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Deciding plants for new border by fences

ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
in Garden design
Hello everyone,
We've eventually had a lot sorted out in our garden - gone is the manky and sunken patio, replaced by a very natural looking porcelain. Gone are the rotten raised beds made from upright sleepers - replaced by weathered brick retaining walls.

Also added are two narrow (yes, I know!) borders either side of the garden. Besides adding interest to the garden, screening a boring fence on each side is also a goal.

I've started to do some research myself, I'm aware that I need:

1. Year round interest - We can see the garden from the kitchen/play room/family room
2. Varied height, up to say 6ft or so - Fence will be 5ft plus small gravel board.
3. A colour theme/grouping - For us this is the purple/red/dusty pink/burgundy type pallet
4. Probably to just pick a few plants and not to be afraid of repeating! - Apparently that's a good idea!

So, with this in mind I started with some favourites of ours and decided to look at lists of popular plants, on the RHS website, whilst interesting and useful I think this would take me about 2 years to decide!

I'm hoping I could get some input on the choices we have so far and some suggestions to compliment them perhaps.

So my short list so far includes:
* Salvia hotlips, amethyst lips  (Also nice to use the flowers on a cake - very tasty!)
* Lavender (probably French, seems to flower for longer?)
* Verbena Bonariensis - A favourite for years, and great for height!
* Rosemary

Not on the list just yet but others we've had success with in a previous house..
* Acers
* Wall flowers

Aside from the colour pallet as the list probably tells you we tend to prefer smaller flowers and shrubs than really big bold flowers

We're in the South East (London) and have a west facing garden, I don't know if the soil is acid or alkaline, but I'm pretty sure it's clay. I have 200l of manure to help condition the soil, and when constructed the patio people added some sand too, which will help with drainage. The borders are about 15m long and 40cm wide.

It's a family garden - a lively 5 year old son and a not yet mobile 8 month old daughter, we'll have some time to maintain it for sure, by high maintenance isn't the order of the day!

Once I have these new beds decided I've got four raised beds which are all half full, which I'll move onto next probably... Or perhaps I'll do a separate thread for them. 

So yeah, keen to see what you guys make of my list so far and what else I could add - it's probably very light on the winter and autumn interest for example!

Many thanks :)




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  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    How narrow is narrow? As long as it's 18 inches or so wide with reasonable depth (or soil underneath not paving, hardcore or membrane) , everything you list should do OK on the south-facing side (right hand side if you're facing west when you stand with your back to the house) except the acer. They have a naturally wide canopy and would be better planted well away from the fence so they have room to grow naturally, and prefer dappled/light shade. However only the Verbena bonariensis will be anything close to 6ft tall. Don't plant right up against the fence because there'll be a rain shadow.
    The north-facing side will be more of a challenge because it won't get anything like as much sun - maybe some in the morning if it's not overshadowed from the east.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited March 2023
    Colourwise, to my eye the red in Salvia Hot Lips is a scarlet, slightly orangey red that doesn't go well with purples. Some other varieties you might want to consider are S. Mirage Cherry Red which is more of a crimson red, Dyson's Maroon is a nice deep burgundy, S. Mirage Deep Purple is a true purple (neither blue-ish nor red-ish), S. Raspberry Royale is a deep raspberry red. New varieties come out all the time so you'll probably find others that would work in your scheme.
    Your colour scheme isn't an easy one for the north-facing side. All that really comes to mind is hardy fuchsias - F. magellanica is red/purple and there's one with dusky grey/cream/pinkish variegated foliage, F. magellanica Versicolor (mine tends to revert to plain green but that might be because it's old).

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
    Thank you Jenny, the right hand side is the priority by a long stretch. The left hand side is obscured unless you're actually in the garden. 

    Colour wise, thanks for the salvia tips, yes, we're not wed to hot lips but know it did work well for us. 

    I think we will leave any acers, if we go for them, for the raised beds which are far bigger. 

