New border thoughts

davidaspinall

Not much of a gardener yet, cutting the grass is about my current limit Its a very plain green garden at the moment and we're looking to create a slightly raised border along this fence with sleepers to create a bit more intrest.



This side of the fence is north facing (the grass gets enough light, but unsure about sun loving plants), however we are waiting for new trellis style fence panels which will allow a fair bit of light through. The questions I have are around how deep to make the border, I think maybe 24"? and what to put in there? Do we look for plants happy with shade or light given the holes that will be in the fence?? What exciting things could you see filling that strip?

Thanks

K67

If you want tall, medium and short plants a 3 or 4ft border is better.
Do you need to make it raised as sleepers are nice but rather straight whereas a curved bed or 2 would be more interesting maybe with a small tree between them or in each bed.
There are loads of plants that don't require full sun.
For me clematis on the fence is a must and for others it would be a climbing or rambling rose.
It's hard to suggest what to put in as that depends on your budget, colour scheme and soil type plus whether you want more low maintenance or are prepared to do a bit more work.
I'm sure there will be plenty of suggestions from others.

davidaspinall

thanks, good things to think about.

We still have primary school aged children so don't want to take too much of the lawn away, and I was thinking raised would help delimit the border from their feet a bit but it doesn't have to be raised.

I like roses and clematis and there is plenty of length to get a few things like that in. Colour wise we only really have green grass and trees, and the fence/concrete posts will end up dark grey so I think anything goes. 

K67

Not sure how wide your garden is but could you divide it across with one area for play and the other with arches and beds as an adult area, possibly with one of these signs 🤔
https://www.thesignshed.co.uk/products/no-skateboarding-no-bicycles-no-ball-games-sign?variant=32112684236903&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoJX8BRCZARIsAEWBFMIoDH5ozWXFk89U7uMGOm-OOOwsPGpkp4YC72WfNwbO16ja1mSJIyEaAnWnEALw_wcB

davidaspinall

great idea
its a funny shape - 3m wide at one end and about 8m at the other end where the big tree is. Could look at something a bit bigger down that end