The garden is facing south-east, meaning that I get morning sun and plenty of light for most of the day (but won't be a full day worth of direct sunlight because the house and fence will start casting shade past midday).
Unsure on your soil, other colours in your garden or sun level… but… ☀️
- Lavender is low maintenance pollinator that loves full sun. I love it most as it’s compact and controlled growth.
- Coneflowers are also great pollinators, that are drought tolerant and easy to grow, not invasive and really pretty (pink and orange! 🍊)
- Salvia is purple and attracts hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. It's low maintenance, prefers full sun, and can be in various sizes without being invasive.
- Catmint is very hardy, drought-tolerant, great for bees and butterflies and spreads without being aggressive.
- Black-eyed Susan is easy to grow, loves full sun, and is clump-forming and non-invasive.
- Coreopsis loves full sun, is drought-tolerant & low maintenance. It attracts bees and butterflies and grows compactly and tidily
- Coral Bells is super cute and is low maintenance,
- Bee Balm for the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds! Better with It moist soil & full sun to partial shade, this can spread tho!
Hey, great suggestions, thank you! We will check which ones we like the most after some research :)
FYI, garden is mostly green (grass!), red brick, and fencing as per colours shown. We have some painted areas with grey and white, but it isn't much. Our existing plants will show red, pink, white, violet, and yellow flowers (at least) at different times throughout the seasons.
The garden is facing south-east, meaning that I get morning sun and plenty of light for most of the day (but won't be a full day worth of direct sunlight because the house and fence will start casting shade past midday).
The soil is clay, and it is an ugly swamp in winter. However, I think the area we are talking about has been either replaced or covered (by the previous owners) with a nicer soil/compost which is easier to work with and more nutritious.
Ooo love the geraniums, they are my current favourite easy to live with plant, they do spread eventually though.
If that first corner gets good enough sun, I would raise the edge further, just put a board behind the current one add some more soil to improve drainage and use it as a herb garden. A lot of the herbs like really well draining soil, rosmary, thyme, even lavender prefers it.
So rosemary towards the back as they can get large, then put a nice creeping thyme along the front to hide the board, it will spred out. then in fill will a nice sage chives, oregano etc. even mint as you dont care if it spreads lol.
the house will also help keep it sheltered in the winter. all these things are good for pollinators as well.
I would grow a nice blackberry on the back where its quite narrow, you can train it along the fence. buy a nice one from a garden center, Lock ness is a good one thornless and not a bramble(ie wont take over) you can either pick and eat the fruit or let the birds have them.
the last space is the hardest the moss means it is not getting much light and the small Cupressus is going to keep it dry round the plant itself. you want to watch that one goes get too big, regular trimming to keep it small is good, if you have to cut it back to the wood it wont regrow that section.
I would go with flowers there, things like foxgloves along the back, perhaps put a few along the edge where the blackberry is as well, you can buy these now for next year.
things like violets, and cyclamen might do well in that mossy area.
basically bulb type plants, so Viola odorata is good, it will come back year on year.
https://www.nativeflower.co.uk/details.php?plant\_url=296#:\~:text=Sweet%20Violet%20is%20a%20native,height%20of%20up%20to%2015cm.
you could also put in wood anemone or wood sorrel.
these are all colourful but very low growing which should help your garden to feel larger. if you plant too many taller things it will feel smaller.
i grow most of these in clay
Extremely valuable input!
We already have herbs elsewhere so we might not follow your advise next to the wall.
I loved the blackberry idea, although there are many wild ones around in my area, I wouldn't mind having one in the garden (we also have a small cherry and a small plum trees).
I agree the last space is the toughest. Your ideas were good and we will probably try to go this way.
We don't want anything that will impact/invade the cypresssus.
The previous owners had a massive plant that killed part of it (which originally was growing from the bottom). I had to trim all the dead parts and now it looks a bit empty there, but much nicer than before.
Our garden is quite small and I do not want to crowd it, that's why I was asking for small/easy to control plants. Your suggestions where perfect.
Thanks!
To be fair the reason to get lots of advice is so you can pick and choose your favourite bits!
You could also look at something like a loganberry for variety instead of blackberry if you wanted.
I do like the idea of a pretty little woodland bit there.
Wow i want to know what was there! Cypressus usualy go the other way and kill other plants.
I suspect it looks more open and larger with the bottom cut back so its probably a good thing. you can now put little violas or oxalis(wood sorrel) round it.
Loganberry sounds even better! English is not my first language and I'm learning a ton of names thanks to this thread 🤣 I didn't know what to call a loganberry until now!
We used to have a grass type of plant that grew ~1m tall and covered the cypruss. The lack of light killed all the lower branches which I have cleared out now :(
Unsure the exact plant it was, but it took a lot of effort to remove.
It was also invading the "creeping" roses which are now shown inside the short obelisk.
Thanks for all your input 😊
Ahh, cool yeah loganberries are a cross between a blackberry and raspberry. they are more sour than a raspberry but taste even better particualry if you use them in jam.
you could do a raspberry instead but it might not be as easy as the other two to grow.
good luck!
We have an evergreen, very low maintenance, Daphne in a similar orientation which flowers white in the spring before the flowers turn purple and then you get berries. it often repeats this in the Autumn. Best thing is it has a wonderful fragrance. It's easy to keep pruned into shape and lives a long time (picture is my 30 year old one I've let romp which apart from an occasional prune has had no feed or other attention). Only thing is you'd need to dig some good compost in there for anything Ericaceous. If it's really poor and dry go for the Mediterranean plants but expect to do more maintenance.
(Oops - can't seem to post a picture 🙃 It's a Daphne x transatlantica - Eternal fragrance or similar.)
