Border help needed

[Elasticatedwaist]

Why would you do with this border ? It has 3 roses , some large daisies ( that I cut back) , phlox , 2 lavender , sedum and Heather’s in it. All random and a bit crap looking. I have just bought some choisya ternata.

we moved in a few months ago and have been tidying up the garden which was overgrown. I’ve never planted / designed a border before.

Could you help me make this look good next year ( or the years after) ?
I just can’t figure out what to plant and what to move where. Sending me slightly mad I think !

Should have said It gets plenty of sun. Soil is clay.

Climber evergreen on fence trachelospermum jasminoides maybe?

a small garden tree, amelanchier or sorbus or crab apple.

grases do well on my clay soil, nice bit of movement in winter. Or salvias like hot lips.

lots of bulbs.

improve the soil as much as you can while you’ve got the chance.

It needs height and movement.

Large flowering shrub near the fence to grow up and hide it. Don't plant too close, common error.
Lower evergreen shrubs, possibly same variety along the back to hide all the pipes when looking back at the house from the garden.
Taller growing grasses with the perennials, I'd probably move the heathers out of there.

Id put an edging between the lawn and border (taking it from the lawn rather than reducing the width of the border). More height near the fence. Get away from the isolated plants in bare soil look - aim to completely cover the area, but with fewer different species.

Yes, line up the edge of the bed with the line of the lawn so another six inches or so.

Alexandra has just posted a video on designing a border.

It's tempting to get excited about the plants that you will grow but I think that you need to go back a step and think about design. Think about the shape of the border; get a nice wavy flow of peaks and troughs in the height of the plants; design for all seasons, not just summer flower.
Do you want a straight, perpendicular edge between the border and the lawn? You could do an angle or a sensuous curve instead.
Will you be looking at the border from that window or from the garden or from both? - plant accordingly (so think about the flow from back-to-front as well as side-to-side)

Thankyou lots to think about !

You have a window there and choisyia is a beast. I wouldn’t put it in this bed sorry - unless you put it the fence side and really keep it pruned but then you won’t have the flowers. Best to have it elsewhere.

For this bed as it’s already raised and you have a window you need one well behaved slow growing moderate sized bush for the fence side.

Then I would go with plants which match the sedums you have as they are lovely.

For a med style border;
grass layer of clumps of stipa tennuissima, 3 taller stipa ichus scattered
then you have your tall emergent flowers - rudbeckia, echinacea, verbena, iris, tall hemerocallis etc.
And then you do your edging massing - nepeta, penstemon, sedum, small hemerocallis like Stella d oro,

Follow the above for any type of border. If you want more modern then take out the tan grasses and have more greens and choose one additional colour.
So base layer Libertia and hakonechloa potentially.

Many choices. Have fun

@LemonSwan thanks for the suggestions. Will the choisya grow tall then ? Any ideas for a well behaved shrub for the fence side?
it takes me forever , every time I go to the garden centre I’m Googling the plants as I don’t know what they are going to be like when mature. I’ve a lot to learn yet but it’s great to have a garden!

Yes it grows tall, but that’s not an issue next to a fence, the issue is the width!

There’s so much choice but this is fun to have a near blank canvas and I can tell your soil is good so you can do nearly anything.

I wouldn’t start at a garden centre. Borders are best when they are designed before you buy. Plus garden centres usually a rip off.

I would go on Instagram and have a look at pictures of borders, or google or Pinterest. If you find a picture I can tell you everything that’s in it and a shrub that would suit that style.

As your sedum is growing well maybe start there finding companions. You could have a browse on this site and see plants which grow with sedum. www.mariannemajerus.com/search?s=sedum*

All the names of the plants are listed below. The variety is just as important as the species so make sure to note that when you research. Imagine the species is the family name and the cultivar/variety the individual. So for example Prince ‘Harry’, Prince ‘Andrew’, Prince ‘Charles’ and Prince ‘William’ are all Princes. But they are all completely different - not just different looks, but different temperament, health and habits.

You can also look on the rhs plant directory. Choosing varieties with the rhs cup symbol means they are good happy plants.

Also crocus website is useful for sizes and flowering months, and has ‘goes well with’ suggestions.

Once you have a couple of flowers (so a colour scheme developing) and a couple of base plants like the grasses; then plot the pictures of the flowers blooming on an excel chart with the month as the column header. Then you can see where the flowering periods overlap and where you have gaps. Then try to find things to fill the gaps so you have something in bloom all summer. You can use bulbs to help fill these gaps too.

Anymore help just let us know 👌

it takes me forever , every time I go to the garden centre I’m Googling the plants ... I’ve a lot to learn yet
Don't panic, Captain Mainwaring!
We are all learning, all the time. And we learn because we all make mistakes (even the professionals - they will happily admit to making mistakes).
Beware of counsels of perfection and just dive in. What's the worst that can happen?

Another useful tip: look over the garden fence and see what your neighbours are up to. If a plant works for them then it will probably work for you, too.

By the way. lavender thrives in poor soil. You could take those two out of your clay-rich border and put them in a pair of statement pots, in a sunny place.

Brilliant Thankyou 🙂