Lots of great advice posted here already. I think expecting a bed to have no gaps in flowering for the entire year is setting yourself up for a very big challenge and some nice foliage plants can take the pressure off expecting the flowers to always carry the show. There are some short lived perennials like Erysimum Bowles's mauve that will flower almost the entire year that might be worth adding and some easy to grow annuals like pot marigold can fill gaps and it is easy to save seed from the old flowers to start a new batch to use again. Dead heading can also extend flowering for a lot of perennials and shrubs and things like hydrangea have an interesting texture and shape to the old flowers.
Thought it would be useful to record what blooms in my own garden for each month of the year to help with planning what to plant in future and so put in playlists on the youtube channel I use with flowers for each month of the year here. I think one of the things I like most about gardening is just trying different things to see how they turn out so getting stressed by the chance something in my garden not working out 100percent the way I plan is something I don't really experience. If a bed does not look that well at a particular time you can just take a short cut(cheat) and go the the garden centre and buy something that is looking good to brighten up the area and draw the eye away from what you don't want to notice. One of the nice things about garden plans is if they are not working out they are easy to change.
@CatDouch, I was struck by your first picture showing the gravel mulch, may I ask if you used a membrane underneath or just poured a goodly depth of gravel onto soil? Has it been easy to maintain since?
I have a much higher raised bed which is getting more difficult for me to maintain so I was wondering whether a very thick mulch might be easier.
Hi @Lizzie27 yes I put a porous membrane down first, I wasn’t sure if to or not but it seems to have worked out very well and is easy to maintain.
First of all we removed everything that was there before, which was very poor clay soil and stones, I then had loads of organic compost delivered, I filled the trench with this along with some of the existing clay soil and then laid a membrane down. I then cut crosses in the membrane and planted the plants through and then topped with quite a lot of gravel, a good couple of inches.
Over the last few years I’ve added a few other plants, I just sweep the gravel to the side in the area I’m planting in and cut a big hole in the membrane and place the plant unit. I’m always surprised to see how many worms are in the soil, they obviously get through somehow 👍
Thanks for replying @CatDouch, I thought that might be the case.
I probably wouldn't be able to lay a membrane easily in my bed as I've several established shrubs, grasses and roses in it so it might be easier for me just to pour a thick layer of bark mulch around them. I did like the look of your gravel though. Food for thought over the winter!
Ah I've been exactly where you are! I stressed over the little things, and when people told me not to stress, I stressed anyway . There is a massive learning curve with too many variables for getting it right first (second, third) time. Just know that in two years, you'll be happy with the result, and enjoy the surprises along the way. That seems to be what happens to us all. As you can see, this forum is fabulous! You've come to the right place.
The one thing no one has asked is - whereabouts are you in the country @RoseVilla? That also affects choices. What thrives , or even survives, in the south of England, won't necessarily do the same in Sutherland. Your soil and general conditions will dictate all of that part, but start with absolutely bone hardy plants that suit your climate. You can then experiment later on when you feel more confident. The amount of wasted plants [and money] I went through early on with trying to make a garden is quite sizeable, because soil and location are two of the most important factors in choosing plants, and that wasn't readily explained on TV shows or magazines. It's why this forum is so useful Structural planting is important if you want some colour through winter, and that's where foliage also comes in. Evergreen ground cover planting will also do that job, and there are plenty of choices there. When it comes to the rest of the area[s] it comes down to what colours you like -and dislike, and what will therefore fill in those gaps for spring through to autumn. Hardy perennials can be put in with spring bulbs, so that helps with succession. Start with a list of likes - and most importantly, dislikes. A mix of heights is needed to stop everything looking like 'blobs'. You can always have containers near your house if you want a bit of colour in those dark days of winter, so that can be done easily instead of planning the bigger areas early on.
We all make mistakes with plants and combinations, no matter how hard we try not to, so that will happen at some point. If you're anything like me, some plants annoy, or bore you after a while, and so does the garden generally, so you may want to remove stuff and/or change things around. I only enjoy the process of constructing and creating something, then I lose interest. Others like the familiarity of the same view.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirli think one poster did ask but I forgot to answer that question! I’m in the east anglia, a few miles from the coast, my garden boarders fields and when the wind comes it’s certainly windy!
@BenCotto I tend to admire the snowdrops from the kitchen. I'll venture out to give the green gage/plum trees a winter wash but that's the extent of my gardening until the last week of March.
Posts
I did post some pictures in the comments. And saying thankyou to everyone. I don’t know if anyone will see it so tagging you all in!
I have a much higher raised bed which is getting more difficult for me to maintain so I was wondering whether a very thick mulch might be easier.
I probably wouldn't be able to lay a membrane easily in my bed as I've several established shrubs, grasses and roses in it so it might be easier for me just to pour a thick layer of bark mulch around them. I did like the look of your gravel though. Food for thought over the winter!
As you can see, this forum is fabulous! You've come to the right place.
That also affects choices. What thrives , or even survives, in the south of England, won't necessarily do the same in Sutherland. Your soil and general conditions will dictate all of that part, but start with absolutely bone hardy plants that suit your climate. You can then experiment later on when you feel more confident.
The amount of wasted plants [and money] I went through early on with trying to make a garden is quite sizeable, because soil and location are two of the most important factors in choosing plants, and that wasn't readily explained on TV shows or magazines. It's why this forum is so useful
Structural planting is important if you want some colour through winter, and that's where foliage also comes in. Evergreen ground cover planting will also do that job, and there are plenty of choices there. When it comes to the rest of the area[s] it comes down to what colours you like -and dislike, and what will therefore fill in those gaps for spring through to autumn. Hardy perennials can be put in with spring bulbs, so that helps with succession. Start with a list of likes - and most importantly, dislikes. A mix of heights is needed to stop everything looking like 'blobs'.
You can always have containers near your house if you want a bit of colour in those dark days of winter, so that can be done easily instead of planning the bigger areas early on.
We all make mistakes with plants and combinations, no matter how hard we try not to, so that will happen at some point. If you're anything like me, some plants annoy, or bore you after a while, and so does the garden generally, so you may want to remove stuff and/or change things around. I only enjoy the process of constructing and creating something, then I lose interest. Others like the familiarity of the same view.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...