What could I plant to soften new fencing and bare borders?

[SuburbanKel]

Hello people who know things I do not!
So not to drip feed:
My back garden did desperately need some work - however, in a standoff with my husband, that has left me genuinely upset, I'm left with something I'm really unhappy with.
ALL established shrubbery has been removed.
I insisted on the border even though he wasn't going to leave one.
Not my choices, so it is what it is - judge away but it's pointless :(

Before and after pics attached for you all to look at my new and expensive ugly fencing, posts and gravel boards and exposed lovely pebbledashed garage.

My question is - as I am no gardener - what would you reccomend planting in the border etc that might either be semi established, large and 'statement' or grow quickly.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

Also - to add - I'm not unhappy with theteam who did the work - they followed orders and were a delight as pro trades.

A new husband? Dig a big hole, bury him in it, he might make great compost.

I'm a bit miffed on your behalf, those borders are very narrow. The hardscaping looks great though. Is it astroturf or grass?
If its grass I think I'd plant into the lawn a bit in revenge...

On the really narrow one alongside garage I think id go for lots of alliums from early to late flowering.

On the wider one hows the soil? I think it might be quite dry because of fence? Light levels?

By border, you mean that little 20ish cm strip along the grass? It really needs to be wider to have any impact.

A climber might work depending on aspect. Rose, clematis, hydrangea.

Sorry, it's 60 cm in front of the main fence - there is nothing alongside the garage but I want a solution to cover the auld pebble dash!

Again, I'm a complete novice here, the soil in the 60cm border alongside fence should be 'okay' - it's essentially fresh. The well established hedging/trees were removed and the fencing put up - alledgedly because they were spoiling the previous lawn! The turf is brand new and 'real'. Alongside the garage there is nothing at all, but I do want somethig to cover the pebbledash/garage itself. sigh

Beyond tempted.

An evergreen clematis would grow along the fence - put across a couple of wires for it to cling to. The flowers smell lovely - mine (clematis armandii) is covered with flowers this year.

Can you put a planter and trellis along the garage? A clematis montana will grow quite quickly to cover it and is for sale right now. Green/red foliage, lots of pink flowers. While you're waiting for shrubs to get established, I'd also get some tall fast annuals and biennials like sunflowers, sweet pea, hollyhock, foxglove, delphinium.

Alternatively - replace garage with a greenhouse.

It's a bit weird that you didn't get a say, surely as married co-occupier of the house you can veto. Perhaps more one for the Relationships board...

I was going to suggest Relationships too. I hope this is a one off @SuburbanKel

What about a nice ivy for beside the garage? It'll be good for wildlife, once established, and your lined up ducks will be far down the stream by the time the pebble dash is thinking about crumbling.

I might be missing something here but I really like it, its got the space to be built into lots of shrubs although I get where you are coming from

The things that grow like wildfire are buddleia, red robins, rosemary, privet, persicaria (we have a bright purple one that you cannot keep under control its massive)

Clematis Montana for the garage, definitely. If you’ll need a trellis, get the same team back quick to install it? If you need a stealth climber, which doesn’t require support, then climbing hydrangea. You could also paint the pebble dash green to make it disappear.

Your garden does look like a lovely blank slate and you can increase the depth of the borders by a few inches every year when your husband is not looking…. For hedging I really love common dogwood. It establishes quickly, can be pruned hard and has lovely red stems for winter colour. Mine sings with wildlife. You’re not too late for bare roots, which I find easy and cheap to plant: www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/red-dogwood-cornus-alba-40-60cm-bare-root?utm_term=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&campaign_id=22970361008&ad_group_id=&ad_id=&keyword_id=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22970390081&gbraid=0AAAAAD909LPCwHm0ompv-P9-abROyGYGs&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4Z-mz43MkwMVbpBQBh2HPRTJEAQYAiABEgJHnPD_BwE

And for ‘statement’ I’d go for some huge pots with lovely red Japanese acers to pick up the red in your pavers.

Don’t worry (at least not about the garden). The paving looks lovely and you can soften the fence and garage easily. Depending what kind of soil you have and how much sun the fence and the garage wall each get, plenty of things will thrive, particularly as you can plant into soil rather than into pots.

Star jasmine is a good shout. Trouble free and it twines itself round wires or trellis so doesn’t need tying in, pruning etc. Lovely white or yellow flowers and is basically evergreen. Goes a nice red colour if there’s a dry autumn, or otherwise stays green. And it grows pretty flat, rather than bushing out over the lawn, so won’t intrude like a shrub would. I have two which between them are now covering about a 4m long trellis.

