I am a complete gardening pleb and need some help please to rectify DP's bodge job weeding effort

[MadreInglese]

We have a little yard at the front of our house which is about 10ish foot square, mostly paved apart from a 2ft wide border running round three sides

There are two fern-looking tree-bush things (about 4ft high), one in each corner of the border and until recently the rest of the soil was filled with various little shrubs. DP in his wisdom decided that he would 'weed' the garden by pulling out every single plant other than these two large ferny things. So we now have two big green bush things and the rest is full of soil and local cat crap

Please can anyone advise me what to plant that would be fairly inexpensive, would spread across the border (ie grow flat sideways and not grow up tall IYSWIM) but be moderately easy to maintain, not bothered about flowering, actually just green might be quite nice.

I'm peeved enough with DP as it is and just want to replant something else there fairly quickly, any advice appreciated as I don't know where to start.

Bit more info please! How sunny is it? Any ideas on the soil (apart from the cat crap) - is it quite sandy, or quite heavy and clayey? How much rain do you get in your part of the country?

And the existing plants - do you think they might be phormiums, yukkas or tree ferns? (Google for pics) We can try to pick something to go with what you've already got.

Thankyou Grendelsmum

Don't think the plants are any that you've mentioned, they're more like little stumpy conifers, leaves a bit like this or this but I think the bottom branches have been cut off IYSWIM so they look like little trees but flat rather than pointy on top like a xmas tree.

We're in N Yorkshire, not coastal, so more cold and wet than warm and sunny on average I reckon! The front yard gets the sun only in the morning really. The soil is neither sandy or clay-ey, it's very black like peat. I wondered if heather might be a good option?

Hope that's enough info, thanks so much for your help - you are saving me from a Homebase smash and grab plant purchase mistake

what about geranium maccrorhizum - it comes in a couple of different varieties, spreads easily isn't very tall, has pretty pinkish flowers, aromatic leaves which take on a reddish tinge in autumn, is not fussy about site and is mostly evergreen?

oh, by the way i think your fern things are a form of leylandii or possibly juniper. chances are if the bootom branches are cut back hard they won't regrow .

Hi herbidacious, thanks for your post, after a quick google images search I do think they could be leylandii, definitely not juniper

The geraniums look nice, but a bit delicate, would they def withstand crappy weather and would they take a lot of care? Also, do geranium plants spread quite easily or would I need to buy loads and pack them in? There's quite an area we need to cover.

How about some Hebe? not sure the latin name, they are folige shrubs come in a variety of leaf colours from glossy dark green to verigated red varieties, need no maintenance and don't mind shade/sun/rubbish soil

Oooh yes hebe looks good, liking the no maintenence idea - would they grow tall though? Looking for plants that will stay quite stumpy really.

Mine haven't but I think it depends on which type you get

Hmm, hebes and heathers sound like a nice idea (they both stay nice and low and round). You'd get low-maintenance evergreen coverage, plus some flowers. It might be a little dull, though - how about adding in some spring bulbs (crocuses, dwarf narcissi etc) and something for the summer? If you want to get a little more sophisticated, you could take out the mysterious conifers and put in some pittosporum 'Tom Thumb' instead.

The geranium is absolutely unstoppable once it's got its feet in - no need to worry about tenderness!

You could put together something like this:

www.crocus.co.uk/plants//shrubs/classid.4262/ www.crocus.co.uk/plants//s hrubs/mediterranean-plants/hebe-red-edge
/classid.3931/

www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/shrubs/ mediterranean-plants/hebe-autumn-glory/classid.1000001789/

www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/heath ers/calluna-vulgaris-dark-star/classid.464/

www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/perennials/anemone-% C3%97-hybrida-honorine-jobert/classid.2474/

Oooh they look lovely, I esp like the hebe autumn glory and the anemone

Think I will have to do a bit of a scout round the local garden centres

When do you think would be a good time to start planting? Would it be better to wait for nicer weather?

you could plant as soon as it warms up a bit but keep an eye on the watering for the first year. the geranium will spread quite fast, as will the anemone. if you could find a well filled pot of each you could divide them both to make them go further.

One good tip is to look out for plants with 'RHS AGM' on the label - this means they have the Award of Garden Merit, which usually means they will be very good plant varieties, worth the extra couple of quid. Personally, I wouldn't buy a plant variety at the garden centre that I hadn't either researched in advance, or that didn't have the AGM label. (Well, okay, from time to time I do, and then I regret it each time.)

if you really have leylandii in a bed near the house take them out NOW before they grow up - they were specially bred to grow huge fast.

Even in a little bed don't get just one-of-everything: get three or five each of a smaller number of things. Then it will look more designed and less spotty, and you will be a bit more careful about what you choose.

Is it a U-shaped bed? where is the house?