Gardening advice planting some bushes 8 October 2021 at 10:59AM in Greenfingered MoneySaving 10 replies 151 views

NibblyPig

Hello! I wonder if someone could help me.

My house does not have a garden, however it does have a flowerbed at the very front, which is 300cm x 40cm.

It previously had a manner of random out of control bushes in, some of which were very thorny, so I removed the whole lot and my plan was to put a nice row of plants in.

I spent a while thinking about it and I think I would like to put in Euonymus Fortunei emerald gold. I have never done any gardening before. My plan was to buy some compost and put an inch of it down, then dig and plant a row of these.

Do you think that would work? I found two places online that sell them, the price seems wildly different though, one place is charging £8.99/each (15-25cm) and another is charging £2.35/each (10-15cm pot grown).

It recommends to build a hedge wall to plant 10 of them 30cm apart. I suppose I would like a little hedge wall but it doesn't have to be crazy thick, I just want it to look kind of nice. Plus if I bought 10 @ 30cm apart as it suggested the end two would be right against the side of the bed which doesn't seem right - probably 8 would make more sense, if not less.

Also I worry that planting little 10cm big plants that they might just die cos they're tiny! Also I'd have to stop weeds growing, after I dug out all the other stuff it filled up with weeds very quickly. Are you supposed to let them grow in the pots a bit more first before planting them outside?

I guess I would put wood chips or something down to block the weeds until they are grown.

Any advice is welcome. Many thanks. If there's a better board or place to ask a gardening question please let me know or move/remove my question.

Farway

On subject of size versus cost, the 10cm will soon be lost being so small. personally I'd get them & grow on in pots for year first to get to a decent size. That year can be spent keeping the weeds down, and if you don't like bare soil sow a packet of easy annual flowers, like pot marigolds or Californian poppy

If you want to stop weeds once planted a common method is lay weed suppressing membrane prior to planting & plant through slits cut in it

I don't know where you live but perhaps consider hardy fuchsias? grow quickly and easy to look after with lots of different varieties in various heights & colours

Catsacor

The larger the pot the more mature the plant
20-25cm pots are a better size, in my opinion, agree that 10-15 is too small and you'd definitely need to bring them on for too long before planting them into the ground.

Pot size determines price, generally, so before purchasing, do some searches/shop around because different outlets have different price bands per pot size and cheaper rarely equates to an overall better deal.

(I drive past a house, daily, where Buxus hedging has been planted in that small size and within the 3 months they've been down they're already weed-ridden, some upended by birds, and not thriving). 

Euonymus is a good choice, nice and hardy, and an attractive hedge.
The compost idea though - did you mean lay it down ontop of the soil and plant into that ?
 

NibblyPig

Thanks, yes I was going to mix it into the top layer of soil and also pop some into the holes I dig to plant them, I just sort of guessed that was how you do it - if you have any advice please let me know!

I will see if I can find somewhere selling 20-25cm pots, do you think at that size I can put them into the ground?

Davesnave

You would mix compost into soil which is too stiff and clayey, adding grit too, but if your soil is open and reasonably OK there are other things you could do, like adding a bit of slow release fertiliser. Making pockets of enhanced soil isn't a good idea as it encourages roots to stay where they are rather than spread out. Also, Euonymus is prime vine weevil food and the grubs just love infesting open compost in tubs by people's front doors and similar places. They like garden soil a lot less so 'improve' it with caution.

I think you could probably get away with 40cm spacing; the plants will meet up over time. In the shelter of a house wall, the small plants might be OK, but you'd have to keep more of an eye on them and water in dry periods as that sort of location may be dry. For that reason, I'd forego the weed membrane, and just do weeding as necessary; after all, it shouldn't be very onerous.

25cm tall plants would give more impact quickly and need less initial care. They're tough little things, so the onset of winter won't bother them.

twopenny

While dave is certainly right I planted hidcote lavenders into previously unused ground and added cheap tomato growbags compost, a bit of grit and bonemeal into the bed. They took off like a rocket.
I'd say if you can find the larger plants in a garden centre or nursery they'd be worth the extra.
You can turn them out of the pots and check the root growth so you know you're getting good value.

theoretica

I would not suggest buying small and growing them on yourself in pots.  Even small ones I would put in the soil, but then realise they will need at least as much care as if they were in pots.  Whatever size you plant, expect to need to weed and water them. 

NibblyPig

Thanks for the advice! I will see about giving it a go. I think the soil is alright since so many other things seem to grow fine in it, so not really sure what to put in there, don't really want any weevils munching it...!

I just need something to stop people treading on them or the bin men putting the bins on top of them until they grow a bit, I think. I will try to find more established ones but I think the garden centre near me doesn't have the yellow variegated variety that I think would look peachy!

Davesnave

twopenny said:

While dave is certainly right I planted hidcote lavenders into previously unused ground and added cheap tomato growbags compost, a bit of grit and bonemeal into the bed. They took off like a rocket.

Nothing wrong with that; I improve my soil a little with organic stuff when I plant, but I don't go mad. Some people think compost is somehow better than soil. Given the rubbish that's often passed off as potting compost nowadays, that's unlikely. Bonemeal is a good example of sustaining a moderate nutrient supply and that's much better than trying to put the plants on some sort of athlete's diet!

Buying mail order is usually OK if the place has a real physical address (i.e. a proper nursery) and they specialise, particularly with  trees and shrubs. It's best to avoid places which seem to do everything and those who have lots of suspiciously gaudy pictures and special offers on their web sites. I'm not a fan of sources with the initials GE and YG....we have at least 2 derogatory threads about GE on here somewhere!

theoretica

If you like the quality - and price - of plants at the local garden centre it might be worth asking if they could get in what you want.

twopenny

I've found the golden ones hard to grow and slow.

I do have an Euonymus Fortunei possibily Silver Queen and it grows like Topsy. Lovely big plant and tough.

The golden ones just sat and did little for years, I persisted.