Where to plant these in raised bed

Posts

• Lyn Posts: 23,190

  May 2023

  I can’t find your previous post,  the profile is marked private.
  How deep is the box,  the hydrangea will grow to 5’ in all directions,  so looks like it will be too close to the fence,
  If you really do want it in there, I would put it in the centre,  when it grows you can take the side plants out as needed.
  I have lacecaps in the Sun/shade and all in between,  they need a lot of watering to get going. 
  

  Here’s a lace cap of mine a few years ago,  it was  about 8/9’ wide then, May have been more.
  
  

  Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 
  
  

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• BouncingBack Posts: 142

  May 2023

  It's this thread https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1073044/urgent-what-should-i-put-in-this-raised-bed
  
  The bed is 39cm deep with rough gravel in the bottom 15cm ish, and it's open onto the ground beneath which is clay. The planting area is 370cm x 52cm.

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• GardenerSuze Posts: 5,692

  May 2023

  @BouncingBack The main concern is still winter wet. Actual long term waterlogging means that no plant can thrive due to lack of oxygen.
  Your hosta, and astilbe are the most shade tolerant. They will die back to bare earth in winter so you will have a gap or gaps. The dicentra will probably die back in summer and reappear the following spring.
  The spireas will need better drainage they are deciduous so some shape in the winter months.The hydranga will also give some shape over winter too. Because your plants are not directly in the ground you will need to lift them in time. 
  
  This is a difficult project hence I think you have a shortage of replies. The planter really need height, grasses which would be your go to plants will hate wet soil and shade.
  Plants that do well in shade generally lack height.
  
  

  I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.

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• TheGreenMan Posts: 1,957

  May 2023

  Is the fern evergreen?

  
  

  I would go: fern, Hosta, astilbe, dicentra, hydrangea, plumtastic, magic carpet. 

  
  

  I would be tempted to put some evergreen grasses or something in there too (in between the perennials). Luzula Nivea would look nice, likes shade but can tolerate sun in damp soil and would mean you’d have something in there in the winter months. 

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• GardenerSuze Posts: 5,692

  May 2023

  Luzula and the sedges mentioned in previous thread would work for a contrast of leaf. You won't get the same height as grasses for a sunny border.

  I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.

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• TheGreenMan Posts: 1,957

  May 2023

  This is my luzula nivea today. 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Damp clay, full sun.
  
  I’m so pleased with how they look and behave in those conditions I’ve just bought three more plants. 

  
  

  This is my magic carpet. It gets sun from sunrise to about this time of day. It was in a pot for three years and in the ground now for two. It’s doubled in size since being put in the ground (coffee cup placed there for scale). 

  
  

  
  

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• BouncingBack Posts: 142

  May 2023

  Yes the fern is evergreen. It got through winter at the bottom of the bed alone, before we had the height doubled and the gravel added. So far I have planted, from top with most sun to 2/3 of the way down:
  
  Spiraea magic carpet
  Spiraea plumtastic
  Hydrangea
  Dicentra
  
  I was about to plant the astilbe as it's now at the wet and shady area, but would I be better planting more evergreen ferns maybe? I know they survive there, and I'm improving the soil by mixing organic compost in. Should I put the astilbe and hosta in the bed opposite? Half of it gets sun at this time but is in shade for the rest of the day. The bottom is almost always in shade, and I planted what's there based on previous recommendations in here. 
  
  This is the bed opposite - will the astilbe and hosta be ok in there upwards of the perennial geranium I planted last week?
  
  
  

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• TheGreenMan Posts: 1,957

  May 2023

  Personally I would try for an even split between evergreen and non in both beds if possible. I like to have stuff there in winter but that’s personal preference. 
  

  
  

  Pop the pots on the beds and play around with them before you plant them in. You could leave them in the pots on the soil for a few days while you look and think. That’s what I do. Obviously use the advice from RHS etc about the right plant right place info while you’re doing your thinking. 

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• BouncingBack Posts: 142

  May 2023

  Will the hosta and astilbe tolerate direct sunlight at all? I've just read the astilbe can get scorched, but there isn't much direct sunlight in that second bed pictured above. Only towards the end of the day, although in summer it is very hot. It's directly west facing on that side and east on the other.

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• GardenerSuze Posts: 5,692

  May 2023 edited May 2023

  @BouncingBack Some Hostas will tolerate sun but Wide Brim wants full shade.
  If you do buy more Ferns some are for wet soil some for dry so check labels.
  I would stick to plan A. Gardening is never finished, plants get too big for the space and growth rates on plant labels are only a guide. Planting distances are a skill and can vary according to soil type/ aspect and microclimate. You think you have just got it and another idea comes to mind. Impossible to get it all right at first.
  Plants that do well other than the shrubs can be split in the future repeation works well too. 

  I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.

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