redesigning front garden - easy-care border plants?

[queen of the cobs]

Am redesigning my front garden, it's very small and covered in mud and gravel at the moment and would welcome any suggestions.

it's in full sun and I have a passion flower growing along the wall (still to flower, alas, perhaps next year) and a rather nice white hydrangea at one eld - the rest is open for change.

I thought I might try to put some nice border plants along the edge, so that at least it looked a bit like a garden and a bit less like the Somme - I can put a few pots out while I wait for the rest of it to grow in (whatever that might look like).

any advice very happily received.

[Two_Sheds]

gotta photo?

I think better visually. Oh, and personally: I'd pick a colour theme. Doesn't have to be regimental, even something like "no pink" will narrow your choice and help you decide.

My theme is blue & white, but there are some nice purples and creams creeping in too, with a splash of nearly-black in the dahlias and fuchsias.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm planting 100s of spring bulbs at the moment in my new front garden: daffs, tulips, crocuses etc.
They come back every year

[organic]

The Organic Gardening Catalogue
The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Wild flower seed mixes. Pick based on the range of colours, attracting butterflies or bees or a mixture.

Sow them once, forget about it and see flowers for about 6 or 7 months of the year. Or re-sow annually to get an even bigger effect.
You could probably mix in a few winter flowering varieties to keep the colour going all year too.

That or grow some veg out there but let it all flower and go to seed. Pretty (on the flower front) and provides you with seed for your veg patch.

Snowdrops, daffs etc. It's a lovely sign of spring every time the daffs in our front garden come up.

I'm very much food-oriented with my growing, but a bit of floral keeps things interesting

[Two_Sheds]

Organic, have you ever tried to grow a Wild Flower Mix?
It's not as easy as sprinkle and forget. The darned things are always out-competed by weeds.

[organic]

Maybe not then, eh?

I wonder, how do wild flowers manage, you know, in the wild without weeding? Not to disagree with what you said, but I'm curious now.

[BFG]

Wild flowers only naturally occur in areas of low fertility. Otherwise, they get out competed.

Traditionally this would be a hay meadow which would be mowed annually and the hay removed, therefore maintaining the low fertility.

To establish a meadow, you can remove all the top soil and sow into the sub soil.

Or go for a "cornflower" meadow which uses more vigorous annuals. Although these need annual soil disturbance to reappear from seed.

Alternatively you can use Yellow Rattle which is a grass parasite to keep the grass in check, but then you've still got weeds to deal with.

[digthatchick]

Penstemons - and lots of them! (there are over 300 varieties) Easy care, yes - plant them now (some may still be flowering) leave them until April, cut them right down, and watch them flower from late May until November. My favorite is "Blackbird"

[shushkin!]

Mediterranean garden

It sounds the perfect conditions for a hot mediterranean garden. Verbena
bonariensis swaying and californian poppies shimmering in the summer sun.
The scent of french lavender wafting in through the window.
I better stop now as I am getting carried away!!

[Two_Sheds]

It sounds the perfect conditions for ...Verbena
bonariensis swaying and californian poppies

I have both on my Seed Swap, if you want some

[HeyWayne]

Not sure what it is, but we've a plant that we "bunged in" a couple of years ago on an area at the front of the house - a kind of "mound" at the end of our drive.

The plant is like a bush, with (now, how do I describe them?) purply elongated flowers, look a bit like large lavender heads.

It seems to flower several times a year - in fact, I'm sure I saw some new colour on it last night.

We've not really done anything with it other than to plant it. Looking at it, it may well need some pruning soon.

[Two_Sheds]

Not sure what it is,... like a bush, with (now, how do I describe them?) purply elongated flowers, look a bit like large lavender heads.

Hebe?

.

[HeyWayne]

Hebe?

.

D'ya know - I think that could be it!!

How the chuff do you do it?

See my other post "I know more today than yesterday, but less than tomorrow"

Outstanding.

[pigletwillie]

If you want something to be "there" all year round, try a hebe, very hardy, evergreen and a good foil for other plants.

Penstemons are also bombproof if a little prome to cold weather but are easily propogated, try anuy of the sunflower family, heleniums etc and add to that achillea. For winter dogwoods give fab colours.

[Two_Sheds]

D'ya know - I think that could be it!!

How the chuff do you do it?

lol ... I've got one in the back garden.

I wanted a white one, but it's got lilac on too...looks like a lavender bottle brush