What to plant in a bed and several other questions.

[NoToastWithoutKnickers]

I'm not a gardener, partly because I'm clueless and also because I've never felt any ownership of one before. But now I've done some landscaping (or rather my dad has) in my garden I'm wanting to really make something of it.

I have one bed in particular that I've always hated. The lady who lived here before me planted all sorts of shrubs and bushes on top of each other and it's a mess. It's also really weedy and stony.

I've cleared most of it and I'm left with about 3 large shrubs which look fine but it's what to do with the rest of it. I need to put some trellis up behind it to provide some privacy and I'm really tempted to just scatter some wild flower mix on the rest of the bed. If I were to do this I'd clear the remaining shrubs so it could just be wild flowers. It's quite a cottagey wild garden so they wouldn't look out of place hopefully.

So question number one is this; do wild flowers mind very stony soil or would I have to work through it to remove as much as possible?

My next question is regarding weeds and roots. If I decide against the wild flowers I'd just find a selection of smaller plants to put in. With all the clearing I've done so far there are still an awful lot of roots that go so far down they've just broken off rather than come out in one go. Some of these are weeds and some are from other plants. Will they all suddenly spring back up and interfere with whatever else I plant? I know weeds are inevitable but I've spent so much time clearing as much as I can I'd like to think that at least some of the work will pay off.

Also, what will climb nice and quickly up my trellis? I was thinking of a clematis maybe. What variety would suit wild flowers if I go with that option?

I'm sure there are loads more questions but they have escaped me for now!

TIA

I am a novice gardener and have somehow managed to get our garden looking great over the last two years, fluke! Arabella and Jackmannii purple clematis flower very well and are quick growers for your trellis. I had a stoney bed like the one you describe and I have had to keep on top of the weeding, but it does get better with time and as your plants/flowers grow. Hollyhocks are fab and if you keep the pods/flowers when they close, you can scatter them and then get more growing the following year. I have hot pink, white, pale pink and cream and they look lovely. Geraniums are great for filling a space and when the flowers die, cut the plant back down near the base and they will re-flower. I have 'wargrave' which do the job. Hope that helps!

When we moved into this house earlier this year there was a bed at the bottom of the garden with a large connifer 9 and i do mean large as it was taller than the house).
We had the connifer chopped down and as the soil was not very good i planted iris bulbs and then scattered wild flower seeds and covered it over with an old sheet of plastic until they spouted to stop the birds eating the seed.
Even if i say so myself it looks great and the bees love it. I have improved the soil and am now being to add more long term plants. So far i have added a couple of ferns i found that had self seeded elsewhere in the garden, a hebe and Oleander that i got cheap in b&q.
I am hoping the oleander will cope ok with the winter as we are on the south coast and if it looks like going below -5 i will fleece it.

Wild flower meadows are wonderful, but look pretty full for much of the year. Keeping a few of the shrubs - with a backdrop of clematis (and what about honeysuckle too?) - may be the better option if you want something eye-catching all year round.

Err, pretty dull for much of the year.

Thanks everyone. Maud that has been my thinking over the last 24 hours, that it would be pretty empty for most of the year!

Still thinking about it. I'm now quite tempted to put some veg in there.

(The problem is I'd love to be moving in with my BF some time next year so don't particularly want to start something I won't finish!)