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Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:42 pm
by karl66
Simon, a filler to me has no height limits!!, its to fill gap's between palm's etc & especially on border's where at certain times of year other deciduous plants turn to sticks. karl.

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:51 pm
by simon
But regardless of size, the suggestion is still that these plants are less garden-worthy. I presume you wouldn't call Trachycarpus fortunei a filler, so why is Magnolia grandiflora a filler?

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:17 pm
by karl66
I'd never buy any plant/gap filler just for the sake of it, although if for whatever reason any of the gap filler's grow to big i'll either move them cut back or dump them :lol: . Not sure how large your own garden is but some of my space's to be filled are worthy of bush like filler plant's with substance. karl.

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:27 pm
by Dim
different bright coloured coleus is what I will be using next year in my own garden

loads of coleus were planted in may/june in a pub garden that I landscaped from scratch (planted with georgia peach heuchecera, solar power huecherella, hakonecloa Macra Aureola grass and David Austin gertrude Jekyll roses ...

The landlords , were reluctant and wanted pansies, but the coleus are still looking great and I'm sure that coleus will be planted again next year'

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:35 pm
by karl66
Dim, thanks. slightly off topic but im looking for an idea what to plant into a 80 litre tub which is almost always submerged in water!, ive had a gunnera in it but it got to big!, this pot is sunk in the ground with only 2 inch's above ground?. also its location is semi shade. karl.

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:38 pm
by Dim
karl66 wrote:Dim, thanks. slightly off topic but im looking for an idea what to plant into a 80 litre tub which is almost always submerged in water!, ive had a gunnera in it but it got to big!, this pot is sunk in the ground with only 2 inch's above ground?. also its location is semi shade. karl.
http://www.watersidenursery.co.uk/IS/pond.aspx

http://www.watersidenursery.co.uk/IS/moist.aspx

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:05 pm
by Kristen
Dim wrote:different bright coloured coleus is what I will be using next year in my own garden

The landlords , were reluctant and wanted pansies, but the coleus are still looking great and I'm sure that coleus will be planted again next year'
I have grown Coleus from seed for the last two years and really liked them as "fillers". They are in areas where I have larger, longer term, plants coming on ... but they need a few years to fill the area.

The greener / yellower ones have done better than the completely red ones, presumably more chlorophyll, and next year I will start the red ones off a full month earlier so they are same-size as the others when planted out.

I had a few other named varieties that I god from Dibleys. Of those I have only propagated, for over winter, Saturn and Pagoda (which has very large leaves), and some Juliet Quartermain that I have grown from a cutting which pdid kindly sent me.

The two I grow from seed are ,Coleus Wizard Velvet Re and Wizard Scarlet [picure is deceptive, much more green around the margin, thus it grows quite well] from Moles seeds
http://molesseeds.co.uk/flower_and_vege ... s_768.html
they do need to be started early though, as they grow quite lowly, initially.

I also find that the colours are a bit washed out in bright sun, mine are grown in part shade

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:43 pm
by Dim
Kristen wrote:
I have grown Coleus from seed for the last two years and really liked them as "fillers". They are in areas where I have larger, longer term, plants coming on ... but they need a few years to fill the area.
I grow coleus as annuals (instead of pansies) and rip them out after the 1st few frosts when they look drab ... :oops:

I have never tried growing them as a perennial ...My wife has a few indoors as house plants and will leave them till spring and see what they look like

I buy them in large trays as plug plants from a wholesaler for cheap, and plant them directly into the beds (I never bother with potting them into 9cm pots first), and they do fine ...

the ones planted in sunnier beds get more water/fertilizier and they look ok. .. I also pinch the top growth to make them bushier

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:09 pm
by Kristen
Sounds fine :) I only pot them on to try to have decent sized plants when we plant out in June ... but they get a wiggle on once the warm weather arrives, so I may be doing "overkill"!!

For the ones I keep I do dig a few up, and pot them over winter, but they need 5C or perhaps more ... so my preference is to take cuttings at start of October, crammed into a pot, and I over winter them indoor - 10-15 per pot they don't take up much space - and pot on only once we get to the spring.

The named varieties don't try to flower as readily, so don't need the flowers pinching out as much - once they flower they tend to go over rather.

Your wholesaler may well sell the named varieties for same price, e.g. I'm pretty sure Kernock sells Juliet Quartermain.

I was taken with Juliet Quartermain a couple of years ago as it was planted as the edging on the show garden at Urban Jungle:
Image

They also used Iresine "Blazin Rose"
Image

Here's Coleus "Wizard Scarlet" (seed grown) early in the season:
Image

and photos of the other named varieties I have grown on my Blog here:
http://kgarden.wordpress.com/projects/e ... enostemon/

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:05 pm
by Dim
Kristen wrote:Sounds fine :) I only pot them on to try to have decent sized plants when we plant out in June ... but they get a wiggle on once the warm weather arrives, so I may be doing "overkill"!!

For the ones I keep I do dig a few up, and pot them over winter, but they need 5C or perhaps more ... so my preference is to take cuttings at start of October, crammed into a pot, and I over winter them indoor - 10-15 per pot they don't take up much space - and pot on only once we get to the spring.

The named varieties don't try to flower as readily, so don't need the flowers pinching out as much - once they flower they tend to go over rather.

Your wholesaler may well sell the named varieties for same price, e.g. I'm pretty sure Kernock sells Juliet Quartermain.

I was taken with Juliet Quartermain a couple of years ago as it was planted as the edging on the show garden at Urban Jungle:
[ Image ]

They also used Iresine "Blazin Rose"
[ Image ]

Here's Coleus "Wizard Scarlet" (seed grown) early in the season:
[ Image ]

and photos of the other named varieties I have grown on my Blog here:
http://kgarden.wordpress.com/projects/e ... enostemon/
you have a stunning garden!

Re: Plants for ground cover/fillers.

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:21 pm
by Dim
giant pumkin ... huge tropical leaves (as big as t-rex) and fills an area fast (and you get food):

Image

http://www.thegardenhound.com/Home/tabi ... mpkin.aspx

:lol: