Tips for adding height to a small garden
AshleyCanterbury
Posts: 18
I'm excitedly awaiting my first season proper as a novice gardener and have been slowly planning and researching and filling up an empty garden space.
Like most novice gardeners, I think, I am more excited by growing edibles at the moment, so I got some fruit trees and berry bushes, some herbs.
I got some lavender too. I have a packet of nasturtiums that I understand will be good companions to my fruits and future mini veg patch. I also planted layers of bulbs last Autumn and my crocuses are poking up and I counted 6 flowers this weekend, hopefully the tulips and daffs planted below them will succeed too...I planted a peony to go with a plum for my Chinese wife, and definitely want ecinacea, I love those flowers.
So, what I am researching now is those mid height plants that will fill the gap between the fruit trees and climbing roses at closer to head height, and the bulbs and flowers down below, bearing in mind space is limited and I want to squeeze in as much interest as I can, so medium height but not too bushy/spreading would be ideal.
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I'm also a novice gardener so I don't have any advice but I'll be following your thread for the no doubt good advice you'll receive! Good luck - love your enthusiasm!
You could also try growing cosmos from seed, which is a tall annual with either white or pink flowers. It won't self seed and is pretty easy to grow so you could just plant it out where you have gaps. It does like sun though.
I loved my verbena bonariensis last year, jist be mindful it self seeds everywhere. That and my achikea have also fed the birds over the winter as I left th as structure in the ground.
For the first time I am also growing a few varieties of alliums in drifts and I also let some of my chives flowers too.
Poppies are also a favourite. ?
Foxgloves will give you height before the cosmos and Verbena bonariensis come into flower.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If you want to plant things between / under trees, does that suggest they need to like shade / partial shade and deal with dry-ish conditions in the summer? If so, that might limit the flower a palette a fair bit....
You have a small garden, you like growing edibles, so why not do some strawberry towers?
Sweetpea grown up a wigwam, Clematis grown on either an oblisk or wigwam or structure of any kind. I've also been known to grow Nasturtium up canes, just tie them in and they'll be grand.
+1 for foxgloves or a climber on a trellis or obelisk. They're my favourites for height in my modest garden and don't take up much space.
If space permits, you could also consider a dwarf tree. E.g. we have an Acer Palmatum Orange Dream that is only about 3' after 3 years (and was probably 2'6" when we bought it!). It's supposed to grow to 2-3 metres, but that must be years away. There are lots of dwarf trees to consider, e.g. there was a nice small ceanothus tree when we bought the house, but I don't know the variety - some can get big. I like magnolias in pots too, although they can spread wide. Prunus Little Pink Perfection is a small cherry blossom tree.
Last edited: 22 February 2018 03:19:28
We re-watched one of last year's GW episodes, where Monty grew some Pumpkins up a tripod of canes. if allowing pumpkins to 'climb' then you'll get great height from about summer through to cropping oct/nov and you can start from seeds in late march/mid april. use a dwarf variety pumpkin 'jack be little' or 'munchkin'.
you'll get the height, ornamental/decorative pumpkins for halloween plus they're just as useful for soups as fully sized pumpkins. you'll also get seeds ready for the following year!
I agree with the others, I could'nt be without foxgloves. Lupins are another good addition.