If you don’t mind tying stems into trellis, pruning etc then a climbing rose is also lovely but not evergreen.

If you have lots of sun, you could try jasmine or honeysuckle but they can get rather gigantic.

I wouldn’t worry about having lots of border. I just plant into the grass when I need to. Border just attracts weeds IMO unless you really cover the bare soil with plants!

Hi,
The paving looks great and the fence can definitely be softened with planting. I have created a border along a fence line over several years and it is one of my favourite features of the garden.

Consider sun exposure when picking plants. Some like full sun, partial sun or shade. Plant a mix of plants - shrubs, trees, flowering and non-flowering to provide year round interest.
how deep is the soil? You need to consider the depth for the roots and plant size. Also look at the plant label to check the height and spread of a mature plant.

You could put planters with attached trellis along the garage wall viewed from the house to screen it with any climbers. I have clematis but you may want ivy for year round cover.

Patio containers and raised beds could be placed in the paved areas and near the house. The hard landscaping has been completed and the second phase is planting. It is a lovely garden with lots of areas you can add greenery to.

I buy almost all my plants from Dobbies or Caulders as the staff are very knowledgeable but any garden centre could advise you. You could also ask a landscape gardener to professionally design and plant borders and make raised beds.

Flooring with interest. We also have a very ugly fence to cover!

I think it looks good - lots of potential. You can get bedding plants for quick colour in the border. You can put things in pots against the garage, big pots can have a wee trellis too if you like. for fences, something like a clematis or russian vine or honeysuckle? If you go to your local garden centre, they can probably advise you what will work in your soil etc. Or lots of online plant nurseries allow you to search by the category of plant you are looking for. Enjoy!

Lavatera - tree mallow. Fantastic for instant impact and making a garden look more established

It will grow like mad each growing season, from ground to 1.5-2m and lots of flowers.

Some specifically evergreen honeysuckles are very vigorous growers (more so than other climbers I have had). Very attractive fence cover.

E.g. halls prolific, lonicera henryii

😂😂😂😂😂

The fence panels are a bit... er... orange. 😂

Maybe get some brown fence stain on those, 'dark oak' is the best colour for making fences neutral and blend into the background, and you could paint the gravel boards to match. Either that or go over the gravel boards with natural yogurt, which will encourage the growth of algae to soften the stark concrete.

Along the long border, how about several obelisks to add structure and break up the straightness. You can grow runner beans, sweet peas, clematis, all sorts up those. You'll probably have to avoid the areas around the bases of the posts as there will be a ton of concrete down there.

Boston ivy would look beautiful growing on that garage, if you get the right variety (robusta) it will cover it in a couple of years.

I would definitely paint or stain the fence a darker colour, it will really help it be less prominent. Then you can train wires along it and put a whole load of different climbers on it. Which way does it face?

I would remove a couple of the slabs at the back of the garage and build a very large raised bed there. You can plant a climber in it to cover the garage, and a lot of pretty flowers to cheer up that patio area.

The issue with the garage is that you have a minuscule border alongside it which is probably full of rubbish soil from the path and paving. Another problem is that the path is so near to the garage that if you put a plant that grows outwards to any degree you won't be able to walk down the path unimpeded.

Things like clematis montana will be too wide so no good. You need something that grows flat against the wall, so something like ivy. You can get variegated forms which are attractive. Make sure you prune hard to keep it within bounds. I'd paint the garage wall too first. I'd also paint the fences. Black sets off plants very well, or there are some nice soft blue/green shades.

The other border is also too narrow, borders should be 3 or 4 feet deep so you can have a mix of taller and shorter plants, and a mix of shrubs and perennials and annuals. There's just so much paving, it's crying out for plants. I would make the lawn into an oval shape so you have borders all around so you get rid of that " plants stuck in narrow borders round the edge of the garden look". I'd also buy some very large pots and grow things like acers, elder, or bamboo in them to put on the expanse of paving.

I think that you need some height in that garden, otherwise it will all look very flat. You could put a statement tree in a pot on the patio nearest the house - it will block the view to the fence and obscure it a bit. I think another tree or big shrub would look good on the far patio, too . It will draw the eye to the back of the garden and distract you from the fence.
The border in front of the fence looks shady - you will need to factor this in if you choose to put plants there.
You can get loads of instant colour and interest with pots.