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Novice planning a border - help please!
queenjana
Posts: 12
Sorry posted this in wrong category and reposted in Garden Design - can't see a way to delete it from here!
Hi all
I'm planning a new flowerbed across two thirds of the front of my lawn, approx 4mx1.8m (but curved) and I want it to look restful with airy plants in subtle-ish colours, blooming throughout late spring/summer. I'm planning a small water feature (solar fountain in some kind of bowl) and I've settled on a few main plants I like:
Perovskia
Yellow achillea
Stipa gigantea
Heuthera obsidian or similar
Mexican fleabane (erigon)
My worry is the sizes of the first three, especially stipa gigantea. My lawn is about 10m deep and 8m wide with shrubs round the edges (some quite large), we also have a 3m deep patio between the lawn and the house so will usually be viewing this flowerbed from the patio or the sitting room (i.e. sitting down), but it also needs to look nice from the back when you walk around it into the rest of the garden. Because of that I want to mix up the heights a bit, hence I wants relatively see-through plants so as not to block the view of the rest of the garden.
Perovskia "Blue Spire" is lovely but I think too tall at 1.5m, "Little Spire" is possibly a bit small at 60cm? Also not too sure if perovskia is a bit dense (only a problem with the taller one probably). I've found a compact achillea variety called Moonshine which gets to 60cm which is fine. But stipa gigantea is, obviously, gigantic and though it's lovely and airy I'm worried it might look way too big at the front of the lawn. There are a couple of smaller varieties but I think they're very new as I can't find them anywhere online to buy.
What do you all think??? I don't want to make loads of work for myself in keeping things small that really want to be tall, so any reassurance about sizes, or suggestions of alternative varieties or even different plants that have a similar look would be much appreciated!
Thank you!
Hi all
I'm planning a new flowerbed across two thirds of the front of my lawn, approx 4mx1.8m (but curved) and I want it to look restful with airy plants in subtle-ish colours, blooming throughout late spring/summer. I'm planning a small water feature (solar fountain in some kind of bowl) and I've settled on a few main plants I like:
Perovskia
Yellow achillea
Stipa gigantea
Heuthera obsidian or similar
Mexican fleabane (erigon)
My worry is the sizes of the first three, especially stipa gigantea. My lawn is about 10m deep and 8m wide with shrubs round the edges (some quite large), we also have a 3m deep patio between the lawn and the house so will usually be viewing this flowerbed from the patio or the sitting room (i.e. sitting down), but it also needs to look nice from the back when you walk around it into the rest of the garden. Because of that I want to mix up the heights a bit, hence I wants relatively see-through plants so as not to block the view of the rest of the garden.
Perovskia "Blue Spire" is lovely but I think too tall at 1.5m, "Little Spire" is possibly a bit small at 60cm? Also not too sure if perovskia is a bit dense (only a problem with the taller one probably). I've found a compact achillea variety called Moonshine which gets to 60cm which is fine. But stipa gigantea is, obviously, gigantic and though it's lovely and airy I'm worried it might look way too big at the front of the lawn. There are a couple of smaller varieties but I think they're very new as I can't find them anywhere online to buy.
What do you all think??? I don't want to make loads of work for myself in keeping things small that really want to be tall, so any reassurance about sizes, or suggestions of alternative varieties or even different plants that have a similar look would be much appreciated!
Thank you!
0
Posts
Stipa gigantea can be fussy about soils and exposure and, whilst the flowering stems and seed heads are pretty, the base is very dull. Have a look at gaura instead. There is a white flowered form that looks like dancing butterflies but also pale and deep pink forms and some with coloured foliage too. You may have to treat it as an annual or take cuttings and over-winter them in a sheltered spot as it is not very frost hardy.
Obelix - wow, gaura is beautiful! Thanks for that suggestion. Reminds me slightly of gypsophila which was one of my early faves until I discovered it hates acid soil!
Lizzie - thank you - I love the look of it, will just have to decide if the size is ok for my garden!