What am I missing on the tallish, reliable, easy shrubs front pkease

[WellTidy]

I am a novice gardener. I only started taking an interest in my garden a couple of months go, but I am loving it. I've planted two raised beds, but the borders are basically very overgrown and it was initially hard to differentiate between all the very established shrubs that are in there. It is improving a lot though. The shrubs are generally about 6-10 foot high. Next doors fence is about 8-10 foot high so I would like to obscure that.

A section that was basically saplings from our weeping ash and loads of weed has just been cleared. It is about ten metres long. I would like to plant reliable and easy shrubs that we don't already have. Evergreen and flowering would be my preference, but I am very open to suggestion.

So what rally shrubs am I missing? We already have laurel, bay, conifer, euonymous, camelia x 2, roses, peony, hydrangea, viburnum, massive weigela x 2, conifer, smaller shrubs with climbers like jasmine and clematis behind, magnolia, ceanothus, photinia, pittospornum, rhododendron and probably other things I've forgotten. If a shrub flowers, I am buying only white, pink and purple flowering shrubs, but happy with non flowering ones too.

I am a complete novice so please help! Am I on the right lines with an acer, or not?

We live in the south east.

[WellTidy]

Rally = tall.

[JeNeSuisPasVotreMiel]

Are the plots sunny or shady?

[WellTidy]

All are ast facing, but sheltered.

[WellTidy]

East facing, that should have been.

[JT05]

You seem to have most things, what about escalonia? There are evergreen varieties that have pink flowers.

[wrinkleseverywhere]

A flowering currant would grow quickly & fit in with your pink theme.
What about seasonal colour? It doesn't fit in with your scheme but forsythia & berberis are fairly traditional shrubs which flower earlier than most of the ones you have mentioned.

[Decorhate]

Hebes would fit the bill being evergreen & the flowers are usually white, pink or purple. If you want height, choose ones with large leaves. (The size of the leaf determines how tall they grow). Choisya might also work

[AstrantiaMajor]

It is sounding amazing now. I would look at these for winter perfume and colour.

Prunus subhirella autumnalis (Winter Cherry)
Japanese Quince
Viburnum Bodabtensa Dawn
Viburnum Burkwoodii
Loropetalum
Hamamelis Diane Dawn
There is also a white Witchazel but I cannot remember its name.

[WellTidy]

Thank you all so much. I don't recognise lots of the names you've given me, so I will look them all up. I have a Choisya, I forgot about that, in another part of the garden! And I have masses of smaller hebes in the beds that I've just planted up. Really looking forward to finding out more about your suggestions.

[SeaRabbit]

Duetzia - we have one that reaches to 8ft tall - in flower at the moemnt - the bees love it - it's covered in lovely pale pink flowers & is very graceful. There seem to be lots of different varities, some tall some short - I didn't plant ours so don't know what it is. This one looks nice but isn't ours.

[WellTidy]

I've enjoyed looking at all of the suggestions. I think I will go for a pink escallonia, ribes sanguineum Elkingtons White (flowering currant), viburnum opulus roseum (snowball tree), deutzia strawberry fields and maybe a winter flowering white camellia (I am slightly nervous about a new camellia as crocus says not to have them in east facing gardens as they won't like morning sun, but I have two established spring flowering camellias and they do brilliantly in the same direction facing bed).

I am going to put loropetalum Chinese var. rubrum Fire Dance somewhere else in the garden as I absolutely love it. I also love Duetzia Yuki cherry blossom for somewhere else in the garden. I think a proper Autumn cherry tree will be too big unfortunately (crocus tells me it would grown to 8m x 8m), as it would give gorgeous white flowers October to April, and I would absolutely love that.

So many fantastic suggestions, thank you so much.

[WellTidy]

Mahonias don't fit in with my them, unfortunately . Same with cotoneaster, which would also do the job. And skimmia japonica. I've made things a bit more complicated than they needed to be, but I think I'm getting there.

[AstrantiaMajor]

Fabulous choices. Where did you buy your loropetalum?

[WellTidy]

I got it on Crocus Antrantia. I have never seen it before, and would never have come across it but for your recommendation. I love the colours and am really looking forward to showing it off! 1.5 litre pot for £12.99. Delivery at the end of the week.

[AstrantiaMajor]

That was good value . Happy gardening

[SeaRabbit]

Nice selection. What about something for later in the summer too? I love deciduous ceanothus - Ceanothus × delileanus 'Gloire de Versailles' is gorgeous.

[WellTidy]

Searabbit thank you for reminding me that I've actually ordered a pink ceanothus from Thompson and Morgan! I'd completely forgotten about it. It is due to arrive by the end of July. It is ceanothus x pallidus Marie Simon. It is pink, flowers July to September. I have a young blue ceanothus in the bed already, much further down, trained up on a trellis against the fence. But that flowers April to June I think.

[MrsBertBibby]

How about a black elder? (Sambucus nigra)

I have a beauty just waiting to flower. Lovely purple black almost feathery leaves that just glitter in the sunlight, and foamy pinky cream blossom. Wonderful contrast to something like a choisya.

[AstrantiaMajor]

I love black Elder, but to really show off the pinks and whites I would choose Acatea. It's black leaves are very similar to the Sambuccus, but much closer together.

[WellTidy]

Thank you so much, I now love black elders! Quite like variety Eiffel Tower too. I will definitely be finding space for one.

[WellTidy]

Ooooh, black Beauty is also lovely.

[SeaRabbit]

I love black elder too. Glad you've gone for a ceanothus- I didn't realise they came in pink: Marie Simon is lovely.

[WellTidy]

Sea I hadn't realised that there were deciduous as well as evergreen ceanothus until I saw the pink variety. I had only ever seen an evergreen blue one. Mine is trained quite upright and flowers in spring, but my neighbour has a gorgeous very, very bushy and huge one, that flowers March to October. It is lovely.

[SeaRabbit]

Sounds fab. I'd take some cuttings as not many flower over such a big period & I believe they don't live very long.