new border ideas
DAN WILSON
Posts: 111
in Plants
Evening all.
I have had a new fence installed and have removed the plants from a border that had become overgrown and a mess.
I would like to plant new in the autumn and am looking for greens and reds that will be vibrant for most (all) of the year. I have 3 green acers in there that i will leave but they are only small. Border about 1m deep and 10 meters long.
The fence is 6 foot tall and runs from the south east to the north west. I have the eastern side.
Any ideas how i even start choosing plants etc as i'm a real beginner and have absolutely no idea.
Its dry ish and i can improve the soil if required.
I live in the UK midlands.
All ideas welcome,
Kind regards,
Dan
Last edited: 07 August 2017 22:06:06
0
Posts
Hello Dan!
Have you considered grasses? My all time favourite is Stipa Tenuissima. It's movement in the slightest of breezes is magnificent. They are also tough as well as being beautiful. A grass with nice reddish leaves is Imperata Cylindrica Rubra - Red Baron. You could also get that old time favourite Crocosmia Lucifer - redder than red! Throw in some tulips and a few pelargoniums in Summer and you'll have a nice border.
All above names can be checked out on your favourite search engine.
Best Of Luck
?
An eastern aspect favours delicate plants but is usually not sunny enough for more demanding, warmer-weather species. Anemones, saxifrage, poppies, rhododendrons or azaleas, alpines in general, clematis for vertical interest.
We would like a picture, do you know your soil type. it would need to be acid for the rhodos and azaleas. What about cornus (dog wood) ones with lovelly red stems in autumn winter.but "interest" all year.Berberis, hechera with red leaves, photinia, ever green type. Cotinus (smoke bush) shrubs first that will add all round "interest" underplant with bubls,annuals, in red shades.
Going out with my dogs this morning, there is a hardy fuchsia with red/green leaves and red flowers.
What about some evergreen Choisya (happy in shade or sun) and some Nandina Domestica, which have lovely green foliage and red tinges on the new growth. There's also some lovely evergreen Hebe which have pink tinged foliage in the winter - best of both worlds!
ok so here are some images..i still have some painting to do when the monsoon is finished....
The green bushes are three acers, a clematis that is purple, a purple lupin and a clump of grass type thing that i have no idea about....soil is mostly clay that i plan to improve with grit and manure....
i might be tempted to move all except the acers...
Last edited: 08 August 2017 18:49:56
Ooooh, wood ,does that mean you have a woodburning stove, if so there is serious case of envy going on here!!!We have a similar border, not as wide, but about the same length, part shade, got fed up with the clay, so difficult to weed claggy and stuck together when wet, baked in the summer. Hubby dug the lot out we bought topsoil, then re-planted it, its not the colours you are after, but have got it as a woodland area.There a re plenty of red flowered climbers and celematis you could use if you want to cover the fence as well, you are just right for the autumn planting.
Yup I have two of those wood stores, both the same, one more behind where i was standing in the last photo. Wood stove is great but i have to set aside a week to do the wood for the year in spring!
Thanks all some good ideas, I've cut and pasted images and will do a presentation for the Mrs where I will be told what we are having
Hydrangea paniculata would work pretty well I think. Maybe a group of three, interspersed with Choisya ternata for evergreen interest, with an underplanting of ferns and hardy geraniums.
or what about Hydrangea Quercifolia - the oak leaved hydrangea. Its leaves go a fabulous red colour in Autumn. I am salivating over one on the crocus website..........
also how about some Euphorbias for that fabulous zingy green they provide in spring? I have euphorbia mellifera because I love its scent in the spring and its tree-like structure, but there are other ones that are better lookers, including a few with red or red-tinted foliage. Best in sun otherwise not fussy plants.