Recommend something colourful?

milhous

I have a pretty small garden, all of it is in view of the patio doors. The garden is mostly grass but I have a raised flower bed at the back (two sleepers high). It is roughly 2 foot wide and 30 foot long. I'm wondering what could I throw in there to brighten the place up a bit? There is currently only soil in it and it's quite depressing. I had planned on a lot of flowers but according to my net searches the flowers have to be started to grow indoors before transfer? I don't have time or space for that. Any recommendation?

Sonnenblumen

milhous wrote: »

I have a pretty small garden, all of it is in view of the patio doors. The garden is mostly grass but I have a raised flower bed at the back (two sleepers high). It is roughly 2 foot wide and 30 foot long. I'm wondering what could I throw in there to brighten the place up a bit? There is currently only soil in it and it's quite depressing. I had planned on a lot of flowers but according to my net searches the flowers have to be started to grow indoors before transfer? I don't have time or space for that. Any recommendation?

These magnificent 7 plants, which if planted directly in the ground over the next 4 weeks will give you a wonderful summer display this year and continue well into the autumn this year and for many years to come:
Anthemis EC Buxton
Leucanthemum Snowcap
Echinacea Magnus
Rudbeckia Goldsturm
Scabiosa Pink Mist
Armeria Pink or White
Helenium Moerheim Beauty

milhous

Thank you. I'll try finding them online and if not I'll head to a garden Centre. You seem to know what you're are talking about so another quick question, even though it's probably a matter of preference.
But would you plant them in blocks of all the same flower. i.e a 2 foot X 2foot of one type.. or just mix them all randomly throughout the flower bed?

And another question, I bought loads of daffodils last summer and I didn't get a chance to put them down.. will I just keep them until this august/september or can I just plant everything together and they will come up as they please?

Thank you and sorry about all the questions

LurkerNo1

What way is the border facing and how much sun does it receive? Do you know if the soil is heavy or light and free draining? It would be best to know these things before you go and buy any plants. Buying the right plants for the right conditions will make all the difference.
The chances are the soil is OK if it's a raised bed but i did inherit a raised bed once that was filled buy whoever constructed it with subsoil.:(

With a border so narrow you would be best to a repeated pattern to give it continuity. I think groups of 3 possibly 5 would work with perrenials repeated through the border but mingle them together not in obvious shapes.
It may be worth putting in two more structured plants at either end to frame the border like a small tree or shrub.
If you not in any major rush why not sow an annual seed mix this year directly in the ground?

looksee

As lurker says, it is really important to know which way the border is facing. Even if it is facing north, or almost north, there are things you can plant, but don't expect the colourful summer plants to be happy in that situation. Also if it is a high concrete wall you will find 2 ft is not much width - it will tend to dry out very easily.

You could also consider planting flowering shrubs and climbers, depending on what is at the back, they would require much less looking after. Any chance of a pic of the area, and tell us which way it is facing.

Sgt Pepper 64

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

These magnificent 7 plants, which if planted directly in the ground over the next 4 weeks will give you a wonderful summer display this year and continue well into the autumn this year and for many years to come:
Anthemis EC Buxton
Leucanthemum Snowcap
Echinacea Magnus
Rudbeckia Goldsturm
Scabiosa Pink Mist
Armeria Pink or White
Helenium Moerheim Beauty

thats a great selection, especially Rudbeckia Goldsturmand and Helenium Moerheim Beauty.
I would also suggest sedum autumn joy (Ice plant) and geraniums
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/Plant-trials-and-awards/Plant-awards/10-AGM-plants/10-AGM-hardy-geraniums

Plant them in 3's or 5's.

Look online for other planting plans and ideas like the BBC gardening website

Skrynesaver

So the consensus is that a small herbaceous border is the way to go...

While I would also agree with Lurker, the following assumes reasonable sunshine and seeing as it's raised 2 sleepers it should be fairly well drained...

