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Looking for some suggestions please

chriscavell0683chriscavell0683 Posts: 48
in Plants
Our houses sit on some old Strawberry fields and the soil is really hard and stony so I'm having to use beds because I can't physically get through the soil deep enough to plant anything.
Starting to think about making it a "real" proper garden with a theme. I want to go for a cottage theme (we already have a plum tree, cherry tree, couple of lilac trees in the ground from previous owners and we've planted around them using beds). 
Can anyone recommend some nice cottage type perennials for somewhere with partial sun?

Thanks

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Geranium macrorrhizum is a good ground cover plant with scented leaves and flowers in spring which can be palest pink to a good mauve depending on variety; geranium renardii will give different foliage and flowers later on; euphorbia - lots of choice of size and colour and foliage but beware of getting the sap on your skin as it can burn in sunlight; nepeta which is great for bees and other pollinators, salvia nemorosa, hardy cyclamen.  
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • UsFourUsFour Posts: 49
    I suggest researching ornamental grasses .... they are addictive ... have a look at Knoll Gardens website and search YouTube for interviews with Piet Oudolf. I only have a very small garden but you can still use grasses mixed in amongst perennials. Have a look at john Lord's Secret garden videos ... inspiring  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1hdKqCEwZqZYNjKitAlaQ
    UsFour 

    The older you get, the more you realise that it is OK to live a life others don't understand.
  • UsFourUsFour Posts: 49
    Also have a look at allium bulbs especially smaller headed species 

    https://www.jparkers.co.uk/bulbs-tubers/allium-special-offers/alliums

    Allium Sphaerocephalon
    Allium Atropurpureum

    mixed amongst grasses and perennials.


    UsFour 

    The older you get, the more you realise that it is OK to live a life others don't understand.
  • chriscavell0683chriscavell0683 Posts: 48
    I was thinking about some grasses just to pad it out a bit and make it feel a bit more natural... 
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    There are a lot of plants which are specialised in growing on poor stony soil, and they will grow much better on it (less floppy, better flowering). As long as it is well drained.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    UsFour said:
    Have a look at john Lord's Secret garden videos ... inspiring  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1hdKqCEwZqZYNjKitAlaQ

    Thanks for that link, @UsFour Very nice videos !
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    We have very dry, stony soil. We live next to a gravel pit. I used a mattock to break up the soil and added lots of compost. It's dig-able now but I still use a stone breaker spade from Burgon and Ball. Grasses I have include Stipa gigantea (it also grows rather nicely on my gravel drive), Stipa tenuissima, Stipa pseudo ichu, Calamagrostis brachytricha, Amenanthele lessoniana in partial shade and some miscanthus. Verbena 'Bampton' and Erigeron karvinskianus do really well, as do most geraniums. Lavender, sedums, thyme, sage, stachys byzantina, echinacea love it and self-seed everywhere (sorry Monty, I know they're meant to like it a bit damp), eryngium, bergenia and oregano. Verbena bonariensis too.
  • chriscavell0683chriscavell0683 Posts: 48
    Thanks all, I literally can't break the ground up and when it gets hot and dry it's like concrete. A couple of years ago, we had our fences replaced. It took the guy an extra 3 days just to get the ground soft enough to do the posts.. I'm definitely not strong enough for that lol. We're going to buy some timber and block off a section to fill with soil. Much easier on my back. 
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