Path Edge/Border Ideas

welshcake · May 2022

Hello, could you please share some ideas with me for a plant I could use to create a border at the edge of my lawn to line a pathway? The path is about 6 metres long, I'd like to create a single row of the same plant, something that looks good all year, doesn't grow too large (or can be kept at a reasonable height with pruning) and ideally has some wildlife benefits. If it has a fragrance that would be an added bonus. It will be in full sun for much of the day (as much as British weather allows!) and I don't mind if it spills over the path a little bit.

I love Lavender and that ticks many boxes but it doesn't look great in winter and it will be in a very prominent position. Does anyone know anything about Phenomenal Lavender and whether that looks good all year in the UK or any other types of lavender? I've also considered euonymous, pittosporum, hebes and coloured grasses but have various versions of all of those fairly nearby and would like to go with something different.

AnniD · May 2022

If you wanted a formal look, back in the day l'd have suggested box, but for obvious reasons l've replaced it with ilex crenata. Hebes maybe?
Possibly creeping thyme? That would give you scent.
I have seen paths edged with Alchemilla mollis, but l know that's not to everyone's taste.

Pete.8 · May 2022

I wanted something similar to edge around my driveway.
I chose Pittosporum Golf Ball.
It has shiny evergreen foliage and grows naturally into a 1m ball, but can be pruned back if needed at any time.
P. Tom Thumb is similar, but with red leaves.

Nollie · May 2022

Rosemary makes a beautifully fragrant, evergreen hedge and the bees love the flowers. You would need to keep it well pruned from the start to stop it going woody and leggy and encourage soft green growth. Lavender Intermedia types (Dutch lavender) mostly keeps it’s looks over winter but it’s quite bushy and the flower spikes are long so I don’t know if that would be too big. Alternatively you could choose one of the small evergreen shrubs already mentioned and underplant with something aromatic and pollinator friendly.

@Athelas has some small and beautiful hedges of lavender and nepeta so might be able to advise on good varieties that still look presentable in winter.

KeenOnGreen · May 2022

Pittosporum Midget is even smaller than Golf Ball, and even more attractive foliage. It only grows to about a foot tall. Looks great all year round.

Athelas · May 2022

Thanks for the mention @Nollie, small is definitely the word.

I only have experience of lavender Hidcote, planted along a narrow bed 45cm across. I was thinking of getting Peter Pan from Downderry Nurseries to replace it all when the time comes. https://downderry-nursery.co.uk/product/peter-pan/ — you may want to have a little look around for other small varieties.

Great for bees and fragrant of course; I think if you prune it into neat balls in August they keep their shape and are quite tolerable as little grey green mounds until they leaf up again in May, for me in Cambridgeshire. I prune down to 9cm or even shorter to keep the woodiness at bay.

Photo from June last year:

Photo today in May:

Nepeta ‘Purrsian Blue’ also works out well for me; the flowers are on for a long time starting in April; I would tend to cut it to the ground in July or whenever it gets brown and old looking, and it flowers again until autumn. The ‘bald times’ are for 4 or so weeks in March when I cut down all vegetation to let new growth through and again in July as mentioned, but it springs back quite nicely. This space is 45 to 50 cm across; my cat and the local cats don’t try to eat it or roll around in it. (Note: I also have nepeta ‘Kit Kat’ which is smaller at around 30+ cm, but find it somewhat loose in form — shall we say weedy, or rather not as densely packed with flowers as ‘Purrsian Blue’.)

Or as @AnniD mentioned, creeping thyme is another, lower possibility. This is ‘Caborn Wine and Roses’ which bursts into dark pink flowers in summer — lovely scent; evergreen all year round. I use garden shears to trim it to shape after flowering. Once every couple of years I have to take out bits encroaching on other plants, but it’s so fragrant it’s hardly a chore. I found that white varieties are less vigorous for me.

Photo today, this is how it looks all year round apart from being in flower:

Photo elsewhere in flower:

The thyme on this raised edge struggled and eventually died as it doesn’t get sun during the autumn/winter months, so I did replace it last year with campanula ‘Campala’ (continuing to be backed by euonymus ’Emerald Gaiety’). I think it would do well in sun; it’s evergreen for me and the purple flowers (I believe they’re sterile) are non-stop except for January to March.

Nollie · May 2022

Well they are stunning @Athelas, just goes to show it’s all in the pruning!

Fire · May 2022

I'd go (as ever) for a shrubby salvia like Royal Bumble - prune as you wish, likes poor soil but isn't fussy, aromatic foliage, can flower continously from April to the frosts (depending on pruning and where you are in the country), beloved by bees, great as cut flowers. It has a much longer flowering season than nepeta, lavender or rosemary, though likes similar conditions. It can be evergreen in sheltered/warmer spots.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/qa/qp3lw565d406.jpg

punkdoc · May 2022

Wish I could get my Lavender to look that good.

welshcake · May 2022

Thanks everyone, some great suggestions for me to look into....and wow stunning photos @Athelas and @Fire Hope I can get my new border somewhere close to yours!

Athelas · May 2022

Thanks @welshcake, @Nollie and @punkdoc, the lavender is practically on builder’s rubble, and gets zero mulching or watering, apart from when it was first planted five years ago and that is the same bark mulch over the five years… it’s hardly broken down at all. The wall gets sun pretty much all day, which I think is key to the lavender not getting sad and soggy over winter.

@Fire, always admired your Royal Bumble, looks amazing and as you say it has a longer flowering season!

Path Edge/Border Ideas

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