Help with Border!

[Nottodaythankyou123]

Hi all

I’m an incredibly novice gardener, and have a border at the back of my garden (10m x 3m) which I have no idea what to do with.

I keep looking at lists of plants and shrubs and climbers and I’m honestly just baffled.

I can’t be dealing with anything requiring loads of maintenance, so I’m looking for relatively low maintenance (nothing that needs potting in a shed over winter) but that gives some colour and coverage all year round.

For context the garden is south facing but the border is adjoining a wall at the back and is always fairly shady.

If anyone could give me any tips that would be much appreciated!

Hahaha good job I put it in gardening or people would’ve got the wrong impression 😅😅
They are actually quite beautiful though so I may have to find room

Another good idea! This thread has been really helpful!

I know - annoying really about the shade as it’s a south facing garden but the border is at the foot of a very tall fence which shades it until about 4/5pm

So, you're happy with the layout of the gardens a whole? In that case, it's just the border. What do you want from it? Year round colour, or a big spring / summer impact only? Some edibles?

I'm assuming the fence is nice enough so you don't particularly want to obscure it.

Get some trailing plants! You might as well use the height of the raised bed for more colour. These are likely to be ones that just last a season - the type you'd put into a hanging basket. Or if it's sunny enough, try some trailing tomatoes. Or variegated ivy if its really shady.

The sensible thing to do is to add loads of compost or rotted manure just now, and plan your planting. The right thing to do is to try and stick with 2 or 3 types of plant for each season, and concentrate on foliage or shape for the winter ones, as you'll be looking at them all year.

Hi OP

10m is a lot to fill! Not cheap either.

Look for plants online and see if you like them/if they do what you need them to/if they will survive where you want to plant them/if they will be too tall/wide too quickly, etc. Search terms like: perennials for shade/evergreens for shade/ and see what comes up that you like.

A garden writer (can’t remember his name except Larry, American) wrote a good book about shade gardening that I borrowed from the library because my garden is pretty much all shade except 1 part for a few hours a day in summer. He said to try the petunia test! That is, plant a petunia (a bedding plant for late spring/summer) and if it doesn’t thrive, you know that you’re set for shade gardening. So, that’s something you could start with when they are in the garden centres! You only need one and it could save a lot of money.

Plants I use in my garden: a framework of evergreens so that there is always something green even in winter. This includes euonymus (variegated, green and gold and white and green, different varieties for different heights - the coloured leaf helps to lighten the garden and gives more interest than just green; Sarcoccoca (2 varieties, 1 taller (Purple Stem) 1 shorter (Hookeriana). Both have tiny white scented flowers in winter. Also a Laurel that I may have to get rid of because the pruning is a lot of work to keep it to a reasonable height - I didn’t plant this one); Mahonia “Soft Caress” - winter flowers again.

I have some different spring bulbs because there is much less shade from the trees while they are dormant so I can get away with some.

I also have Bergenia (spring flowering) which is also called Elephants Ears because that describes the leaves. That’s a low growing one, about 10” and makes a bigger clump every year. If it outgrows it’s space you can break bits off and plant elsewhere.

I also manage to get Erysimum Bowles Mauve to grow in my “sunspot” which has a greeny-grey leaf and purple flowers - the bees love it.

Recommendations from Larry-whatever for flowering shade plants for borders
included Tiarella/Heucharella, Lamium (White Nancy is a good one to brighten the garden, but there’s a pink too), Brunnera, Pulmonaria, some of the hardy geraniums (Cranesbills) like Rozanne,
Aquilegia, Dicentra (Bleeding Heart), Hellebores and Astrantia. There will be more that I have forgotten.

If it turns out that you have the kind of shaded garden where you need plants which will thrive without half a day’s sun, I hope some of these will help get you started.

Enjoy!

@SerenStarEtoile do you mean Larry Hodgson? If so, he was Canadian ☺️🍁

@Koulibiak

Could be, if he wrote a book about gardening with shade! I honestly can’t remember, it was years ago.