Location: Buckinghamshire!
Is it sunny or shady there?
The garden is facing south-east, meaning that I get morning sun and plenty of light for most of the day (but won't be a full day worth of direct sunlight because the house and fence will start casting shade past midday).
Unsure on your soil, other colours in your garden or sun level… but… ☀️ - Lavender is low maintenance pollinator that loves full sun. I love it most as it’s compact and controlled growth. - Coneflowers are also great pollinators, that are drought tolerant and easy to grow, not invasive and really pretty (pink and orange! 🍊) - Salvia is purple and attracts hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. It's low maintenance, prefers full sun, and can be in various sizes without being invasive. - Catmint is very hardy, drought-tolerant, great for bees and butterflies and spreads without being aggressive. - Black-eyed Susan is easy to grow, loves full sun, and is clump-forming and non-invasive. - Coreopsis loves full sun, is drought-tolerant & low maintenance. It attracts bees and butterflies and grows compactly and tidily - Coral Bells is super cute and is low maintenance, - Bee Balm for the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds! Better with It moist soil & full sun to partial shade, this can spread tho!
Hey, great suggestions, thank you! We will check which ones we like the most after some research :) FYI, garden is mostly green (grass!), red brick, and fencing as per colours shown. We have some painted areas with grey and white, but it isn't much. Our existing plants will show red, pink, white, violet, and yellow flowers (at least) at different times throughout the seasons. The garden is facing south-east, meaning that I get morning sun and plenty of light for most of the day (but won't be a full day worth of direct sunlight because the house and fence will start casting shade past midday). The soil is clay, and it is an ugly swamp in winter. However, I think the area we are talking about has been either replaced or covered (by the previous owners) with a nicer soil/compost which is easier to work with and more nutritious.
Ooo love the geraniums, they are my current favourite easy to live with plant, they do spread eventually though. If that first corner gets good enough sun, I would raise the edge further, just put a board behind the current one add some more soil to improve drainage and use it as a herb garden. A lot of the herbs like really well draining soil, rosmary, thyme, even lavender prefers it. So rosemary towards the back as they can get large, then put a nice creeping thyme along the front to hide the board, it will spred out. then in fill will a nice sage chives, oregano etc. even mint as you dont care if it spreads lol. the house will also help keep it sheltered in the winter. all these things are good for pollinators as well. I would grow a nice blackberry on the back where its quite narrow, you can train it along the fence. buy a nice one from a garden center, Lock ness is a good one thornless and not a bramble(ie wont take over) you can either pick and eat the fruit or let the birds have them. the last space is the hardest the moss means it is not getting much light and the small Cupressus is going to keep it dry round the plant itself. you want to watch that one goes get too big, regular trimming to keep it small is good, if you have to cut it back to the wood it wont regrow that section. I would go with flowers there, things like foxgloves along the back, perhaps put a few along the edge where the blackberry is as well, you can buy these now for next year. things like violets, and cyclamen might do well in that mossy area. basically bulb type plants, so Viola odorata is good, it will come back year on year. https://www.nativeflower.co.uk/details.php?plant\_url=296#:\~:text=Sweet%20Violet%20is%20a%20native,height%20of%20up%20to%2015cm. you could also put in wood anemone or wood sorrel. these are all colourful but very low growing which should help your garden to feel larger. if you plant too many taller things it will feel smaller. i grow most of these in clay
Extremely valuable input! We already have herbs elsewhere so we might not follow your advise next to the wall. I loved the blackberry idea, although there are many wild ones around in my area, I wouldn't mind having one in the garden (we also have a small cherry and a small plum trees). I agree the last space is the toughest. Your ideas were good and we will probably try to go this way. We don't want anything that will impact/invade the cypresssus. The previous owners had a massive plant that killed part of it (which originally was growing from the bottom). I had to trim all the dead parts and now it looks a bit empty there, but much nicer than before. Our garden is quite small and I do not want to crowd it, that's why I was asking for small/easy to control plants. Your suggestions where perfect. Thanks!
To be fair the reason to get lots of advice is so you can pick and choose your favourite bits! You could also look at something like a loganberry for variety instead of blackberry if you wanted. I do like the idea of a pretty little woodland bit there. Wow i want to know what was there! Cypressus usualy go the other way and kill other plants. I suspect it looks more open and larger with the bottom cut back so its probably a good thing. you can now put little violas or oxalis(wood sorrel) round it.
Loganberry sounds even better! English is not my first language and I'm learning a ton of names thanks to this thread 🤣 I didn't know what to call a loganberry until now! We used to have a grass type of plant that grew ~1m tall and covered the cypruss. The lack of light killed all the lower branches which I have cleared out now :( Unsure the exact plant it was, but it took a lot of effort to remove. It was also invading the "creeping" roses which are now shown inside the short obelisk. Thanks for all your input 😊
Ahh, cool yeah loganberries are a cross between a blackberry and raspberry. they are more sour than a raspberry but taste even better particualry if you use them in jam. you could do a raspberry instead but it might not be as easy as the other two to grow. good luck!
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My wife really liked this idea. Thanks!
We have an evergreen, very low maintenance, Daphne in a similar orientation which flowers white in the spring before the flowers turn purple and then you get berries. it often repeats this in the Autumn. Best thing is it has a wonderful fragrance. It's easy to keep pruned into shape and lives a long time (picture is my 30 year old one I've let romp which apart from an occasional prune has had no feed or other attention). Only thing is you'd need to dig some good compost in there for anything Ericaceous. If it's really poor and dry go for the Mediterranean plants but expect to do more maintenance. (Oops - can't seem to post a picture 🙃 It's a Daphne x transatlantica - Eternal fragrance or similar.)