Advice please.

tomcr1981

Hi everyone, spring feels close and I’d love some advice on something. I want to try an enclose my patio. The 2 pots in the picture are temporary and don’t live there. I’m playing with the idea of digging out a thin bed along the green line shown and planting some griselinia littoralis (which I love). The thing is I don’t want a hedge, we have a young child and want to be able to keep an eye oh her from the house. Basically I want an eye breaker that we can still see though. With pruning perhaps? It gets full sun and whatever I put there needs to be evergreen.
advice/ ideas so welcome

thanks 


tom

B3

Does it need to be a straight line?

tomcr1981

Hi, not really… I don’t have a lot of lawn so trying to lose as little as possible…. 😊 

Plantminded

Have you considered ornamental grasses?  Stipa tenuissima and Molinia caerulea can make attractive low informal screens, with airy see through flower stalks.  Although deciduous, they will still give interest in winter.  The Stipa will need little, if any pruning, the Molinia just needs to be reduced to ground level in late February. 

tomcr1981

Ah thank you !! I love grasses so will look into your suggestions 😊 

Fire

I guess you could try two deep troughs of bamboo or something similarly whispy (left and right) that you can see through. Troughs would contain it. It would help to stop the step being a trip hazard. Where abouts are you?

tomcr1981

I’m in Bournemouth and it gets full sun, I love bamboo but I’ve got it everywhere else 😂 

Fire

I have abutilon which is pretty much evergreen (by me in London) and highly flowering. It can be kept shrubby or get up to two metre or so. Two or three on either side might make a nice, flowering, see through break. A baseless trough could offer extra height. There are many colours and various hardinesses. Beloved by bees.

Plantminded

I noticed your bamboo on the right, it's in the right place, they fare much better in the ground!  There's lots of other grasses that would suit.  If you want something taller, Calamagrostis Karl Foerster would be ideal.  Have a look at the Gallery section on this site and then the plant listings:

Knoll Gardens | Ornamental Grasses and Flowering Perennials

tomcr1981

Hi everyone, I’ve made a decision on pampas grass… From the far right and only half way along.
would love some thoughts and advice on planting

thanks again

tom 

Dovefromabove

Oh dear ... I wouldn't use pampas grass with a young child about ... the edges of the leaves are like saws ... they really can cut the skin.