All and any help much appreciated !

herbaceous

Hi all, my brother thinks I am a garden whizz (that's brotherly love for you) and asked me to prune his front border and identify his plants   I have told him we should wait as two are in flower but I can't put off the inevitable much longer.

Any chance you lovely people can make me look good please?

I'm guessing 1 is either eunymous or hebe but I can never tell the difference.......
Another shot of 1

and hoping 3 is a potentilla just so I'm not a complete dunce!
Close up of 3


Not a scooby about No:2 but I just know I should know it, but I feel that way about most stuff that isn't veg 


I bet this will be a doddle for most of you but thank you in advance for any help.

AnniD

I definitely go with a hebe for number one, although which one, I've no idea 🙄

herbaceous

Thank you AnniD, genus is more than enough, variety starts to look like I know what I'm talking about! Not going down that road - disaster.

herbaceous

Pictures taken about two weeks ago Hazel-1, trying to think of a reason to get him to send a better close up. Maybe I should just come clean and destroy his vision of me!

Fairygirl

1 is a Hebe, but there are too many for me to give a definite variety.
I thought  2 might be phlomis, but can't see it well enough. It's being crowded out a fair bit by the others, so might be better taken out.
3 might be a Coronilla. I can't see it well enough. Are the flowers scented? A close up of the foliage/flowers would help.  

herbaceous

Thank you Fairygirl I will have to ask him to take a couple of close ups I think. I guessed 3 might be potentilla which could have scuppered the pruning to make space for No:2 idea. If it's something else that can be cut down I could make room for No:2?

Fairygirl

Actually - I think Hazel is right - 2 is probably Kerria. They do make big plants, but it's probably been starved of light/water/nutrition. There's a lot there in that corner. 

I'd take that out and let the other two have room, if it was my garden. They're both clearly thriving, and it would allow them to continue doing that. Otherwise you're just pruning things to keep them all there, and nothing will look terribly happy. 

josusa47

1. is Hebe, so is the one by the lamppost.  2. is Kerria japonica.  3. has us all guessing, are the leaves thick and leathery?  If so, I think it is one of the many sedums.  Leaves of
Hebe have smooth edges, those of Euonymus look slightly nibbled.

Kitty 2

I say Hazel is right, no.2 is Kerria Japonica.

It can't grow really tall if you chop it down every now and again 😉

herbaceous

Is it that simple josusa47? Nibbled or smooth? Now I just need a mnemonic to remember that, although it does mean that my euonymous is probably a hebe, such is life!

Thank you all so much. RHS says kerria japonica suckers and can become nuisance so would I be making a big mistake suggesting he moves it to the back garden? He has a corner between two fences where I have been trying to persuade him to plant a small tree. Might that work?

herbaceous

Thank you Hazel-1 I might suggest it although they could turn into a thicket! I gave him a Jade Plant (more interesting than a cactus but nearly as indestructible) he went on contract to the continent and left it. When he returned it was twice as big and flowering! He has a distorted view about plant care now.