Help Please!

summery.respite0w

Hi, I have a small narrow back garden. I have a area I want to plant up along the front of a 6 ft high fence that is 6 meters long by 1 meter wide. I can enjoy looking at it from the house once it’s done! The problem is that this area is south facing and gets very very hot from 1 June to August 31. The rest of the time its completely shaded by the house. In the winter it’s very very cold. I have tried shady plants but they die in the heat when the sun gets onto them and I have tried sun loving plants but they die in the cold winter. The soil gets waterlogged in the colder months and very dry June to September. I have Pyracantha growing up the fence and it has nearly completely covered it now. That’s been a success! The bed in front is the problem.  Has any one got any ideas to help with planting this bed up? I would like SMALL evergreen flowering shrubs and perennials if possible. Nothing taller than 1/2 meter as the garden is so small. The soil is NOT acidic. 

Help! Please. 

Thank you 

Loxley

If you bank the soil up to make a mound, it will help with your drainage a bit. But you'll probably want to stick with plants that tolerate a wide range of conditions from cold and damp to sunny and dry. Re plants, I think you can go a bit higher than half a metre; you have a 1m wide bed so maxing out at around 1m would look fine IMO. 

Persicaria amplexicaulis would be ideal; there are loads of varieties, have a look at your local garden centre or nursery; Persicaria 'White Eastfield' is a nice white one and P. 'Blackfield' is a nice dark red - these are amongst the more compact varieties (c.90cm). Persicaria 'Pink Elephant' is even smaller, max. 50cm - but I think the dancing flower spikes of Persicaria work better on a taller plant.

A lot of hardy geraniums would be fine too, G. 'Rozanne' is the obvious choice, it flowers for a long time and is tough. You can cut it back if it starts to sprawl too far, it will grow back and start flowering again.

I think some of the Sanguisorbas might work OK too. I thought they needed damp soil, but mine are doing well despite my garden being hot and dry in summer. S. 'Tanna' is a very small one, at 30cm, but I would go for something like 'Pink Tanna' which is taller at 90cm.

You will have to water a bit, but these plants should otherwise cope with your conditions. Adding rich organic compost to the soil will help both the drainage and the dryness.

summery.respite0w

Thank you very much! Lots of ideas there. I will start looking for them ready for Autumn planting. Thanks so much for the detailed advice 😊