Help me plan a clay soil border

[moonlight1705]

We've got a sloping garden so the last owners had it terraced. There is a lovely gravelled path in the middle of one section but all the borders have gone wild with very little worth saving.

Our soil is heavy clay which we are trying to help with lots of composted bark etc but we would like to plan out both sides of the path.

The garden is SE facing so gets plenty of sun but with the trees on the right hand side, that tends to be shady. I want to theme both borders so they have similar feel.

Can anyone suggest good plants? What big plants can we get in to fill it up and what should we have on a more seasonal basis?

i live in a heavy clay area and the plants that do well round here are:
Peonies (happy in sun)
Tree peonies (happy in sun or dappled shade)
Hellebores (happy in part shade)
Thalictra (sun or part shade, like a damper soil)
Astrantia (sun or part shade)
Irises- big Monet style ones in sun, iris siberica on damper ground
Bleeding hearts/dicentra
Lupins (watch out for slugs though)
Primulas (generally like a bit of sun)
Rodgersia (damp shade)
Solomon’s seal (shade)
Ferns for shady areas
Astilbe (damper soil)
Heucheras (part shade)
Day lillies (sun)
Hydrangeas (they love clay!)
Hesperantha lillies

There are loads of plants that happy on clay, but the ones listed above are the reliable “doers”. I also find that some plants that are not supposed to like clay e.g. lavender, rosemary, oregano, will happily grow in it if it’s it quite dry. Enjoy planning your border! Clay is a great growing medium if a pain in the arse to dig. We do no dig gardening (other than planting) and leave the compost on top to be taken down by the many earthworms, which also love clay

Thanks Pigeon - I love peonies so will definitely get some of those. We have lupins and irises elsewhere in the garden will have a look out for the rest of your list.

I think this autumn may be the time to get some good compost layers over the soil ready for the worms to take down.

Very handy list PigeonofDoom I have a similar narrow border so I will be trying a few of those. We already have ferns (far too many they pop up everywhere) and I'd forgotten how much I like hellebores.