Ideas please- small area under window

[ceecee32]

Hi - I have no idea about gardening or plants but I have a small area under the window at the front of my house which is probably only about 18 inches wide and 4 foot long. Once I have taken out the stones and builders rubble I dont expect that I will be able to dig down very deeply but will prob get about 4 inches of soil (compost).

I want to made a barrier between the house and my car which will stop neighbours walking across my driveway and my lawn instead of walking around the perimeter of my property. I was thinking of some bushes which would make a natural barrier.

Are there any plants that you could recommend please.

Thanks

Gorse, it is a lovely green all year, has pretty yellow flowers and will deter your neighbours.
You might be better off putting a couple of big pots there (with gorse in of course).

Oooh - it looks very prickly :)

I think we need a plan to advise properly.

Does it get a lot of sun? Or is it shady?

Spanish gorse likes a reasonable amount of sun. Add mini daffs for spring, cosmos for summer and maybe even a sunflower or some sweet peas (good excuses for a few bamboo canes).

If shady, will have to think of alternative plan.

What about some box hedging?

It gets sun in the late afternoon from about 3pm, there is the small patch which has stones in now then about 12 inches of paving stone until the end of my drive so I would imagine that my car would affect the sun when I am home.
I had thought of hedging but my main aim is to make it look as if I have done it to make the front of the house pretty but really to block off the small path between my car and the house.

The old standards; hebe, crainsbill geranium ( smallish variety) and perhaps lavender, if there's enough sun.

Cornus? Pretty boring in the summer, but lovely in winter - orange, yellow or red stems - and non prickly! You do have to cut it back in the spring though, but it soon grows back.

Lavender, which will give you scent and bees, but also needs cutting back.

Lavender: it will smell lovely, needs barely any maintenance (just cut it back when it gets too big), and will be good for the bees.

Thanks everyone

I'd suggest cotoneaster. Tough as anything, dense, flowers great for bees and berries for the birds. Indestructible and no fun to walk over.

I don't think you're sunny enough for lavender.

larchcottage.co.uk/cms/the-beauty-of-cotoneaster#.WWsVCHPTXqA

Berberis and pyracantha are both prickly and bushy. Cotoneaster is as tough as old boots too. Lonicera nitida grows fast and anywhere, and it is easy to keep in trim.

I am off to the garden centre - Thank you :)