The path side. Although the main border is looking pretty bare at the moment, I either have plants in the greenhouse (thanks mum!) Or on order so that side is pretty much accounted for... I just want to soften the corners of the fence/path. Plus my neighbour's lovely trees, shrubs and climbers have reminded me what the side of our gardens could be like. Of course I can't access the ground but I think I could do something. 😊
Hi, looks good! Can you get to the soil underneath the path or is the concrete still down there? Creeping / floppy plants along the base of the fence would soften the path.
If it's still concreted, I guess you could see if things like sedum/sempervivums and thyme would grow, if you replaced that strip of gravel with soil.
The idea of narrow planters makes sense, maybe 3 long narrow rectangular ones spaced out regularly wouldn't look too cluttered. Re climbers, you have soil at the bottom of the garden, right? You could train something along the top of the fence from there, with a little patience.
Similarly you could have a very large pot on the patio with a climber, and train it in the other direction to meet it in the middle!
Or, thinking laterally, plant something in your bed to the right of the path, and train it up and over an archway, and onto the fence. You can make climbers go where you want them to
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
The concrete isn't still there but they put some sort of sub layer down.. I'm not really sure what it is but I assumed it meant I couldn't access the soil but perhaps I should investigate that further. The weird strip of gravel is the most annoying bit. I hadn't thought that something could grow in the gap.. can you tell I'm a beginner?! Yes that's exactly what I was thinking, I just need to find something which fits the bill.
What a great point! Yes we do have soil at the end which we haven't decided what to do with, I hadn't considered training from there, what an interesting idea, thank you.
Get yourself a crowbar or wrecking bar like this and see if you can access the soil through the sub base. If you can access the soil, you can make a few 'planting pockets' to squeeze in plants to spill over your path and make it look much softer.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
Hi I have a similar but quite different aspect; a gravel drive that abuts to a 2ft dry stone wall and a lawn nearest the house, so no border. I bought narrow black troughs from Home and Bargain (cheap as chips but smart looking) and placed them on the drive nearest the wall. Have had great success with Delphiniums, Savias, Penstemon and Cosmos that create a lovely border. All my timber is stained Urban Slate which is a great foil for all plants of various colours.
I just updated my other thread but for anyone who comes across this thread, here is an update almost 4 years into our gardening project, from no knowledge at all to relatively competent gardeners!
This came out sideways before so apologies if it does again.
Posts
The path side. Although the main border is looking pretty bare at the moment, I either have plants in the greenhouse (thanks mum!) Or on order so that side is pretty much accounted for... I just want to soften the corners of the fence/path. Plus my neighbour's lovely trees, shrubs and climbers have reminded me what the side of our gardens could be like. Of course I can't access the ground but I think I could do something. 😊
If it's still concreted, I guess you could see if things like sedum/sempervivums and thyme would grow, if you replaced that strip of gravel with soil.
The idea of narrow planters makes sense, maybe 3 long narrow rectangular ones spaced out regularly wouldn't look too cluttered. Re climbers, you have soil at the bottom of the garden, right? You could train something along the top of the fence from there, with a little patience.
Similarly you could have a very large pot on the patio with a climber, and train it in the other direction to meet it in the middle!
Or, thinking laterally, plant something in your bed to the right of the path, and train it up and over an archway, and onto the fence. You can make climbers go where you want them to
The concrete isn't still there but they put some sort of sub layer down.. I'm not really sure what it is but I assumed it meant I couldn't access the soil but perhaps I should investigate that further. The weird strip of gravel is the most annoying bit. I hadn't thought that something could grow in the gap.. can you tell I'm a beginner?! Yes that's exactly what I was thinking, I just need to find something which fits the bill.
What a great point! Yes we do have soil at the end which we haven't decided what to do with, I hadn't considered training from there, what an interesting idea, thank you.
I have a similar but quite different aspect; a gravel drive that abuts to a 2ft dry stone wall and a lawn nearest the house, so no border. I bought narrow black troughs from Home and Bargain (cheap as chips but smart looking) and placed them on the drive nearest the wall. Have had great success with Delphiniums, Savias, Penstemon and Cosmos that create a lovely border. All my timber is stained Urban Slate which is a great foil for all plants of various colours.
I just updated my other thread but for anyone who comes across this thread, here is an update almost 4 years into our gardening project, from no knowledge at all to relatively competent gardeners!
This came out sideways before so apologies if it does again.