Planting ideas for a large bed

[PotatoesOfTheCarribean]

We have a tiny walled garden, with beds held in with sleepers. Our back bed is a large triangle, 4m wide, and approx 2.5m deep on the right side (sloping wall cuts goes from the front left corner to the far back right)

I have a huge bamboo at the back right in the pointy corner, which is perfect. There was a jasmine there, but it was a beast and took over the entire garden.

I'm looking for planting ideas to take it from bed level at the front (raised about a foot with sleepers) to the back. Got lots of cosmos/daisies/calendula and a couple of other things growing from seed at the moment. What I really need is some sort of big plant at the back near the bamboo... a huge bush.shrub/plant at least 1m tall that can help the graduation from spreading fillers at the front to the huge bamboo at the back

japanese maple? - i always think the contrast of their leaves with bamboo looks good.

I hope your bamboo is a clumper not a spreader though.

Oh oh.. I'd LOVE a Japanese maple, but sadly don't have £85 to spend on one. Bamboo is fairly contained, yes - tied to the wall and hasn't spread yet :)

Would a cherry tree work do you think?

I think a tree would look odd next to the bamboo. How about something with big leaves, like rodgersia? Or choisya Aztec Pearl?

I like the choisya actually, I wonder how it would do on clay though

Thanks for linking to crocus, been trying to remember the name of that site!

Hmm. The RHS advice on choisya Aztec Pearl says it needs good drainage. As your beds are behind sleepers I imagine they are well-drained, but could you dig in some extra grit?