I'm a big fan of day lilies (Hemerocalis) in border's with some bulbs to the front to give you some early colour,(snowdrops, crocouses, Iris reticulata, etc...) Helebores work well in any shady areas and the chrstmas rose (heleborous orientalis) is a bit of colour when everything else is dull.

I'd also agree with SgtP on the groupings of 3 or 5 and add that you should pick a colour scheme before hand (eg. "no yellows" or "blues and purples" or "a hot border going from yellow to Orange to red") and factor the colour scheme into the plant choices.

milhous

Great response guys, thanks! It is west facing (according to an app I just downloaded). It's a fairly sheltered garden.
I took away an over grown garden last august and put up the fence, and the sleepers.
It's mostly top soil behind the sleepers (whatever was excess in the garden when leveling it) but it needs a top up so I can buy good grade soil?

Basically I don't mind a few shrubs either as it's quite a large area, plenty of colour is good though.

I threw that grass seed down in September, it has come on a lot, but is there anything I can do to healthy it up a bit? It's also still quite patchy in some areas.

Sgt Pepper 64

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/module3/planting_styles1.shtml

http://www.applegategardens.co.uk/acatalog/ready-made_borders.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9444552/Mary-Keens-fail-safe-summer-borders.html

Supercell

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

These magnificent 7 plants, which if planted directly in the ground over the next 4 weeks will give you a wonderful summer display this year and continue well into the autumn this year and for many years to come:
Anthemis EC Buxton
Leucanthemum Snowcap
Echinacea Magnus
Rudbeckia Goldsturm
Scabiosa Pink Mist
Armeria Pink or White
Helenium Moerheim Beauty

Lovely selection there, given me ideas too, thanks very much!

Supercell

milhous wrote: »

Great response guys, thanks! It is west facing (according to an app I just downloaded). It's a fairly sheltered garden.
I took away an over grown garden last august and put up the fence, and the sleepers.
It's mostly top soil behind the sleepers (whatever was excess in the garden when leveling it) but it needs a top up so I can buy good grade soil?

Basically I don't mind a few shrubs either as it's quite a large area, plenty of colour is good though.

I threw that grass seed down in September, it has come on a lot, but is there anything I can do to healthy it up a bit? It's also still quite patchy in some areas.

I reseeded my back lawn too last autumn and it looks a little like that. I wouldn't worry, the sun has been too low over the winter to stimulate much heat and growth, keep it damp but not sodden over the next few months and it should thicken up nicely. This is the second time in three years i've done this (I dug out a large area to put a greenhouse and had nowhere else to put the topsoil but over the existing lawn) and it was the exact same last time and thickened up beyond recognition by June.

Sonnenblumen

milhous wrote: »

Thank you. I'll try finding them online and if not I'll head to a garden Centre. You seem to know what you're are talking about so another quick question, even though it's probably a matter of preference.
But would you plant them in blocks of all the same flower. i.e a 2 foot X 2foot of one type.. or just mix them all randomly throughout the flower bed?

And another question, I bought loads of daffodils last summer and I didn't get a chance to put them down.. will I just keep them until this august/september or can I just plant everything together and they will come up as they please?

Thank you and sorry about all the questions

I always prefer group planting/drift/cluster planting, for some reason odd numbers look and work best, so plant each type in groups of 3's, 5's or 7's and depending on your preference do bear in mind eventual plant size before deciding on position etc.

I would plant the daff bulbs now, because they may not survive not being in the ground until Sept.

Sonnenblumen

I'm not a big fan but some purists believe the best way to plant/arrange colour is according to the colour wheel. I prefer to do it the way it appeals rather than a formula.

So if you want to plant according to the wheel and starting at the nearest point in the border you would go Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet and White furthest away!

Sgt Pepper 64

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

I always prefer group planting/drift/cluster planting, for some reason odd numbers look and work best, so plant each type in groups of 3's, 5's or 7's and depending on your preference do bear in mind eventual plant size before deciding on position etc.

I would plant the daff bulbs now, because they may not survive not being in the ground until Sept.

