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Border ideas - start again or work with it?

jess69395jess69395 Posts: 3
in Garden design
Hi,

I’m new to gardening and keen to transform the border in my garden to something that’s pleasant to view out of my bi-fold doors. I’m keen to include the apple tree already there and add a plum tree but other than that I would love some ideas or tips on how to plan the space. 
I don’t know whether I can work with what I have and add to it and move some things or whether I need to completely start from scratch? 
I would like some colour. I love borders with grasses and variety of greens, purples and whites. 
If anyone has any pictures for inspiration that would be great too. 
The larger border in pictures with the California Lilac is East facing and the other border is South facing. 

Thank you

Jess 

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    The most obvious thing to me, is, that it is far too narrow. If you want an interesting border, you need to have it at least deep enough for 3 layers of plants.

    Do you want a straight border, maybe some curves would be more interesting?
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I agree with @punkdoc, widen the borders and create some curves.

    I'm a bit of a plantaholic and I start off planning colour schemes, but then something dies or doesn't do well so I go to a garden centre and buy what pleases me and in the end the original colour scheme gets mixed up! I like colour and different shapes of plants, different sizes of leaves.

    Planning needs detail, what time of year a plant will flower, what soil conditions, sun or shade? I tend to plant something where it will be happy, but my planning for what looks good together can be a bit haphazard.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    @jess69395, I would keep what is there already (unless you really dislike it) in order to give the new border some maturity. As the others have advised, widening the borders really helps as perennial plants then have room to grow and thus show off a bigger clump of flowers.  If you like grasses, then they need room as well. 

    Look at the height of your existing plants/shrubs and decide if they are evergreen or not. Then have a slightly lower plant each side and in front and so on. Alan Titchmarsh's book on How to be a Gardener has a good section on planning borders, he advocated planting in triangles, an upright, a dome and a sprawler which could be repeated along the border. You also need to factor in when each plant flowers, especially in the autumn and winter to spread the interest as long as possible. Bulbs of different types and flowering times can also be added into the mix. Short climbers would be good on the fences, maybe some roses perhaps.

    Good luck and have fun! It won't all work and some plants won't survive but that's all part of the gardening lark.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @jess69395 When you look at a garden you need to look at it as one. Creating a strong skeletal shape with evergreens deciduous shrubs and grasses such as Calamagrostis Karl Foester in odd numbered groups give the garden a strong shape in winter. It creates a rythum from one end of the garden to the other. Get this right and you have the start of a lovely garden. Deep borders allow you to create deep planting areas. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • ViewAheadViewAhead Posts: 866
    It looks a good amount of space. 👍

    Do you want to keep a block of grass?  If so, some pathways in it so you can easily get to the borders all yr might help.   Is your house modern or older?  If modern, straight lines will work well, albeit you can have these offset to provide interest, especially if you are playing with paths.  If it is an older house, curved lines might work better.

    If you want to make the space look larger, some colours do this by seeming further away.  However, while you are experimenting to find what works, I wouldn't get too hung up on colour. 

    Repeating plants helps unify a space, but, again, if you are not sure what will work, it might be best to try one first and then add more if it is successful.  It is always tempting to crowd too much in.  Remember to leave plants enough space or it will look untidy quickly as they all compete. 




  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I agree with the others - the borders need to be a good bit wider to fit in a mix of shrubs and perennials with a few small trees. With narrow borders you're more-or-less limited to planting things in a single line. Curved or straight lines is up to you - whatever suits your taste is OK. One way of adding width and a bit of curve and depth without having wavy-edged borders is to round off the corners (easier to mow than a lawn with corners, too).
    Are you taking out the tree stump? If not, it might be easier to bring the border forward around it rather than having a fiddly bit of lawn behind it.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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