Plant suggestions for modern garden
Discussion
We've just modernised our garden, in the process creating a large raised bed held in by railway sleepers. We've now filled this with 1.5 tons of top soil but knowing absolutely nothing about plants/flowers/gardens in general, we need some help with what to plant there. We'd like to create a modern contemporary look but want some colour in there too; a gardener has recommended using odd numbers of plants (is this correct?), maybe some phormiums and grasses but my wife is concerned this will just look like a lot of weeds! The bed gets a lot of sunshine but we want it to be low maintenance and dog friendly (i.e. not poisonous) so I guess we will need evergreens...
Any help would be much appreciated indeed.
Thanks guys.
Any help would be much appreciated indeed.
Thanks guys.
I did something similar about 6 years ago.
From experience now............
Depending on the look your after, I have different height beds, I used slate as a covering first of all then wished I had planted some of the plants closer to the corners.
The "creepers" feck knows what they are called as I'm no gardener have "crept" over the sleepers and soften the angles.
Grass is great in the corners too.
If I was to do it again I would check what height plants grow to and keep them under 1'.
That way you still have that contemporary feel, still see the slate and the sleepers, but, the "creepers" soften the corners to the eye!
From experience now............
Depending on the look your after, I have different height beds, I used slate as a covering first of all then wished I had planted some of the plants closer to the corners.
The "creepers" feck knows what they are called as I'm no gardener have "crept" over the sleepers and soften the angles.
Grass is great in the corners too.
If I was to do it again I would check what height plants grow to and keep them under 1'.
That way you still have that contemporary feel, still see the slate and the sleepers, but, the "creepers" soften the corners to the eye!
Best toilet in the world.Ever.
Depends how contemporary you need to go.Palms exotics give that
med look.
Phormiums and grasses are good as said.
Topiary/ box/ buxus with grasses works, as does box and trees.
Try and keep it evergreen.
Architecural plants are good but very pricey.
Palm Centre in Ham are good
Depends how contemporary you need to go.Palms exotics give that
med look.
Phormiums and grasses are good as said.
Topiary/ box/ buxus with grasses works, as does box and trees.
Try and keep it evergreen.
Architecural plants are good but very pricey.
Palm Centre in Ham are good
B17NNS said:
Odd numbers is good.
Use lots of very few varieties of plant.
Also beward that you don't end up with a garden full of things that aren't amazingly hardy. A lot of that modern stuff is modern because old fashioned British gardeners had more sense.
If you don't mind spiky I'd recommend both Yucca Golden Sword and Chamaerops Humilis. Neither are cheap.
Use lots of very few varieties of plant.
Also beward that you don't end up with a garden full of things that aren't amazingly hardy. A lot of that modern stuff is modern because old fashioned British gardeners had more sense.
If you don't mind spiky I'd recommend both Yucca Golden Sword and Chamaerops Humilis. Neither are cheap.
Of all the exotics this http://www.palmcentre.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?Pr... is by far the most hardy, easy to maintain and a very good looking palm.
D5M said:
Shaolin said:
I read some years ago about planting by Fibbonacci numbers, so 1, 2, 3, 5 etc. I've always stuck to this, it seems to work.
How do you mean? Given its a raised bed in sunshine its going to be dry at points of the year. Suggest small leaved and silver leaved plants as these are adaptions against drought. Lavender, Santolina, Phormium, Sambucus, herbs like rosemary, thyme, Sage, Rue and Fennel, Box topiary for Winter structure, Dogwoods (Cornus) for Winter stem colour, Hellebore's, Alchemilla, Alliums, Grasses - Stipa, Miscanthus and Carex, shrubs like Viburnum, Brachyglottis and Skimmia and maybe some annuals for a splash of colour like Foxglove, Cosmos, Ammi, Eschscholzia (no not a spelling mistake!), Nigella and Echium. A good mix of all these should give you colour and interst all year round. Beware though as your sleepers will be a great home for slugs so no Hostas or Delphiniums.
Gravel, or at least a thick mulch on top will help to help retain moisture, and provide a unifying theme, perhaps with some interesting stones.
My 'gravel garden' is largely self-seeded and needs no maintenance other than pruning and weeding. It has various grasses, alliums, sedums, euphorbias, sages, thyme, rosemary, scabious, pelargoniums, california poppies, yucca etc, which provide interest all year round, a haven for bees, and once once established don't need any watering.
I think it would look like a mess of weeds without the gravel:
My 'gravel garden' is largely self-seeded and needs no maintenance other than pruning and weeding. It has various grasses, alliums, sedums, euphorbias, sages, thyme, rosemary, scabious, pelargoniums, california poppies, yucca etc, which provide interest all year round, a haven for bees, and once once established don't need any watering.
I think it would look like a mess of weeds without the gravel:
StevieBee said:
There's a garden centre near me that has had a Fig Tree for sale for the past few years - started off at £200 and is now at £500. Quite tempted as it looks great, is a fair old size and clearly not affected by UK weather!
Make them a cheeky offer for it.There are 4 fig trees in the garden here, all thriving and with hundreds of figs on each one.
Last years' were simply luscious, and if anything the cold winter has made them produce even more fruit.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff