BlogtoberFest Day 15: Planning the Garden 1
This post is a plea for ideas. Just so you know!
I have an idea in my head about what I want in the garden re the hard landscaping but it is the actual planting ideas that I need help/pointing in the right direction. I am not a gardener, that was Ced's domain, so anything I plant needs to be fairly low maintenance, i.e.hack it back prune it once a year and able to survive for a while if I forget to water it!
The only one I'm really sure will end up in the garden is the Himalayan honeysuckle as this will give the height needed to block out a street lamp. The plan is to keep the others to a reasonable size but these would be the biggest plants I'd want as the garden is on the small side.
What I'm looking for are ideas for smaller shrubs that keep a good shape, require minimum maintenance and are up to about 3ft max height. Also ground cover planting that is controllable and doesn't take over. I prefer red, purple and white flowers and I'm not too fond of variegated leaves. Ornamental grasses are also a possibility. Anything planted needs to be edible and/or photogenic or it's out!!!
The majority of the planting will be into the ground but there will also be plenty of scope for container planting. Part of the garden behind the garage doesn't get much direct sun but the rest has the sunshine throughout the afternoon and evening. The small patch of garden at the front of the house gets the sunshine in the morning.
So over to you. Any ideas please?
I have an idea in my head about what I want in the garden re the hard landscaping but it is the actual planting ideas that I need help/pointing in the right direction. I am not a gardener, that was Ced's domain, so anything I plant needs to be fairly low maintenance, i.e.
It won't be a neat and formal garden, more the wild and slightly overgrown look and I plan to mix the vegetables in with the flowers and shrubs. In my mind this looks beautiful and artistic but as for what it'll really look like ... we'll wait and see.
I walked round my sister's huge garden on Saturday morning and we made a list of what I like so she will sort out some cuttings to get me started. Here's what I have the choice of (all photos are from Google):
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| buddliea |
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| sage |
 |
| cotoneastor |
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| lavender |
 |
| holly |
 |
| winter jasmine |
 |
| Himalayan honeysuckle |
 |
| summer jasmine |
The only one I'm really sure will end up in the garden is the Himalayan honeysuckle as this will give the height needed to block out a street lamp. The plan is to keep the others to a reasonable size but these would be the biggest plants I'd want as the garden is on the small side.
What I'm looking for are ideas for smaller shrubs that keep a good shape, require minimum maintenance and are up to about 3ft max height. Also ground cover planting that is controllable and doesn't take over. I prefer red, purple and white flowers and I'm not too fond of variegated leaves. Ornamental grasses are also a possibility. Anything planted needs to be edible and/or photogenic or it's out!!!
The majority of the planting will be into the ground but there will also be plenty of scope for container planting. Part of the garden behind the garage doesn't get much direct sun but the rest has the sunshine throughout the afternoon and evening. The small patch of garden at the front of the house gets the sunshine in the morning.
So over to you. Any ideas please?
Love Buddliea, as do the butterflies, (photos), I have two minature ones in the garden only about 18" high at the mo. Azaleas are lovely and hardy (well mine are) - I am a fair weather gardener so most things out there have to fend for themselves best part of the year. Hydrangeas are good but can get big. Lillies for flower and photos. Cotanester is lovely as well. Joy will have some much better ideas than me :) xxx
ReplyDeletethanks Karen. I thought about hydrangeas after I did the post and am thinking I might try one in a pot on the decking. Maybe that will help to reduce the size. Also planning an acer somewhere.
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