White garden
The front of my house as featured on the gallery of shame is soon to be transformed. No more drunken guests falling off the missing steps into the road!
A landscape gardner is coming to lay some grey block paving and there will be a large raised bed made out of railway sleepers.
The idea is to have a white garden, they just look so magnificent at dusk and it's long been a dream of mine to have one.
It's full sun, clay and I'd like a mix of white flowered herbs, roses, foxgloves, white lavender, silver leaved plants and white flowered herbs.
My beloved uncle just died after a long illness and my husband and I are doing 100 mile walk from Eastbourne to Winchester cathedral in his memory so I thought it would be nice to have the white David Austin shrub rose Winchester cathedral as a centrepiece.
I'm a bit stuck on the house wall as I need evergreen hedging plants to hide a 6 foot by 5 foot wall at the front of the house that is in partial shade. Something that will look lovely in winter and summer, preferably silver leaves and something that will take well to being clipped as I'll need to keep the gas meter in the middle free of plants.
Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Posts
Eleagnus - there are silver varieties, although I can't remember if they are the evergreen ones Lou
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
That sounds lovely Lou. Not evergreen but how about a Philadelphus Belle Etoile for the glorious scent. My only other thought is that in my experience, white versions of flowers that have been specifically bred to be white have a distressing habit of reverting to their original colour through cross-pollination or whatever.
Sorry, probably not very helpful at all.
I have a nice holly called Handsworth new silver. I didnt think i liked holly but this one has a beautiful leaf, would go well in a white garden.
Same as Fairy, Eleagnus. I have one against a red brick wall, evergreen and easily kept in shape.
Very nice suggestions thanks.
I'm going to try and stick with a few species, about 6 in all and my natural tendency is to plant everything and end up with a bit of a dog's dinner :-)
I would go for a white flowered cistus - evergreen foliage with a sliver/grey back and lovely white flowers with deep purple spots - https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=432
With dusk in mind, perhaps some evening scented flowers? White nicotiana, jasmine or verbena. Honeysuckle 'Graham Thomas' might help with your wall problem, does best in partial shade.
Have a look at this link for some more information: http://www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk/thingstodo/inaweekend/night-garden.aspx
One plant that I discovered recently is Centaurea Silver Feather. Pale foliage, grows well in my clay soil, evergreen, and a substantial size. Apart from the pale pink flowers it seems perfect for you.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=centaurea+silver+feather&rlz=1C1CHMO_enGB572GB573&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZuMfb4KnNAhVHmBoKHY6-A0gQsAQIHQ&biw=1538&bih=933
Last edited: 15 June 2016 10:54:25
I have a centaurea with white flowers and purple centers as well as that pink form and a deep purple one. Gorgeous plants.
There's also a white form of lychnis coronaria with silver foliage that should suit.
Eleagnus is a good choice. You could also consider some of the varieties of Euonymous. They tend to have smaller leaves if this suits the area better and there is everything from solid green to green with a splash of white to white with a splash of green. Even a euonymous which appears to have a low growing height (say 1m) will often grow quite a bit higher if growing against a wall.
Ivies might also be worth a look.
Sometimes an all white garden can look a little flat. The most successful ones have good structural foliage and sometimes a few non-white flowers - very palest pink or pale lime for example. These colours help the white sing out.
Good luck with your plan - sounds as though it will be lovely