Where to start? Flowerbed to look nice all year?

[Madame Mucksprout]

Hi Grapes, I have a small raised flowerbed Ive made down the side of my lawn to grow flowers in. Its about 75 cm deep x 4 meteers long. Really struggling though on how to start? (very new to flowers)

The grande plan is to have it look as nice as possible the whole year round so I need a mix of plants that will be eg ever green / flower in winter. I was presuming bulbs for spring prettyness, And others that will be nice in Summer and others for autumn.

The only pre-requisits is weve got a toddler so nothing spikey or too delicate or poisionus. It is in half shade (west facing) and we are in Gloucestershire so its pretty wet here.

Any ideas on;
plants (and when they flower / what they are like in thier quiet time?)
How to start planning?
Can I go buy everythingand plant in one go?
Best places to buy?

Thankyou for your time

[Acanthus]

I bought some mixed mimulus from B&q last march and put them in pots in the gh- they grew very fast and were soon in full flower,so I brought them outside in April and are still flowering now. I have fed and dead headed regularly, and they like being wet. I also had very good value from fuchsias, which are still in full flower. I bought small plants from b& q also. My husband is a big fan of geraniums, which again were bought in march, soon started to flower, and are still going strong. They will go back into the g/ h for winter, so would be no good all year round, but winter pansies always look nice in pots, so could replace your summer / autumn bedding.

[roitelet]

You need to get a structure of permanent plants in the bed which have interest at different times of the year. Low growing evergreens which come in different colours green, gold and silver. Summer and winter heathers, Dwarf lavender and then bulbs for spring and some perrenials which don't grow too high. I would start now with the bulbs and permanent plants and add others as and when you find those you like. That way you should have interest all year. Just be careful that you take into account the eventual size of the plant at maturity spaces can always be filled in with colouful annuals.

Best of luck

[Madame Mucksprout]

Hi, Thankyou very much for your replies, very helpful.

With regard to adding to the flowerbed as the year goes on :-
"start now with the bulbs and permanent plants and add others as and when you find those you like" -

how do I plant new plants in once ive burried all the bulbs? - I wont know where they all are to avoid them?

[JetSetPhil]

after you plant your bulbs, either mark the ground with some gravel or grit, or get a small tag or wooden stick, write the same of the bulb on and stick it in the ground. Its a good idea to do both.

Also when designing the bed keep in mind the height all your plants will grow to, you'll want the larger taller plants at the back (larger shrubs, climbers, spike flowers) and your smaller plants at the front (bedding flowers and bulbs)

[Two_Sheds]

How to start planning?

Do you have a colour theme? That will help to narrow your choices down to more manageable proportions.

Go and walk around your neighbourhood(s) ~ see what's in flower. Knock on doors and ask questions, or take photos and ask us.

[Two_Sheds]

how do I plant new plants in once ive burried all the bulbs? - I wont know where they all are to avoid them?

You don't need to avoid them. If you dig one up, just replant it. Simples.

[bend1pa]

Well not quite so simple, if you break the roots in digging up bulbs, they won't regrow, and the bulbs could well rot, or come up blind. Either plant the bulbs last after you've planted everything else, or once bulbs have been planted, mark out the areas with light stones or twigs planted vertically on top of the soil areas to remind you. Or those white plant label tabs are pretty useful for the same purpose.

[roitelet]

To mark bulb clumps I use short lengths of plastic electrical conduit, the round sort, as it doesn't rot.

[Madame Mucksprout]

Thankyou, definatly trickier than I though. Im going to take a look around for shrubs I like the look of that are doing 'something' this time of year, that shoudl sort my 'winter out'. As you say - bulbs for spring, and Id best get ggoogling for plants which will come back in the summer to flower so I can plant them (or at least not plant bulbs in the spaces for them). This is tricky. I recon there will be many more questions comming.

Thankyou for all your help.

[WendyC]

May I recommend the book First Time Planting by Gay Search and Geoff Hamilton. Published in 1989 it was my bible when I had my first garden in 1990. Planting plans for borders facing North, South, East and West. Easy to read without be patronising as you'd expect from dear old Geoff. Out of print but I've checked it is available from a well known online book retailer. No doubt someone will be along with a better idea but it worked for me. Enjoy building your new border.