Agree, plus remember a garden changes over time, you may grow tired of a plant or a plant may not grow as well or give the impact expected leaving gaps etc

It is a good idea to underplant with bulbs etc now.
Ive never managed it properly but my poor dead granny managed to have proper succession planting - As something finished flowering, there was always something of interest about to appear.

I also agree about the colour wheel and general snobbery.
Its your garden, plant it for you, go and look at garden and garden centres and see the plants for yourself if you can, remember to leave approx. 3ft wide gap, they will fill out pretty quickly.
Also consider scent as well

rje66

Skrynesaver wrote: »

So the consensus is that a small herbaceous border is the way to

Planter beware, herbaceous type planting schemes need lots of care. You cant just plant up and forget about it. Also they have a short window of interest ie looks great in summer, rest of year limited appeal.

monkeynuz

Also, the old saying less is more doesn't apply jam them in nice and tight don't have too many gaps, next year when the plants are bigger is the time to make more space, also the more plants you have the less room there is for weeds.

looksee

rje66 is right, a herbaceous border is a lot of work. A mixture of shrubs and annuals with a few reliable herbaceous plants that will form mats - geranium, Osteospermum (veldt daisy), saxifrage etc - will be easier to manage. It is easy to pop in a few trays of annuals in the early summer to give you a great splash of colour, and the rest of the year the leaves and berries and flowers such as heathers will give you colour.

Sorry monkeynuz, I cannot agree with you about cramming things in. Shrubs and herbaceous plants are expensive, and to cram them in only to pull them out a year or two later - disturbing the roots of everything around them - is not a reasonable approach. New plants and shrubs are not going to do much to defeat weeds until they are established and spreading, so packing in lots of plants will not help at all.

monkeynuz

looksee wrote: »

rje66 is right, a herbaceous border is a lot of work. A mixture of shrubs and annuals with a few reliable herbaceous plants that will form mats - geranium, Osteospermum (veldt daisy), saxifrage etc - will be easier to manage. It is easy to pop in a few trays of annuals in the early summer to give you a great splash of colour, and the rest of the year the leaves and berries and flowers such as heathers will give you colour.

Sorry monkeynuz, I cannot agree with you about cramming things in. Shrubs and herbaceous plants are expensive, and to cram them in only to pull them out a year or two later - disturbing the roots of everything around them - is not a reasonable approach. New plants and shrubs are not going to do much to defeat weeds until they are established and spreading, so packing in lots of plants will not help at all.

Don't agree then, that's your loss, full planting is an industry approved method for moving a garden along quickly, I have been doing it for years in my own gardens and for every customer I have ever had, and yes it does help with control of weeds, also I never said cram shrubs in, although you can. Even roses can be planted closer than normal to create effectively one big rose.

Sgt Pepper 64

rje66 wrote: »

Planter beware, herbaceous type planting schemes need lots of care. You cant just plant up and forget about it. Also they have a short window of interest ie looks great in summer, rest of year limited appeal.

True, but its easy to mix in a few evergreens like lavenders, grasses or specimen plants that look good in winter like mahonia

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Garden-design/A-simple-guide-to-garden-planning/Plant-combinations

Sonnenblumen

rje66 wrote: »

Planter beware, herbaceous type planting schemes need lots of care. You cant just plant up and forget about it. Also they have a short window of interest ie looks great in summer, rest of year limited appeal.

This is a very misleading statement, and yes there are some plants which require plenty of maintenance (and that is not unique to herbaceous plants either). But with some common sense approach to selecting which types, it is very possible to plant a wide range of herbaceous plants which require little care (< 1hr /year)! In my book that is nothing and in return you can have a continuous colourful display, running from April to October and later.

By all means supplement border with grasses, low growing evergreen shrubs etc. The OP was looking for help/suggestions on "what could I throw in there to brighten the place up a bit", perhaps you might highlight which of the magnificent 7 I suggested, would take a lot of care in order to achieve just that?