    What do you think could fill the height gap between Verbena B and the others? 
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I think you will be OK with 40cm width, I have that width raised bed against my east-facing wall and grow rosemary, salvia caradonna, gaura, nepeta, verbena bonariensis, alliums and originally lavender, but the latter didn’t survive.

    Rosemary does get big and sprawling. There is a fastigate (tall and thin) type called Miss Jessopp, I think, that may be easier to keep in bounds. The verbena does need the odd stake to stop it flopping forward in a narrow border. The shrubby salvias can also get big and sprawling so be prepared for those to spill out and over.

    You might want to consider a couple of tall, narrow or neat mounded evergreen shrubs for winter interest.

    Ornamental alliums are great to add height, my favourite purple ones are Purple Rain and Atropurpureum. 

    Good drainage is essential for all of those and they don’t like rich, manured clay soil, although 200L won’t go far so shouldn’t be too problematic. I’m slightly concerned about the sand, hope it was sharp sand and not builder’s sand because the latter binds to the clay and creates concrete! I added large quantities of grit and cheap multi-purpose compost to my clay to impoverish and loosen it up and made sure the bed drained out at the bottom through a gravel base layer and gaps.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
    Thank you for the tips Nollie, most helpful. Rosemary wise, we were at Wisley the other day and saw a sort of tumbling form of Rosemary, which was pretty cool - could work well for the front of our retaining walls. 

    Heather is also one for our list too.

    I recognise purple rain from my Mum's garden, thanks, I like that. 

    Sand wise, I'm not too sure to be honest, however, as that ship has sailed I'll have to just see what I have and what happens I guess.

    In terms of my border 'facing' aspect, my compass on my phone confuses me a bit!.. However, the main border on the right hand side as I look at it from the house, is covered in sun. The one on the left, less so, however, I think in general our garden does get lots of sun.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    edited March 2023
    I wouldn't go for French lavender, it's not very hardy, unless you are willing to replace it regularly.

    Have a look at penstemons, there are several in your colour palette. Some are less hardy but the narrower leaved ones are hardier. Do you like dahlias? I have found the wine red Arabian Nights to be hardy, I don't dig it up in winter.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
    Interesting thanks. I think I only went for French as it looked to flower for longer. I'd prefer less agro though!

    Just had a look at penstemons, they look like they would fit the bill nicely. Dahlia are a bit large for our vibe! 
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    For the N. facing side, some of the deep purple or dusky pink Astrantias might work well; 'Roma' is the longest flowering although not the deepest colour. Actaea 'Pink Spike' will be happy in the shadiest areas. Geranium 'Anne Thompson' is quite a vivid magenta, not sure if that fits your colour theme but definitely a good 'do-er'. Tricyrtis are good for shade, and the right sort of colour. I would include some white in there because it will help highlight the other colours and stand out in the shade. To that end you could have Luzula nivea for late spring, and Eurybia divaricata, the wood aster, for late summer into autumn.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited March 2023
    @ChilliBob I would look at the hardy geraniums easy to grow. Some small some large some for sun and some for shade. They are easy to maintain most need a cut back after flowering and with some rain they will regrow. I have G Sirak in semi shade/ G Phaum Lily Lovell for deeper shade/ full sun G Rozanne  Also some campanulas such as C Dixon Gold and C Chloe are easy and also evergreen. All these are shades of purple.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I was wondering of there was anything in the purple/dusky pink/burgundy range that would do in both aspects? I’m thinking you need something to tie the two borders together otherwise it may lack coherence. Sanguisorba perhaps, or Astrantia as Loxely suggests? I believe Roma can take a fair amount of sun as well.

    I have trailing rosemary (r. prostratus), that gets really big too without regular hard pruning. Here it is draping down a 1.2m high south-facing stone terrace:


    In my east-facing 40cm wide border, which is only 30cm high, it’s chosen to grow up the wall rather than trail! I remove about 50% of the growth each year:

    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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