Good advice though and some good symmetrical planting ideas to make the best of flowers while having an evergreen framework for all-year interest.

Worth a read if you have a shaded garden or area because there were (if memory serves) more suggestions than your average hostas (too many slugs for me) and foxgloves (can’t because dog chews leaves!).

Garden centres can turn out expensive if you are trying to fill a border. Supermarkets sell a lot of plants. Each time you go try and buy 3 of one particular type (3's of a plant make a clump much more impressive than dot plants of each type.). Also if you purchase say 3 x £2 plants every week you'll get a spread of seasons of interest.
Just got to be careful that the supermarket actually waters them occasionally! But s/m plants are (in general) easy to do well with. And if a total failure you've only lost say £6.
Good luck.

Sorry my click link didn’t work- www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Most-Shade-Fabulous-Lightens/dp/1579549675/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qnShVJ97a-fuGN4J7Zt6PJvDouEB4nmYAS7Y3WdqRgHK0mD1PPnP6ViIOjt3uzZh8mxQMwOKglZKmpINudsfZR10WJKKEacTphfF8Ty6WW5XPPK1QNQiN54UseiZpNoS9p2StHFabsW3-8_QQc3h0_96pXuzhazjD9B0Lb4OctHY0879rsVCaharCihNjjxMSSTZMM0KpRf8diCpe8PTT7w3-8B8-kkufwRVhK6DjL8.aAM1_5ZUNE57RGPOsUaOZb6dGu2OpofvoQeAtq9yja4&dib_tag=se&qid=1739660911&refinements=p_27%3ALarry+Hodgson&s=books&sr=1-1

I’m going to look at that book for inspiration! I have a bed that’s along a wall, effectively north facing, and have been trying to work out what to put there. There’s a strip of concrete between the bed and wall and I’m thinking of putting 2 large pots against the wall and grow 2 climbing roses - David Austin recommend 2 which suit containers and shade so fingers crossed.
And in the bed (only 3m x 1.5m) I was going to go for the hosta/fern/ annuals look but think I’ll need an evergreen or 2 in there. Also, fearful of the slugs but my next door neighbour grows fabulous hostas in a similar position so I’m minded to give them a shot.

Hope your hostas work!

I have a David Austin “Generous Gardener “ in my sunspot (sunny in summer 10 -2) that does well (on clay). I’ve found it more of a climber (except I grow it unsupported because the fence is not mine). It has long, arching stems with me which are very floriferous but don’t last in rain (very rainy here). I just love the look of it though!

Thanks @SerenStarEtoile, hope so too.

I did notice the Generous Gardener on the website and pale pink does appeal. Ophelia, the one I was after is out of stock so may consider GG.

https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/products/ophelia?_pos=1&_sid=bb4271edb&_ss=r

I'm not the instant gratification kind of gardener, so I'm biased, but if you do go for a ready-made planting scheme, be realistic: you're going to find that there are plants that don't thrive in your conditions, or that you don't enjoy. Plus the balance between the different plants will vary from garden to garden as they adjust to local conditions so you may find some things running rampant and others getting crowded out…

Trees and shrubs are expensive and a hassle to move or remove, so as you're new to gardening I'd actually wait until you have a better idea of what you want and where the best places for them are.

As your border is shady I'm going to offer just one suggestion to provide instant interest and colour: Nasturtium ‘Jewel of Africa’. It's a climbing/trailing type that will cover about 2m, horizontally along the ground if not encouraged to climb. It has variegated foliage, so it's decorative before it starts flowering and I know from experience that it flowers perfectly well in shade. Seeds are large, so can be sown individually and the plants grow quickly enough to outrun the slugs… Sow them inside in March/April and plant out when they look big enough. No need to buy fancy pots - you can use soup pots or cut down 2pt milk containers that you’ve stabbed holes in (sow 2 or 3 seeds per container and thin to 1 per container). You won't need many and can easily trim any growth that threatens to interfere with your longer-term planting. They will flower from July until the frost turns them to sludge.

This sort of design could work well until you feel ready for more ad hoc planting. Lots of the same, pots and ferns?