Planting ideas for gravel-y front garden

[GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat]

I inherited a gravel front garden with my house. It's elevated from the pavement.

There was already a pittosporum hedge underneath the window but I planted some low shrubs to give a bit of definition and privacy at the pavement side.

It has weed membrane under the gravel but the soil below that is very poor and rocky (houses were built in 1950s so I'm not quite sure what's under there but it's extremely rocky when you dig).
Despite facing WNW it's very exposed and receives a lot of sun from the road running SW/NE. None of our gardens have fences or lawns to cast shade/absorb rainfall - a lot of people have cut out a portion out as a driveway.

Some of my shrubs are doing quite well (euonymous, lavender, choisya, fuschsia). Others are definitely struggling (pieris). I'm not really a fan of ornamental grasses - does anyone have any suggestions that I can use to fill gaps? I suppose I should go down the Mediterranean route and plant rosemary and sage

Ideally I'd like something low maintenance and evergreen. I considered annuals but it's so rocky I'm not sure they'd take without daily watering which is a bit of a hassle (terraced house no side access so I have to cart watering cans through the house. No downpipe at the front to install a water butt though I have one at the back).
I have some window boxes and planters on the ground for annuals instead.

I know the solution is probably to invest in a large raised bed style planter but does anyone have any planting suggestions in the meantime?

I love gravel. I have areas of ithe in my garden. In autumn I buy loads of packets of Nigella poppies and wilD flowers and sow them liberally. They come up in sprint and look incredible. I do a second sowing in spring and then let them self seed. It looks really great.

That's a good idea thank you! I've not had much success getting poppies to take this year - maybe they'll pop up next year instead

You can consider plants that like arid environments - sedums, house leeks, livingstone daisies etc. Mostly creeping but a good display when in flower. Pelargoniums seem more tolerant of drought than many other bedding plants.

In terms of shrubs, I'd move the pieris away because I think they're more woodland-edge. Look at the mediterranean type stuff - you've already got lavender (and it comes in white and pink as well, so you could add more), so you could try Cistus (rock roses) (and also helianthus, which are the low growing ground cover rock roses).

In terms of shrubs, I'd move the pieris away because I think they're more woodland-edge.

Yes, and they prefer acid soil. I have one in a large pot, it needs a fair bit of rainwater in dry weather.
While that probably does need relocating, a grouping of large pots can look good on gravel, if the soil is too poor and rocky to plant much into it.

What about:

Mexican fleabane
Euphorbia x martini
Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii (note this is a large plant)
Kniphofia
Perovskia (Russian sage)
Achillea
Knautia Macedonia
Agapanthus

erigeron karvinskianus would look fab in the gaps

Thank you all - I'm going to look all of these up!

The pieris was already planted there but I should've realised - all my pieris in the back garden are purposely in the shade

I should've added I'm looking for a little bit of height - ideally 18"+

Sedum could be lovely. They don’t need too much water and you could buy a few and then split them once they’re more established. I have a beautiful pink flowering one that I am really fond of, now in a few places in a west facing border as I’ve split one plants a few times.

If you want more height I don’t think you’ll go wrong with euphorbia, there is a variety called ‘robbinae’ or something along those lines that prefers more shade. They seed well, and I think they have a place in a garden. I have a shady spot that I am planning on getting it for.

I've put crocosmia in my gravel garden - doesn't qualify as evergreen but looks after itself good job

If you want more height I don’t think you’ll go wrong with euphorbia, there is a variety called ‘robbinae’ or something along those lines that prefers more shade. You're thinking about Euphorbia amygdaloides v robbiae - it's a bit of a thug, so excellent for dry shade where nothing else will grow, but otherwise I'd prefer E characias. Also E griffithii "Fireglow" - an astonishingly bright orange-red, and since the colour is the bracts, not in the petals, it persists even when the flowers are over, to provide colour for a very long season. If you've got space, E mellifera is a stunner, with honey scented flower in early season. But my main plant is currently 8 ft high and 4 across (I pruned it), and I have seedlings everywhere. It's evergreen, whereas the other euphorbias mentioned die down in the winter, but it likes a warm spot - you might cope in the S, mine is in the N but south facing on the house wall.

the solution is probably to invest in a large raised bed style planter that will be high maintenance with watering. For low maintenance it's best to plant plants which enjoy the conditions you have.

I have an area that is weed suppressant covered in pebble, snap dragons (Antirrhinum) have self seeded all over it and it looks lovely, just a bit of weeding in between now and again.

They survived last year in the drought and are also doing well this year in the rain. The don't transplant well though.