What to plant here...?

[SweetWilliam47]

North facing fence, need something big and colourful to fill the gap, any suggestions gratefully received! It's got a huge Mexican orange blossom to the left of it.

Camellia?

It's very poor and alkaline soil there so don't think that would work?

My front is north facing (but sheltered) and I have big acer, a magnolia and hydrangea that have grow very well there (predate my time in the house). I've also got a mahonia that is doing well there.

Another suggestion would be maybe dogwood. It's not that exciting in summer but comes into its own in winter with coloured stems. Or maybe an unsual variety of buddleia - either of those two will grow anywhere.

If the soil is very poor you could try some large containers.

Thank you, lots of great suggestions! I hadn't thought of the mahonia, that might work! It's quite exposed to westerly winds there, but I'll discuss with DP later and see what he thinks! 🙏🏼

An Acer

An acer might work too, but it might grow a bit too big, it's not actually a very large space. Plus my neighbour would most likely try to kill it, he's already killed one of our birch trees...

You can prune an acer to keep it in shape and your neighbours shears off it.

Ive just talked with DP and he says acers have been attempted in this garden before and it doesn't like the soil here. I had to look up the mahonia and I've just realised we already have one nearby. We need something big quickly (trying to sell next spring) so maybe a budleja as that would survive anything and grow fast

What about a jasmine?

Hmm I'd love Jasmine, but don't they prefer sunny, warm and sheltered spots? In which case that's the opposite of what this place is really

Acers don't like the wind so, yes, drop that off the list. I'd like to see your neighbour trying to kill dogwood or buddleia.

What about some upright grasses like Miscanthus sinensis or Calamagrostis ‘Karl Forester’? Both deciduous but once you cut them down in early Spring they’ll grown back quite quickly. It will be well worth digging in plenty of organic matter ( compost / manure ) to the whole bed, and then mulching with the same afterwards. Other suggestion is Trachelospermum jasminoides - evergreen climber, white highly scented flowers.

Yeah don't get me started on the neighbour, he basically must have chopped the roots off one of our birch trees when he was fixing the bordering fence, he's got security CCTV everywhere and yesterday he was busy sweeping the driveway which I thought was nice until I later saw a large heap of what he had brushed was carefully left on our part of the drive. The neighbour on the other side is just as bad and was literally today sweeping the stuff from his drive and through a gap at the bottom of our trellis and into our flowerbed... I actually get so shocked by this type of behaviour that although I stood on the other side of the hedge watching it all instead of saying something I just stood there speechless! Anyway, slight detour, back to the gap in our garden...🪴

The Karl Forrester grass is a nice idea. I'd love Jasmine, but not sure it would be very happy over there in that dark corner. It will only get very early morning sunlight in summer, the rest of the time it's just in the shade all the time.

If you really want to piss off your neighbour, then bamboo. A lovely spreading variety. Or sumac.

Mallow or flowering currant?

I have a few, and I find that they grow anywhere. They do better in sunny spots, but the one I have in the shade is really healthy and always flowers. The one I have in full sun flowers more prolifically and for longer.

Yes, if your space is windy, it wouldn’t be suitable for an Acer.

There’s different species of jasmine. You could try winter jasmine, with yellow flowers from about November to March

@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow bamboo would be perfect height for the gap but we already have bamboo in the other part of the garden, not the worst of the spreading varieties but still an absolute nuisance! I don't know sumac, will look it up.

Photinia Red Robin is a popular plant so they are quite cheap. Or, conversely, you can afford to buy a larger specimen (so you don't have to wait for it to grow to fill the gap).
Viburnum tinus has year-round appeal.
Or a Fatsia Japonica will give a contrasting leaf-shape.

All are evergreen.

Spotted laurel - not colourful flowers but bright foliage and tough

Spotted laurel (aucuba) is a good choice because it's tough but wouldn't the yellowy-greenness be too similar to the mexican orange blossom?

I suppose you could put two plants in the space so you have (left to right) MOB - darker colour - aucuba.

It might be possible to create mass and height with biennials like foxgloves and hollyhocks etc. Do any friends have spare plants going?

Garrya elliptica?

Lots of good suggestions. We already have 3 large Fatsia Japonica's elsewhere in the garden so at least we know it would definitely thrive. I went to look at the Red Robin today, but think I'm drawn towards either the jasmine or some tall grasses and something...

We tried foxglove there but it died very quickly, not entirely sure what we did wrong but we were away for 4 weeks this summer, perhaps it just dried up.

We tried foxglove there but it died very quickly, not entirely sure what we did wrong but we were away for 4 weeks this summer, perhaps it just dried up. Had it flowered? They’re biennial - grow the first year, flower the second and then usually die