Garden borders - I don't know what I'm doing

[ermmmwhat]

We have a south facing garden in a new build house.

We planted 5 pleached Laurel as we're overlooked. Under the Laurel I planted some Skimmia and hydrangeas.

Skimmia has survived two summers, hydrangea have also survived. Everything else I planted has withered and died. I've tried lavender, grasses, and a fairly hardy shrub I forget the name of.

Im looking for advice on some things I can plant that will give interest all a year and will survive in south facing, although fairly shady, clay.

Many thanks!!

Photo Please and what's the soil like ? That said, hardy geraniums will generally grow anywhere.

Thanks so much. I'm at a loss!

Will try to get a photo uploaded today.

Soil isn't the best tbh. Very clay and lots of big stones etc when we moved in. I've added topsoil and compost a couple of times a year since we moved in a couple of years ago.

I’m sure someone who knows what they are actually doing will come along shortly, but from experience I know lavender and hydrangeas do not make the bed of flower bed companions. Lavender like it hot and dry, hydrangeas like is cooler and damp apparently.
A very knowledgeable gardener once said to me - in a rather withering tone - with hydrangeas, the key is in the name. Water, water, water. So I did and all the lavender basically drowned 😂

But also in a new build - the soil was awful and we found building up raised beds helped a lot. It was very difficult to dig over the soil.

This is a picture from last summer. Sorry my camera isn't working currently ☹️

We still have the hydrangeas and Skimmia as I said but it's all a bit bald and empty

I agree with the previous poster that hydrangeas and lavender (and lots of grasses) like pretty much the opposite conditions so if your hydrangeas and skimmia have survived well then I'd look for plants that like or tolerate shade and work well on clay. My garden is clay too and I can only grow lavender in containers as the soil is just too waterlogged and heavy for them.

Lots of roses love clay and are quite happy in a shadier spot so it may be worth a browse online.

Aucuba does well pretty much anywhere in my experience.

You could plant an acer as they are slow growing and lots of varieties stay small.

That border is beautiful 🌸

That’s lovely, op. The hydrangeas should get a lot bigger in time and will fill out. You may just need some seasonal annuals or bulbs (iris?) to fill in until they do?

Take your pic to a local garden centre. They will be able to steer you.

Have you gotten to grips with the pruning and feeding cycles of hydrangeas?

Lovely border OP!

Astilbe like shady spots and damp conditions so should be happy in an area that is being watered a lot for the hydrangeas.

It isnt going to be bald and empty for long - those hydrangeas are going to double in size in no time, and skimmias will grow much bigger too. And your preached laurel and those shrubs are going to be greedy feeders. If you want a wider variety of plants you are probably going to need to make the border quite a bit deeper. Clay is great for roses; hardy geraniums will do well anywhere; astrantia are lovely and will spread themselves around. Bulbs will be great for spring - get a big sack of them in the autumn and pop them in in any gaps.

If the soil is poor then the trick is regular mulching with a soil conditioner (either home made compost or something that says it’s a soil conditioner, but not a bought multipurpose compost) - do that every year if you can.

Catmint (nepeta) could be an alternative to lavender with similar colour and form and it’s very easy

I have a clay soil south-facing garden.
Roses do REALLY well. Loads of them, climbers, ramblers, shrubs.
I also have honeysuckle which smells amazing and has done well.
In the shady spots I have wild geraniums (not pelargoniums)
Everything else has been a bit hit and miss. Try penstemons as well. And wallflowers.

Thanks all, much appreciated 😊

Your border looks quite narrow - widening it would give nire scope... But the fence and pleached trees are naturally quite formal, the shrubs a good choice for interest. Keep the shrubs, but maybe add some very formal clipped evergreen balls or very low knot-garden style hedge at the front to reflect the formality of the pleached trees, then some foamy swaying flowers in amongst for contrast? Something like ammi majus, or japanese anemone, or geum would be happy in clay.

Roses would do very well, but Im not sure youll have space as the other shrubs will grow and fill out. The hydrangeas will end up a couple feet shorter than the fence, and the skimmia a bit shorter than that (obviously depends on variety and fence height - im assuming 6ft). So you could add a climbing rose tonghe fence?

I had a busy day yesterday at the garden centre and found a few evergreen and annual varieties that I think might work.

I'll try to add a screenshot with the names, if anyone has any thoughts.

A few posters have mentioned making the bed's deeper. I'm not really able to sadly, our garden isn't very big and we have a fairly deep patio, and need to keep as much grass space as possible for the children to burn off some energy!

I’d curve the line out to make it les austere looking. Then I would fill gaps with repeats of

geraniums, cat mint, sage, sedum. Some Iris’ for length and structure.

I'm thinking these could work?

Can I ask daft question: what do you wantbit to be like?
Your choices above are largely evergreen and shrubs. Im not sure you have space for any of them, as your hydrangeas and skimmia will grow both out and up!
The ceanothus prefers sunny, slightly sandy soil, though Ive always found it pretty tough. The peiris likes acid soil - difficult to guess what your soil is, but going on the pink-flowered hydrangeas Id guess its more alkaline.

Youve year-round structure with the pleached trees, and evergreen skimmia that have winter intetest. The hydrangeas should be good from mid /late summer onwards. Arguably something for spring and early summer could be nice - shorter growing daffodils tucked in at the base of the hydrangeas, hellebore, followed by aquilegia, taller types of geum. Those are all perennials, so theyll come back every year but arent woody like shrubs are.
Theyre easy going, and if you add loads of manure or garden compost they wont mind the crappy subsoil the builders will have levelled off your garden with.
Spring bulbs like daffodils and crocus are lovely too, and will be happy tucked in near to where rhe hydrangea will spread. Other bulbs, like tulips and aliums arent great on clay soil, so will probably need to be replaced pretty often - thatll add to rhe cost and worj!

Thanks @Saz12 that's very helpful 😊

Ideally I'd like it just to look "full" if you know what a mean? And I'd like it to have something to it year round rather than just a couple of months in spring/summer.

It could be that I'm being a bit impatient, but I thought the hydrangea would have spread abbot more than it has by now, and I was fairly put out when the snow killed all my "hardy" shrubs!

I feel a bit like I'm starting from scratch again and not entirely sure what I'm doing.

Every one has bee very helpful with suggestions. Much appreciated!

Could try training winter jasmine along the fence to give flowers in the winter. Also think you might love camellias. Both are happy in our clay with partial sun.