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New patio area planting

steven.g.garnersteven.g.garner Posts: 133
in Plants
Im excited to finally have our patio nearly finished! I’ve left a planting strip to the side as you can see in the picture which will wrap round the front of the patio. I’ll use lots of manure and compost to give the new plants a good start. Planning to add star Jasmine along the fence line and wondered what would be good to under plant it? Tropical / evergreen style. Looking for something that will keep fairly small and not spill onto the paving too much. Also wondering what works in the Sun that is similar to fatsia here for the circled area, it gets a lot of sun in the day so effect it wouldn’t work as far as I think.? Thanks all!!!


Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    When your star jasmine is mature it'll overhang the full width of the narrow border so anything else should be viewed as fairly temporary.

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    How about a row of ophiopogon planiscapus (black grass)?  It is low growing, won't flop over the patio, won't take up much room and looks exotic!  You can always relocate it once the trachelospermum starts maturing.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Good idea @didyw . It's easy to split as well, so a couple of large pots could be split into sections to make a row if budget doesn't allow for buying a lot of plants.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,960
    Your new patio looks lovely.

    I'd bung a rose shrub in your oval there, though it's not really fatsia-like.  
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    If you plant a Star Jasmine the white flowers would work well with Ophiopogon. The white black como would be striking and create drama if that is what you like. Ophiopogon has tiny lilac flowers is very slow growing. You may need to plant it elsewhere in the future as the Jasmine will soon fill your border.
    This will create a very modern look so I would consider a grass further down the border or if it is very sheltered consider Melianthus major leaves have a slightly grey tone. It will need a specific micro climate.

    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • steven.g.garnersteven.g.garner Posts: 133
    These are all wonderful ideas and I LOVE the black grass!
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @steven.g.garner Most people including me refer to it as black grass. It is a member of the lily family as I found out when I was put right on a gardening course. My friend won a spade at out local gardening club. We were asked to spell it's full latin name and she could. She sell lots of plants and is always writing labels so that helped. It is important to use latin as much as possible so everyone knows what we mean but black grass{sorry tutor] is one of the worst.
    If the site is very hot and dry it may struggle leaves will turn brown at tips. Otherwise it seems happy once established and it is evergreen. Can be grown from seed but you could get lots of green ones.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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