This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Plant inspiration needed!
Kirsty_Edwards89
Posts: 2
in Plants
So I know absolutely nothing about plants but my husband built this lovely big planter last summer and I have no idea what to put in it. We just chucked some wildflower seed in last year to add some quick colour so we have cleared that out and now have a blank canvas again. I have struggled to find any help online about plant combinations. I want something clean and crisp looking, probably all green rather than colourful flowers. After a bit of research I found something called 'festuca glauca' which I love but unsure whether grasses would look a bit odd in it and whether there is anything that goes well with it. Any inspiration would be much appreciated (photos or plant names!) Many thanks!
0
Posts
If you shop at a supermarket, you can probably pick up a few things when you go for your food. Most have plenty of seeds as well, and it's a perfect time for sowing. You can then alter it once things settle down in terms of going out. I'd agree that perhaps for this summer, it's worth growing some edibles - Chard is another useful plant, and it's also quite decorative. If you can get strawberries, they'll do well if there's a reasonable amount of sun.
Some online nurseries are still delivering, so you could take a look at those too - they will give info on what will be suitable for the aspect and your local conditions. Anything in a container needs different care from plants in the ground, but you'll get help with that here too. You can get plenty of info here on this forum too, if you give us more info about the aspect, climate where you are, formal or informal look, etc.
Many grasses don't like rich soil, and if you live in an area where it's 'grey' a lot of the time, those festucas can look a bit dreary. There are better looking grasses available.
Just in addition - I presume the bed is open to the ground below? If not, has it got drainage?
It's also a very low soil level in there. Raised beds tend to settle a fair bit in the first month or two, and continue to do that, so they need to be really full to start with.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Festuca Glauca, Lysimachia and a variegated Ceanothus.
Most grasses look underwhelming for months, until they reach their peak. @WillDB is right, perhaps look at evergreen shrubs as your core plant, and then add some scramblers or annuals/perennials to give a bit of colour/texture. Phormiums might be a good core plant, evergreen and low maintenance. Platt's Black or Cream Delight are quite dramatic varieties.
Our largest trough now has Privet (the Argenteum variety), which is formally clipped and evergreen. The two smaller troughs on either side of it still have the Festuca, plus some Geraniums. If you use Festuca you will need to divide each year, and have good drainage, otherwise it will eventually look terrible, or die.
Privet (Ligustrum argenteum)
Evergeen on it's own can be very boring, so before you go ahead, consider putting some perennials in that trough. Here is another of our troughs, with Agapanthus Northern Star and Eucomyis Sparkling Burgundy. Much more exciting than the above Privet.
It's always important to combine plants well as @KeenOnGreen does, but check what will work for your area.
I love Cream Delight - it's well named. Mine needs a good haircut every year as it loves it's spot. One of the best Phormiums I reckon.
At the moment it's also providing a little sheltered bird feeding area for the blackies, dunnocks and the robins.
This is from end of May last year
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...