what would you do with a brand new border?

[foxesinsockses]

Just that really! A garden redesign has created a smallish new border between the path to my front door and my lawn. Its about 4m long and a meter deep. I am a huge fan of perennials but need it to look okay in the winter as well (plus some height is needed to discourage the dogs from using it as a shortcut). There is a bed on the other side too but that is under a window and is currently looking lovely with tulips, scylla and some alliums to come later. I have a similar space elsewhere and I planted that up with gaura, verbena and agapanthus and it looked lovely last year. Looks dreadful now mind you, am hoping it comes back! Looking for some inspiration . . .

No help I'm afraid but I'm interested in the answers you get. My border currently has 3 rose bushes, daffs and tulips but otherwise needing inspiration

I like my borders to be scented all winter if they can be; so Sarcococca and Winter Honeysuckle are a must. Daphne and a Viburnum if you have space. Then fill the gaps in with stuff like a Smoke Bush, maybe an Acer, which will both be in leaf and looking fab all summer and autumn. Then get some ground cover, I like alpines that grow to meet each other, and have a range of different leaves and flowers. Maybe an oregano, some salvias, things that can grow above the alpines and underplant the alpines with your bulbs that grow through in the spring. I have some favourites, Agastache, Anaglais, Borages as and when you have space to put them in.

Having said that, we have moved to a house with a huge garden and each week we put another new bed in. Next week once the snow is gone, we are digging out a bed about the size of the one in the OP, and moving all our bulbs there as many [planted by the previous owner] came up blind, so I'm moving them all and putting them in the front, with a backdrop of all the Irises that are currently growing and I'll put the Day Lilies in the middle once they have been and gone, and I'll be putting loads of herbs over where the bulbs are as that will be a really dry hot bed once summer comes.

The week after I'll do something completely different in the next new bed.

Narrow borders can be difficult to plan because they can look rather 'bitty' for want of a better word. For that reason some repetition of plants can help counteract that. If you want it to look good in winter too you will need to have at least 50% evergreens in there. I would start by drawing a scale plan of your border and marking out the mature spread of the plants you are thinking of including.

Evergreens you might want to consider are hebes or perhaps skimmia japonica to give some structure and then add some perennials in between.

Also you could add some bulbs like tulips to come up among the perennials for some spring colour.

Any sun? Very slow growing but a Daphne can be a nice fragrant evergreen in a border.

Ooh this is helpful thank you. And yes it'll be a very sunny border and we live in the south. Lots of ideas to look up!

I’m eyeing up this…

www.gardenonaroll.com/

I'm not a gardener but lavender. Smells gorgeous and looks fabulous.

[quote Christienne]I’m eyeing up this…

www.gardenonaroll.com/[/quote]
What a fantastic idea!

I started a new border last year when we finally got rid of the dreaded leylandii. It is about a metre wide but somewhat longer than yours.

Last Autumn I planted up some shrubs. I have:
Hyrdangea Annabelle(White flowers grows in full sun)
Virbunum farrei (has flowers in late winter)
Budleja (one purple one white)
Physocarpus Opulifolis Angel gold (which is just coming out with amazing lime green leaves)
Céonathe (evergreen with blue flowers in spring)
Crab apple
Hebe
Sambucus Nigra black beauty ( an elderberry with black lacy leaves)

I also planted up some spring bulbs so I have tulips and grape hyacinthes in flower at the moment, and some aliums coming) and some irises.

I am going to fill in with perenials like scabious , veronique spirata, Salvia nemorosa, asters and some artichokes.

I will then add some annuel accents with cosmos, marigolds and Antirrhinum.

Our soil tend towards alkaline and the border is in full sun. I'm sticking to blues purples and pinks with orange accents. No reds or yellows allowed.

It is very much a work in progress so I have no idea what will work and what won't. I think I will add in some roses and some dahlias.

How about a berberis hedge?

Sage is the bedrock of my kitchen border - I have a red sage and a green sage and they look okay year round.

Kitchen and sunny suggests herbs and edibles to me. Sage, thyme, bay and lavender are all evergreen and provide the structure. Intersperse with dill, parsley, borage. If the soil is acid, blueberries look gorgeous. Alpine strawberries form neat clumps and sunflowers would give you tall summer interest. In the autumn, saffron crocus. In the winter pansies and ornamental cabbages.

Reading back I'm not sure where I've got kitchen from sorry. Still, the idea still stands. An evergreen structure interspersed with flowers and bedding - marigolds are amazing for this. I like calendula indian prince.

Hebes are good low growing evergreen. Add clumps of geranium Rozanne and spring bulbs

I’ve just planted some narrow sunny borders and have used lots of evergreen herbs like rosemary, lavender, sage, bay. Loads of roses (including ones with hips for winter colour - or shrubs with bright berries are also nice). Climbers (roses/jasmine etc) at the back to give height and an impression of depth without taking up too much space. Drifts of flowering early spring bulbs. Loads of long-flowering perennials with an emphasis on airy stuff (Russian sage, ornamental salvias, echinacea, erysimum Bowles mauve, verbena bonsiarensis, knautia Macedonia, guara, hardy geranium) mingled with bearded iris and alliums. And some annual seeds like nigella, cosmos and calendula scattered around to fill the gaps. I like a lush cottage garden look but have aimed for repetition of colours/shapes/plant type to stop it looking too bitty.

That sounds lovely @OhRosalind

I would echo others - limit the type of plant in a small border so it doesn't look too bitty.
A row of smaller leaf hebe, interspersed with a border sedum such as Hylotelephium telephium ‘Purple Emperor’ - it would thrive in a sunny spot, has a striking leaf colour and would look particularly eyecatching in winter with the seed heads left on.

Thanks @Frenchfancy I’m excited to see it develop, at the moment the bulbs are out but lots of roses are in bud, and suddenly everything is turning green, I love this time of year.