Beginner borders that might survive football

[Isonthecase]

Hi, I'm hoping for some advice for a novice gardener!
I have small boys. The boys have multiple footballs. What border plants can I use that will probably survive? I've already come to terms with not having the gorgeous cottage garden of my dreams (that can go out front) but I would like some colour and my go to of roses, daffodils, wildflowers, etc., is just not working.
Bonus points if it incorporates veg or something they can get involved in, I'm hoping to get them feeling involved so they are a BIT more careful. We've had some success with tomatoes and strawberries.

Thank you for your help ☺️

Shrubs.
Hebe has survived at ours. A couple of others I cant name right now... a thing with big waxy spotty leaves and black berries (laurel?) . A thing with tiny leaves and red berries. Something with smallish leaves and clusters of blue flowers.
Perovskia has survived.
Some grassy clumping stuff.
Periwinkle might survive?

A gooseberry bush. 😉
They wont want to retrieve a ball from that, so they will hopefully learn to be careful!
And its edible and perrenial. The red fruited varieties are sweeter than the green ones.

Herbs like rosemary bounce back OK, as long as the soil is not too wet, and they have enough sun. And can be eaten!

If you've had success with tomatoes, maybe try a couple of potatoes? The plants often get knocked/blown over, but usually survive OK as long as the stems are not broken. The flowers look like tomato flowers (but the fruit they produce is NOT edible). Not the prettiest plants when growing, but the flowers are interesting.

Buddleja. Great for wildlife, utterly bombproof. Cut it back to a few sticks every April, and watch it sprout.

Nepeta Walkers Low. It survives my cats rolling all over it (it is in the catmint family) so I reckon a few footballs won't phase it.

Thank you! That's really helpful

Good shout on the mix of trample-able and spiky

Not exciting at all, but eponymous is a low-growing shrub that is evergreen, and will survive all sorts of hammering and is the lowest maintenance possible. You get various colours and variegations. Perfect for up the goal end!

I think autocorrect has changed Zebra to eponymous when she typed Euonymus

I recently put in one called Green Rocket, it is rather lovely. They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Dammit! I'd not noticed!

Climbers up the fence work here. Jasmine is prolific in my garden, cuttings just grow. Sweet pea, and a clematis are good.
Bamboo has survived.

I have a few pots that protect plants from the worst of balls by being just a bit higher.

I had a massive fushia that was lovely in late summer. The stems were big enough to survive the ball strikes.

Geraniums look lovely until a ball gets them.

I echo Buddleja. I also found that creating a solid border using sleepers helped a lot; they can be expensive (£30 each from Travis Perkins) but I found mine via Facebook Markets for a tenner each.

@MrsBertBibby good spot, I would have really confused the garden centre 🤣

Thank you everyone, this is great!

I think I would consider low gabions spaced along the borders with large heavy planters on the ground in between them for your shrubs and small trees; with smaller plants grown on top of the gabions, including trailing plants. You could use decorative stone along the visible front of the gabions. Everything will be raised off the ground and protected to some extent.
Once the children are older you could remove the gabions and put your plants in the ground.

@brambleberries That's what they're called! We've been talking about rock baskets 😂

I think a physical barrier is a great shout, we're going to decide between gabions and sleepers. We'll pop the delicate plants in the corner in a raised bed then have lower level bouncy bushy ones along the edges and see how we go. I quite fancy a nice herb garden so at least if it gets mashed it smells good doing it!

Geranium Rozanne, Nepeta, Lavender,and Achilleas should all tolerate footballs!

If you like the idea of using gabions, take a look this garden belonging to Jane Beedle (The Middle Sized Garden Youtube channel) for inspiration..