Big, easy plants help

[StrangePond]

I am a novice gardener with a very large garden, currently an entirely blank canvas. South-facing slope, in terraces, but quite exposed, lots of rainfall, not much frost. Soil varies from quite nice to very stony and clay-y. I’m still doing bits of exploratory digging throughout to map it out.

Could people recommend plants, shrubs particularly, that get big, and are relatively easy to grow? I find so much gardening advice favours the compact, but space is literally the one thing I have lots of, and I think it would help to anchor the space to get some structure in.

Himalayan honeysuckle, leycesteria Formosa

Interesting! I've never gardened on a slope so I'm just throwing out ideas here. Things I'd definitely try in those conditions would be various euonymus, ceanothus, mahonias, hydrangeas, junipers, hebes, tamarisk. Just to get started. Always worth looking up individual varieties on the RHS website for details.
How big is the slope? Lucky you! 🌿

do you have any trees? i'd start by putting in a couple of trees to give height and structure.

birch can work well, crab apple is good for flowers and berries,

also map out a path (or two) down your slope so that you can take a nice walk around your space and enjoy different views. then plant around the path.

Thanks, @SlightlyHeartbroken and @TemporarilyCantDoMyself — am taking notes. If you saw how many large stones I’m picking out of said garden, no one would envy me! The slope within each terrace is only slight, not much of a gradient.

I have a couple of birches in temporary pots which (as soon as I have anyone strong around) I will move up the garden (far too heavy for me solo), and actually, you’ve just reminded me that there’s a native tree giveaway in a community garden near me at the weekend. I think they’ll be tiny little bare root things, and it’s possible they’ll be a queue out the gate long before I get there, but they’re offering alder, blackthorn, crab apple, downy birch, oak, elder, Rowan, holly, silver birch, wild cherry, dog rose. Any thoughts?

Paths are in place.

Look for things with quite thick leaves. Euonymus come in lots of varieties, as does Cornus. midwinter fire is my favourite.i would google shrubs with ornamentail bark for winter. These can really brighten up the land when all else is dormant. Choose things with silver stems and leaves for the dry areas.

I would also extend your search to Wiinter Gardens. Anglesey Abbey in Cambridge is brilliant, as is Beth Chatto in Essex. Piet Oudolf does amazing landscapes with ornamental grasses, which do really well in stones ground.

For trees look at Barcham Nursery for example ideas. They are good at answering queries too.

For year round interest, Forsythia, Philadelphus, Cheery trees and Acers and anything with berries.

Ooh. We need a picture for an idea of size. I assume you have some kind of plan beyond big stuff round the edges and grass in the middle?

I lust after a local terraced garden (that is clearly wasted on its owners). Top teir would be patio surrounded by lush flower garden with a rill; next teir would be a very nice potager with a beautiful greenhouse with the rill running through it and a pond in the middle, next teir would be a small orchard underplanted with bulbs, bottom teir (which floods) would be wild water meadow with fritillaries and camassia and long grass in the summer.

Lovely fillers off the top of my head because of the time of year: camellias, rhododendrons, berberis (birds love it), mahonia, hydrangea, choysia, buddlia, magnolia, sarcocca, Daphne. Holly. Philadelphus. Stop me now...

Builder are arseholes for that, particularly if you live on the end of a row.

You’ll soon have lovely little birds making their home in your garden.

What are the boundaries like? You could do some hedging with the bare root trees. Wisteria on a fence.

Fwiw the council has been handing out free trees (tiny whips) here but they've not been very popular, so there might be plenty left (people round here aren't very garden minded).

We have similar OP, but no slope. Ours was completely derelict for over 10yrs. We now have grass, but need to plan beds, trees, shrubs etc. Things that grow quickly, will often also need more regular pruning- so its something to consider. Have you thought about some fruit trees? It sounds like you could have a mini orchard with the space. I assume there are steps down the terraces? Would you get some rose arches and grow climbing roses or clematis over them to add colour/fragrance.

