What to put in this bed

[DrRiverSong]

I have this bed , approx 1m by 3m that has been a mess of weeds and a very unwell palm since we moved in. I’ve finally cleared it and now need to decide what to put in. Ideally a couple of things that will flower, spread quickly, and cover the area so that I’m not weeding all the time. Not too tall growing as it’s straight outside the back door looking up the garden and we want the view.

im not a natural gardener and still learning so hardy and capable of withstanding the odd mistake might not be a bad idea!!

can anyone make any recommendations.

You could turn it into a little herb garden!
Buy the 75p herb plants from the supermarket, mint, basil, rosemary etc and just plant them. Then you have fresh herbs ready to pick for cooking with and to put in drinks :)

Grow some dalmatians! Lovely dog 🙂

Perfect!

I’m not sure I need many more of them! He’s a handful as he is!

I would buy one or two shrubs and fill the rest with perennials. What sort of thing do you like?

Lovely dog...something quite tough, and not edibles if he's likely to pee on them

He will @ErrolTheDragon he pees on bloody everything so that’s a good point! I’d like some colour.

I have a really nice white hydrangea up by my chicken house but I’d love some reds, yellows, and oranges. I do have another massive bed to do at some point where I can put bigger things (I’d love a rhododendron but need to check the soil!). I’m a bit over faced by that one so just strimming the nettles every so often at the moment!!

But here I could have something small and pretty and it would fit right in.

have rosemary and lavender at the front already so don’t really need more of those. Maybe I should just go and see what the garden centre has today!

Before you plant anything get a couple of bags of muck dug in there.

^^This. Then add patio roses, spring bulbs and summer bedding plants so you can have whatever colour/scent you like all year round.

You could fill it with various lavenders? They are pretty hardly and within a few years will fill right out.
Put a thick layer of hardwood type wood chip, not basic mulch around them and that will last several years and help with any weeds

Thanks everyone. I have some time off work this afternoon so I’ll go see what’s available at my local garden centre!

I’d love some reds, yellows, and oranges.
Not sure about this. I think a palette of purple / blue / white / silver would go better against those bricks.

Never being one to care about mismatched colours I did this! I have some bark to put down tomorrow but ran out of time today.

Are they all annuals? If so they will only last about 2 months until late September when it’s cold again. Do you plan to leave it empty each Autumn and winter and just replant each Spring?

It looks like there might be a couple of perennials in there. Maybe a hebe? The annuals might self seed a bit.

African/Cape daisies (Osteospermum) are my favourite & come in lots of groovy colours, they're hardy, perennial & spread fairly quick. Carnations & geraniums are hardy, but not as many exciting colours. You can start thinking about chucking in some spring bulbs when it gets to late summer/early autumn (snowdrops, narcissus, tulips, peonies etc, do a bit of research, there's something to bring colour almost throughout the whole year). Cyclamen for winter flowers. Scatter wildflower seeds in spring (lots of nice mixtures available). Fuchsia's nice but needs cutting back hard. Most of these generally just need deadheading to encourage more flowers & trimming back once they finish flowering. Don't be too precious, just keep trying different stuff, have fun & see what works!

Alstroemeria and crocosmia for orange and perennial. Rudbeckia for later colour depending on sun.

I find primulas a cheap and cheery investment and primroses they just keep coming back and the colours can be stunning in the depths of all seasons.

Couple of definite perennials in there,), couple of might be perennials, and then some annuals for a pop of colour. I’m happy to add annuals each year while the perennials spread a bit. And see how we go.

i have a rudbeckia, leucantheum, and addenda in there.

not sure what this purple plant is but I liked it. Any ideas? It’s label had gone. If it’s not perennial I’ll replace it next year.

The flowers are from the bedding plants section for a bit of colour.

I have two much larger spaces to tackle next. I’m a bit daunted by them!

@IvyCardamom i have a load of bulbs in this mess of a bed which are all shoved at the very front. The previous owner had neglected for years! I have daffodils, snowdrops, and blue bells in here but they all need digging up now they’ve finished and moving. But I’ll also need to save to get some fairly established plants. I’m actually going to plan this one as it’s very shady by the wall under the hawthorn and the lilac.

What direction does that bed face and and how much sun does it get? It looks quite shady?

The cosmos you've planted might need slug protection at that size, if you have a sluggy garden.

The little bed? The garden is south facing but we have lots of lovely trees, particularly down each side so we do get lots of dappling through the day and we get shade morning and afternoon. But in summer it gets a lot of sun.

not tons of slugs. We have chickens which seems to keep the numbers down. I’ll have to watch them digging the bed though!

that bigger bed I posted just before is almost always on shade because of the trees.

The flowers probably won't like being in shade if that's where you've planted them. They might stop blooming 🤔

I’m crossing fingers! We’re getting direct sun again now as the sun is low. It just bit constant all day.