How should i plant up my garden?

[LetItGoHome]

Hi. I need some advice on what to plant in my border. The whole space is so sad looking at the moment. I have tried to research myself but I'm clueless and its all very overwhelming.

It's a small mid terrace with a south facing garden/yard. Im in london so it's pretty sheltered and doesn't get all that cold. Although its south facing the far right hand 1/4 is pretty shady. The rest is very sunny. Its 15 foot wide.

I'd like to be able to plant it with things that will last and possibly just improve with age that will not look rubbish over winter. Id like to encourage birds so i was thinking bushy things? Im having trouble finding size appropriate things as space is limited.

The only thing i have that you can't see is a dwarf plumb tree which is self fertile. Its in a pot at the moment. I was going to put that in the border? But i suppose it could stay in a big pot?

Id appreciate as much guidence as people can give. Thanks 💐

Perhaps what you need is plants that give interest more than once during the year. Some flowering shrubs have berries later in the season, for instance. A couple of evergreen shrubs would be good, like variegated euonymus maybe. You could have a climber or two growing up either a trellis or freestanding plant support. Fill in the gaps with bulbs and leave space for a few bedding plants in the summer. Some perennials have lovely flowers, and you then leave the decorative seed heads on all winter. Ornamental grasses can be good too, but you need to be careful with those as some spread like mad underground and you can never get rid of them.

The fruit tree will be fine in a container as long as the pot is big enough that it doesn't dry out all the time in hot weather. Dwarf Japanese maples look lovely in containers too.

Look up

clematis (but some grow very big)
climbing roses (can also get big)
camelia
hebe
cotoneaster
pyracanthus
holly (one that has berries)

Look plants up on the RHS plant search website and check the size & conditions that each plant likes. you can also search by size & features to see what can fill your space.

Thanks yamadori some great ideas thati will look in to.

Parietal, i will look those up thanks :-)

Had you thought about a fruit border? Since it's south facing and sheltered you might even be able to add in a few interesting and more cold sensitive things like apricot, your plum would then fit it too. Fruit trees look good for most of the year, light green leaves, blossom, fruit, sometimes autumn colour to the leaves. They do lose their leaves in winter but I quite like their twisty branches. You could add in a crabapple for the birds, blossom and fruit that tends to last on the tree over winter (also will help to pollinate any apples you may get).

Fruit border sounds like a really lovely idea! Thank you 😊

I have a lovely climbing fuchsia that would work well in that space: Fuchsia Lady Boothby. It flowers for a long time (June until the first frost) and is great for attracting wildlife, including birds.

If you’re planning a fruit border, I‘d recommend some blueberry plant. They’re a big hit with both bees and blackbirds and if you’re lucky there may be some berries left for you by the time they’re ripe 😁 Blueberries need acid soil, so where you are they’d need to be grown in pots, not in the actual border, but apart from that they’re pretty easy to grow.

Some drought resistant perennial ideas for the sunny bit: English lavender, aquilegia, Japanese anemone, stonecrop/sedum and any other succulents really. If you need lower growing ground cover for under planting shrubs try perennial geranium (like tiny monster or Roxanne). Aubretia is also a really reliable very low growing rockery plant and very drought resistant. Also recommend Erigeron karvinskianus which self seeds nicely. Also agapanthus is very drought resistant for a sunny spot. I have no advice for the shady bit sorry !

Also meant to say if you want a rambling rose would recommend Ghislane de feligond. David Austin’s website has a good search function for roses too

Just a word about encouraging birds, I have a jasmine plant growing along a tall fence, and although I am the first to admit it gets a tad out of hand if I take my eyes off it for a second it is popular with birds. I have a very rowdy family group of sparrows that currently spend most of the day there, robins and blackbirds nest in it. I don’t have food like fatballs and seeds permanently out for them (I got rats) but give them meal worms which get eaten very fast. The other thing to put out is water, for bathing and drinking, make sure it is in the open so they are not vulnerable to cat predators and they will love it.

Another thing to say for an easy fix, you have some nice big pots, they will look much better if you arrange them in a group rather than a straight line. Try it! Put some smaller ones in front if you have them.

Brilliant, thanks everyone 😁👍

Looks like you have had a lot of good advice already. I am currently planning a border and the RHS website, mentioned above by PP, has the facility of saving plants in a folder. So I have created a folder “Border” and once I identify a suitable plant then I add to the folder. It looks like you can then order from there but either way at least you have it all noted in one place. RHS don’t flag up bird friendly, tho’ I am going for a big jasmine, but do highlight pollinator friendly plants.

I have a similar sunny border in London
In mine I have:
Pyracantha - lovely in autumn (and through winter if the cheeky wood pigeon hasn’t eaten all the berries. After a couple of years it starts trying to grow into a spiky tree so chop it back where needed.
Ceanothus - lovely in spring, check which variety as they grow to different sizes.
Lavender ‘Hidcote’ stays small with an annual haircut
Erysimum ‘Bowles mauve’ flowers all year round for a few years (then collapses and needs replacing)
A rose bush and a yellow evergreen bush (Euonymus?)
A gorgeous Alstroemeria, probably ‘Inca ice’
In pots I have some pelargoniums which have been fine in the last couple of mild winters.
Also one of these (mine’s still tiny) www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/callicarpa-bodinieri-var-giraldi-profusion/classid.582/
I used to have a blackcurrant that did really well.
PS Don’t forget to plant spring bulbs this autumn!

Lots of great suggestions. 💚💚💚

I would make it much deeper if you can. You need depth to a border, or you’ll just have a line of plants.

If you are up for a small bit of digging. I would suggest a triangle shaped border in your sunniest corner, one good border is better than a thin one going all the way round the yard,
In your shady area, either group your pots and have Heucuras (cant spell this mornng) which come in a variety of colours and leaf shapes Plus other things, vary the heights etc.
Then think vertically, medium tall light canopy tree , look for blossom and berries, leaf colour .
Small round table and a chair, gin and tonic

Is there a particular style you like @LetItGoHome? Cottage garden, tropical, mediterranean, Japanese, formal, scented, modern, Victorian? How much maintenance do you want to do?

Lots of good advice here @LetItGoHome though some are big plants for the ground space you have. The only thing I'd say is to echo people's suggestions to make your border bigger - could you take out a row of the paving slabs? That will give you more scope for plants and would help with maintaining them (easier for rain to get to them). There will be a lot of rubble underneath which you'll have to take out and replace with top soil and compost you can get in a garden centre. If that all seems a bit much when you're new to it all I'd suggest getting some very large pots and planting them up with a combination of plants.

Finally climbers will be your friend by helping cover the fence. My favourite is called star jasmine - proper name something like traceospermum jasminoides. You will need to put some wires on the fence to tie it to or else it will just flop forwards.

Have fun!

If you need a rose, David Austin has 15% off bare root roses with the code ‘Susan’.