My front garden’s finished - but what shall I put in it?

[KingscoteStaff]

Our front garden is transformed from a concrete bin area and I now have a 4m x 1m raised bed in front of my London red brick terraced house. It faces NW.

I was thinking of Susan Williams-Ellis roses from David Austin, but how many? And what bulbs/perennials in between?

All advice welcome.

Beautiful house! Roses don't like to be crowded out, so not too many. Perennial geranium are nice with roses, and salvias, if you'd like something with a bit of height.

What are you going for ? Colour, smell, nature etc? With roses I like salvia in summer. Maybe tulip wallflower mix in spring then the wallflowers keep going?

If you want roses go for shrub types.
Underplant with campanula, maybe some cyclamen and some flowering bulbs - you could put in smaller bulbs like narcissus or snowdrops so they are not fighting for space with the rose plants.

So do you think 4 shrub roses is too many in 4 m? I like the idea of salvias and tulips. Maybe penstemons?

Should I order the roses now?

Rose hedge? It would look amazing. Yes buy roses now. You should be able to get bare root ones which are a bit cheaper.

I'd go for a maximum of 3 roses. What's the suggested size on the DA website?

David Austin do offers on multiple bare root roses - work looking at. Looks very smart.

I would go for ferns personally.

Grasses like stipa tenuissima will act as a filler and soften the look. They're easy to look after too (actually rich soil makes them go kind of heavy/flopped over).

Maybe mix this with verbena bonariensis, some echinacea, salvias, dahlias, annuals like cosmos and then roses if you like. Roses to prefer not to be crowded so they'll survive but not thrive (hasn't stopped me in the past!)

Have a look on Pinterest or Google images for inspiration of certain looks and try to copy them.

I think 4 Susan Williams Ellis if you actually want the hedge look, because it’s not that big, it’s a good choice because it’s very disease resistant. Olivia Rose Austin would be another good one for a low hedge. I’ve got several of these with lavender which looks nice. Salvia could be a good option because they flower for months. You could add bulbs for the earlier part of the year.

@Didiusfalco I love Olivia Rose Austin, but thought it would clash with the red brick.

I have 2 Christmas Gardening gift cards burning a hole in my pocket, so I will search the DA website this evening.

Have you considered a herb garden? Or all edibles

Could add patio fruit tree at either end or blueberries. You can get many that only grow to 1m high.

Rosemary is good, stays evergreen in winter. Parsley, chives.

Bay topiary tree at either end could be nice. And sage is also evergreen

I'd plant some alliums as they're a bit architectural and look nice near a house. Dahlias would be nice too, dwarf ones?

I've ordered the roses! And the special mycorrhizal fungi powder!
And the Carrs soil improver! So exciting.

So salvias and bulbs inbetween, I think. But is it too late to plant bulbs now?

The roses are growing! The ranunculus are sprouting!

Ohh I’m excited for you!

It's so exciting when things start to grow.

The roses are flowering!

Beautiful!