Shrubs that are good do-ers:

Forsythia
Viburnum tinus
Mahonia
Cotoneaster (whole variety of those, some low growing, some bigger)
Euonymus
Dwarf flowering cherry - prunus 'kojo no mai'
Spiraea varieties
Weigela
Pyracantha
Pinus mugo
Picea glauca alberta conica

The plants your local community garden are giving away will be incredible for wildlife. You'll have a garden full of birds if you take some of them.

My tip would be don't forget a good smattering of evergreens so that you have something to look at all winter.

Also, put scented shrubs nearest the path or house so that you can enjoy their perfume when you pass.

With regard to stones, I only pick out ones bigger than my fist. A good mix of stones in the soil will help drainage.

@justtheotheronemrswembley 's list is superb.

I haven't noticed hawthorn listed anywhere. That's amazing for wildlife.

I’ll let you know what I get!

I actually have a voucher for fruit trees, which I must spend. I would adore arches, but have literally no money for buying them at the moment. I wonder whether we’re too exposed for them, though.

Thank you, everyone. Taking copious notes.

I’m a rubbish gardener, partly due to being very lazy as well as not really knowing a lot. But a few things I do - I choose perennials because things that keep coming back every year are perfect for lazy people. If I buy stuff from the garden centre and it promptly dies or gets demolished by slugs and snails I don’t buy it again. So no hostas or delphiniums for me even though I love both.

I’m exceptionally pleased with a ceanothus I planted a couple of years ago, it’s grown so fast and will be a real picture this year. DH is threatening to cut it back as it is beginning to block out the window of his study where he wfh. I’ve banned him from touching it until after it has flowered this spring.

But if you have a really large space and a decentish budget it may well be worth spending a modest amount on the services of a garden designer to give you a rough plan.

I take an occasional trip to the Burford Garden Centre which is about an hour away from us. It’s very aspirational and not much is cheap. Great food. They sell pretty much fully grown trees. If you have the budget you could literally plant an orchard. £1000 might seem a lot for one tree and of course it is unless you are very wealthy but remember those trees have been growing and have been carefully nurtured for many years. Priced by the year I think they are probably a bargain. Anyway I just throw this out there in case you want to add some instant structure with some decent sized trees.

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I agree, consult a garden designer if you can (I dream of this). Our garden had been planted with random shrubs dotted about when we moved in, no planning or thought in evidence at all. I’ve wasted so much time and money trying to research ‘right plant, right place’ etc. You don’t have to get them to do all the work, you can just ask them to draw up a plan, even just for one border or area and then add to it as you’re able.
Edit to add: as someone says, large plants are likely to be vigorous and incur a huge amount of pruning and clearing in the future, when you may not be so able to keep on top of it. A good designer can advise on this as well.

Olearia macrodonta - leaves look a bit holly-like but are not prickly
Euphorbia Wulfenii - big self-seeding perennial
Hemerocallis (Day Lily) they love our clay soil in our south-facing garden
Spiraea Douglasii - spreads well.
Buddleia - but they only live about 5 years in our clay soil.

Would love to, but have no money! I have no clue what a garden designer would cost —ballpark, just for the most basic service?

Hydrangeas get big quickly and are easy to prune
some of the salvias produce large bushy growths
ferns

Why not get a good book or several for research, no need to rush. Adam Frost’s recent one I enjoyed, he explained his approach to creating the garden in his new house. The New Romantic Garden by (I think) Pollyanna Wilkinson is quite inspirational, although rather geared towards the posh end imo. I’m sure others could suggest good ones.

In fact, with a large blank slate south facing garden I probably would hardly bother with trees and shrubs. I’d be focusing on flowers for cutting and bringing into the house, possibly lots of perennials as they’re lower maintenance than annuals, then any shrubs would be for foliage. Maybe some grasses mixed among them à la Piet Oudolf. That would be my dream garden (stuck with a north facing flower graveyard 😢).