Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Rachelpalm

Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

Hello
my front border which runs under my lounge window(right next to house wall) and then curves round next to my garage looks old and sad. Some plants are nice and they were only put in 2 years ago. Small evergreen bushes etc. I will save them. The border is full of bulbs and one end has dwarf bamboo in it( I never put it in). I want to clean the whole lot out and remove everything. Put good plants to one side and then replant with a few new plants and the ones I saved, then put black membrane down and then slate the lot. The border is south facing and in the sun most of the day. What other plants can I buy ? I like evergreen plants and plants that are low mait and plants that flower for months on end. Will not put any palms in here as the area is not really big enough. I want plants that do not get very big or are slow growing too.

Any idaes would be great.

Thanks

photos are a couple of years old, it looks more overgrown now

Image

Image

Will take a photo of it this weekend.
Rachelpalm

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

Found a pic taken end May this year

Image


Image

I just need some inspiration. The border looks tired and old. I like the thought of a modern contemp style border.
Trudytropics

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Trudytropics »

Rachel your front garden is very nice, modern and tidy looking, my favourite type of garden :lol: , I dont do blousy flowery planting, I like structure and form :D . If it was me doing your border, I'd rip it all out, plant 3 large Buxus balls along front of window and 3 along the other bit of border, evergreen, contemporary looking, easy and slow growing, just regular feeds and clipping 3 times a year will keep them looking good for many years, once these are in and evenly spaced put in phormiums, grasses and yuccas to tie in with rest of garden, lots of plum slate, this is the best colour for making the green of the plants pop, I notice you have slate already in grey? sorry it has to go :lol: , or over slate it with the plum. I don't do flowers really so can't advise, but the rest of your front garden apart from few pots does not have flowers, so I'd be wary of putting them in border under window, I would think the look you are after is uniform and modern, so be restrained with your planting choices a few carefully chosen plants is better than a stack of stuff squished in, each plant needs to show you its own merits :D . These are my thoughts it will be interesting to hear other peoples ideas :D
Rachelpalm

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

Hello Trudy
thanks for your advice. I agree with all you say apart from the slate bit. My neighbour has plum slate and I do not like it. I much prefer grey. Love you planting ideas, sound very good. Food for thought.

Cheers
Trudytropics

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Trudytropics »

Rachel horses for courses as they say, funny I suggested plum slate as I have grey slate paddlestones in mine at the moment :lol: . I actually forgot mine were grey, I do like the plum as well though :lol: . If you are thinking of going down the slate route so to speak, I got my slate paddlestones delivered from an on line aggregates company, easier than going to garden centre and filling boot, they were quite pricy but are stunning, large flat paddles of welsh grey slate. I had actually ordered black japanese pebbles and they sent me welsh slate instead :ahhh!: so I wangled a good discount as to pricy to send back, glad I kept them as they look really good :D
kata

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by kata »

Funny,

I was looking at Plum slate, and grit this afternoon. I have to wait for my son coming home next thursday from Tenerife to get that and another big bag of compost.

What I have just seen on a video link to ER Gardening is a lovely shrub that keeps its color. Thats called 'Tasmaia Current'.
its new 2010.

I also saw a pretty white star shaped climbing flowering plant called Hoya.
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cordyman

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by cordyman »

Rachel it looks great :)

Is that cordy an Austrlia and how did that cordy survive the winter of doom?

Never been able to get one to grow like that they always end up with loads of leaves and stumpy :(
Simba

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Simba »

Miscanthus Gracilimus - Such beautiful grass...I would have one on these at the end of the border, it'd look fantastic at the base of your tall Cordyline... icon_thumleft
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Rachelpalm

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

cordyman wrote:Rachel it looks great :)

Is that cordy an Austrlia and how did that cordy survive the winter of doom?

Never been able to get one to grow like that they always end up with loads of leaves and stumpy :(
Hello
yes it is a Australian Cordyline. One trunk died which had 3 heads on so I cut that back. The other trunk with 3 heads on luckily survived. Also 3 large shoots from the bottom survived and are now growing fast. Guess it just pulled through the winter by being sheltered and South facing. The 3 shoots at the bottom had rotten middles and I pulled these out and it left a hole, but in April they reshooted. I have seen gardens up same road with surviving Cordylines, but go another 2 miles and some are dead. Guess I was just very lucky.

Simba, cannot plant anything under my Cordy as the newish shoots take up all the space.

Thanks for all your replies and advice. Have decided on black phormuims so far as I have them out back and they look great and survived last winter ok. Just got to decide what else to put with them,

Cheers
Rachelpalm

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

Hello
bought 6 platts black phormiums today and 6 carex evergold and 3 lavenders. Will clear ground and lay these out and see if it looks ok. Did look at yuccas but they were spiky and I do not like spiky things as my cat may injure himself. There were a couple of soft yuccas but they looked very sim to the phormiums, wanted something abit different looking next to them.....

Cheers
Rachelpalm

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

Hello
spent 7 hours yesterday clearing border. Put about 6 plants out back in my middle border( day lillies and a dwarf conifer and some other evergreen shrubs and flowers). Then had to sieve the entire border as there were hunderds of bulbs in there( bluebells etc) and had to get rid of every piece of root as there was invasive dwarf bamboo up one end. It took hours, lol. Have kept a few bulbs and will stick them in a few pots. Also bought 6 Carex Red Rooster grasses off Ebay to go under the window. Now to put black membrane down and plant icon_thumright
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simon
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Location: Slough, Berkshire

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by simon »

Rachelpalm wrote:
cordyman wrote:Rachel it looks great :)

Is that cordy an Austrlia and how did that cordy survive the winter of doom?

Never been able to get one to grow like that they always end up with loads of leaves and stumpy :(
yes it is a Australian Cordyline.
Cordyline australis comes from New Zealand :wink:
Rachelpalm

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

simon wrote:
Rachelpalm wrote:
cordyman wrote:Rachel it looks great :)

Is that cordy an Austrlia and how did that cordy survive the winter of doom?

Never been able to get one to grow like that they always end up with loads of leaves and stumpy :(
yes it is a Australian Cordyline.
Cordyline australis comes from New Zealand :wink:
Ops, guess the name made me think Australia, lol. Learn something new every day,

Cheers
cordyman

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by cordyman »

Rachelpalm wrote:
cordyman wrote:Rachel it looks great :)

Is that cordy an Austrlia and how did that cordy survive the winter of doom?

Never been able to get one to grow like that they always end up with loads of leaves and stumpy :(
Hello
yes it is a Australian Cordyline. One trunk died which had 3 heads on so I cut that back. The other trunk with 3 heads on luckily survived. Also 3 large shoots from the bottom survived and are now growing fast. Guess it just pulled through the winter by being sheltered and South facing. The 3 shoots at the bottom had rotten middles and I pulled these out and it left a hole, but in April they reshooted. I have seen gardens up same road with surviving Cordylines, but go another 2 miles and some are dead. Guess I was just very lucky.

Simba, cannot plant anything under my Cordy as the newish shoots take up all the space.

Thanks for all your replies and advice. Have decided on black phormuims so far as I have them out back and they look great and survived last winter ok. Just got to dec



ide what else to put with them,

Cheers
Get some pics up Rachel!
Rachelpalm

Re: Going to make over front border with plants and slate

Post by Rachelpalm »

Hello
will do as soon as it is finished, not got the slate yet and 6 red roosters were posted today and am going to plant everything else tonight. Will be finished by the weekend I am guessing.

Cheers
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