the small space - It is slow growing, evergreen with sweet scented flowers & foliage. Easily pruned to keep it in check. Copes quite well in dry conditions and is hardy in most parts of the UK. Dig a bit of compost in to the ground (avoid using peat please), shove it in, and water for the first few months.

twopenny

The plant in your neighbours is a type of laurel popular at the mo.
Because it is naturally a huge bush you will have to keep prunung but it will take 3yrs or more. Eventually you will need to dig it out and replace. Not an easy job but meanwhile it gives you time to think and it will be nice to see green from your window.
The flowers look like begonias. Too late to plant these as they die in winter.
Wait a month or so and get some winter flowering  cyclamen or primulas. By the time you've got the hedge in the winter plants should be around.
Dig the soil and knock out any lumps. When you get the shrubs the roots will have filled th pots. Waatwer and knock out the plants, using fingers tease out the outside roots or bash the rootball against the ground to loosen them. Dig hole same size as the pot and plant in. Refil soil and press down hard around the plant.
Distance between? Nip aling to your neighbours when they're out and measure their space between.

Eldi_Dos

@FreeBear, Hi, I meant screen for the wall, the correct variety of pampas grass need not grow to the heights suggested and in thirty years of tending such never had problems with cuts as long as you have long sleeves and gloves when doing any pruning or tidying up. In the location in OP's photograph I feel it is important for plants to be self sufficient water wise especially with all those block pavers acting as radiators and drawing moisture out of the soil in the bed