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Spiller under a laurel?

VillageGardenerVillageGardener Posts: 10
in Plants
Hi All. 
We recently moved into a new house with a front garden covered in pebbles and surrounded by sleepers. I have pulled back the pebbles and dug out the underlying clay soil to result in a border of about 15ft long, 1ft wide by 1ft deep just behind the sleepers. The plan is to fill this in with good topsoil/compost and then plant laurel to provide some green to the garden whilst also giving some privacy for the front window. I'll let the hedge grow to maybe 5ft high and 2ft wide, keeping it in shape. My question is, are there any  perrenial plants that I could plant under the laurel that could spill over the sleepers and provide some colour to the front? I have read that laurel can be toxic to neighbouring plants, so some suggestions would be appreciated.  If need be, I could insert cut pots into the border to provide a 'barrier' between the laurel and the flowers that I will plant. Just an idea but looking for any ideas. Thanks all ☺ 
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  • Loraine3Loraine3 Posts: 579
    Don't plant laurel, terrible stuff, only suitable for a Victorian shrubbery. You'll never keep it to 2 feet wide. On moving into my bungalow, there was a laurel hedge against the road and when cut back found about 6 to 7' of lawn and 2 camellias and a rose!! 
    There are lots of alternatives ie Grisselina,  Photinia, and Viburnum tinus.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Griselinia can be a bit of a thug too - there's a hedge near here about 12ft tall, half way across the pavement...  but I'd agree that you won't keep a laurel hedge to 2ft wide.  It can look great as a really big hedge but that's obviously not what you want.  Plants with smaller leaves would be preferable, like privet, or Osmanthus delavayi.  Establishing plants for extra colour at the base of a hedge is difficult if the border is narrow because the hedge sucks out the moisture from the soil.

    Had you thought of a fence, with climbers trained up it, instead of a hedge?  That way you could combine privacy with colour.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    I would go with Privet.
    It may seem 'common' but it has a good track record.

    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • VillageGardenerVillageGardener Posts: 10
    Thanks for the feedback. Seems to be a compromise for quick growing, and then not too much growth once its grown as much as you'd like. I suppose 2 ft is on the smaller side of what we'd want probably lore like 4ft overall, but that sounds like it's also too small for laurel. We just really like the look of it. Hmm
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’ve got a couple of rows of cotoneaster,  easily managed,  cut as hard as you like and it grows well, very thick and dense, birds love to nest in it and shelter from the rain,  doesn’t lose any leaves in the winter. 
    I’ll post a photo tomorrow. 
    Your space rally isn’t big enough for Laurel,  we keep ours well cut but it’s still 5’ wide. It grows on thick trunks.  Ok if you have a big space to fill, ours is on the roadside hedge, it can grow as it needs too there. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The Portuguese laurel is easier to keep tight, but it's certainly a very narrow bed.
    I'd use beech or hornbeam. At that height it'll keep it's foliage over winter too. 
    Cotoneaster is also a good suggestion, for the same reasons. Not all are evergreen, but they're all easy to manage. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Another vote for cotoneaster  :)
    I particularly like the berries at this time of year - and so do the birds !
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/cotoneaster

    I would definitely give laurel a miss in your situation. 
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Firstly it is possible to keep a laurel hedge to the size you want chris, I have one. I trim it twice a year, the last time was 21st November. I use it for screening the interwoven fence that screens the shed, oil tank and potting area. I planted it 2015. It's now about 5'6 high and about 2ft wide. See the pics just taken. You will see there's an access path between the laurel and the fence
    It is also possible to grow plants under it but they would need to be ones that like dry conditions. Google or any member here could make suggestions. At the moment I just have a collection of fossils and some old chain.






    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - you can certainly keep it narrower if it's kept like that from the start.  :)
    I personally wouldn't bother with any planting at the foot of an evergreen hedge though. More trouble than it's worth - assuming the hedging is properly trimmed and has good coverage at the base. The pebbles would be ideal as a mulch. 

    There isn't a huge volume of available soil in the OP's site though. That's more of a problem, and needs to be considered. I'm assuming there is more depth than a foot, below the soil being dug out? The footings of the adjacent pavement or road [again assuming that's the case] will also be a factor, especially with establishing hedging. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • VillageGardenerVillageGardener Posts: 10
    Correct, I should have clarified. I dug a foot out as it is all clay soil here, so I will backfill with better stuff to put the plants into. The soil then goes down from there with no barriers. There is a road to one side, but the pebbles are placed on top of an old lawn, so the entire front garden is accessible to the roots (under the pebbles) 
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