North north west facing garden - perennial border ideas

[Lynda Thornton]

Hello all

We have a large north-north-west facing lawned garden with high beech
hedges and woodland shrubs around and I would like to add some colour
and variety with a long perennial border running along a wooden picket
3ft fence we recently put up. I have already removed 2ft of the turf
and am about to prepare the soil by digging in some organic matter and
adding some more topsoil as much of it went with the grass.

I have been thinking about plants which would be OK in this situation.
It isn't shady and does get sun but it can get windy and cold too. It
gets some sun first thing and then a bit more in late afternoon, from
the other side. I would like some taller plants for added interest and
hopefully the fence will provide some shelter and support. I have
already ordered some plants from Thompson&Morgan below:

2 hybrid tea roses, 3-4ft max
acanthus mollis
asiatic lilies
verbena bonariensis

Some plants I am still thinking about are:

lilium regale
primula vialli
phlox paniculata
bell flowers (like canterbury bells I think)
aquilegia mixed
monarda mixed
hellebores
verbascum phoeniculum
dicentra pregrina alba (only grows 30-40cm).

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions and are any of these plants
completely wrong for the situation? I am not super keen on orange or
bright yellow so have avoided those colours mostly.

Any other ideas would be welcome - I am really looking forward to
sitting in the garden this summer with a view of a colourful flower
border hopefully!!

Thanks
Lynda

[Martin Sykes]

Post by Lynda Thornton
Hello all
We have a large north-north-west facing lawned garden with high beech
hedges and woodland shrubs around and I would like to add some colour
and variety with a long perennial border running along a wooden picket
3ft fence we recently put up. I have already removed 2ft of the turf
and am about to prepare the soil by digging in some organic matter and
adding some more topsoil as much of it went with the grass.
I have been thinking about plants which would be OK in this situation.
It isn't shady and does get sun but it can get windy and cold too. It
gets some sun first thing and then a bit more in late afternoon, from
the other side. I would like some taller plants for added interest and
hopefully the fence will provide some shelter and support. I have
2 hybrid tea roses, 3-4ft max
acanthus mollis
asiatic lilies
verbena bonariensis
lilium regale
primula vialli
phlox paniculata
bell flowers (like canterbury bells I think)
aquilegia mixed
monarda mixed
hellebores
verbascum phoeniculum
dicentra pregrina alba (only grows 30-40cm).
Does anyone have any comments or suggestions and are any of these plants
completely wrong for the situation? I am not super keen on orange or
bright yellow so have avoided those colours mostly.
Any other ideas would be welcome - I am really looking forward to
sitting in the garden this summer with a view of a colourful flower
border hopefully!!
Thanks
Lynda

Hi Lynda,

The plants sound nice but I think most of what you have there will die down
in the winter ( apart from the hellebores which will provide good
structure ) so some extra winter interest would be a good idea. The lillies
might need staking if it's very windy. If you want more height, I'd
consider widening your border at some points so you don't have to squash
your tall plants in at the back. I'd add a couple of asters to your list
because they're extremely colourful and you'll get lots of butterflies on
them to add a bit of movement to the border.

[keith ;-)]

I would definitely make it wider than two feet it will look a little
squashed in.And plant on mass 3,5 & 7 if poss.It will look far better with
blocks of plants than singles dotted here & there.Like someone else has said
mix winter fragrant shrubs possibly some evergreens for background then
plant spring bulbs between all the plants.
Perennial borders alone are great if you have the space for other sections
of interest throughout the garden,but if this is all you have to look at
then the mixed border will be best,as with the perennial border by late
autumn that will be it ,over till spring.
--
Thanks Keith,England,UK.

Post by Martin Sykes

Post by Lynda Thornton
Hello all
We have a large north-north-west facing lawned garden with high beech
hedges and woodland shrubs around and I would like to add some colour
and variety with a long perennial border running along a wooden picket
3ft fence we recently put up. I have already removed 2ft of the turf
and am about to prepare the soil by digging in some organic matter and
adding some more topsoil as much of it went with the grass.
I have been thinking about plants which would be OK in this situation.
It isn't shady and does get sun but it can get windy and cold too. It
gets some sun first thing and then a bit more in late afternoon, from
the other side. I would like some taller plants for added interest and
hopefully the fence will provide some shelter and support. I have
2 hybrid tea roses, 3-4ft max
acanthus mollis
asiatic lilies
verbena bonariensis
lilium regale
primula vialli
phlox paniculata
bell flowers (like canterbury bells I think)
aquilegia mixed
monarda mixed
hellebores
verbascum phoeniculum
dicentra pregrina alba (only grows 30-40cm).
Does anyone have any comments or suggestions and are any of these plants
completely wrong for the situation? I am not super keen on orange or
bright yellow so have avoided those colours mostly.
Any other ideas would be welcome - I am really looking forward to
sitting in the garden this summer with a view of a colourful flower
border hopefully!!
Thanks
Lynda

Hi Lynda,
The plants sound nice but I think most of what you have there will die down
in the winter ( apart from the hellebores which will provide good
structure ) so some extra winter interest would be a good idea. The lillies
might need staking if it's very windy. If you want more height, I'd
consider widening your border at some points so you don't have to squash
your tall plants in at the back. I'd add a couple of asters to your list
because they're extremely colourful and you'll get lots of butterflies on
them to add a bit of movement to the border.
--
Martin & Anna Sykes
<http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm>

[Ornata]

My garden has the same aspect. For winter/early spring interest, ho
about some bergenias? Go for a variety where the leaves tur
plum-purple in cold weather. Lots of plants will be happy i
part-shade. Tricyrtis formosana (toad lilies - purple spotted) an
Aconitum (monkshood - deep blue) provide flowers from late summer t
early autumn. Both can be ordered from J Parker (I'm guessing you'r
thinking of ordering from there, as they misspelled the dicentr
peregrina). As you say the site is a bit windy, how about some grasses
And don't forget ferns - the evergreen ones provide useful colour i
the winter months. Athyrium nipponicum pictum is deciduous, but i
does have beautiful silvery fronds. Dryopteris erythrosora (the autum
fern) is evergreen and has lovely coppery new fronds. Also, add to you
stock of spring bulbs. Crocuses have the annoying habit of only openin
up their flowers in full sun, but they and most other bulbs are happy i
part shade. And fuchsias, of course, like shade and are fairl
wind-resistant (often planted as hedging in coastal districts).

Aquilegias will flower from May to July. The great thing with them i
that they hybridise freely, so each year your stock will increase, wit
hopefully some interesting new colours.

A useful, if slightly quirky book about gardening in less than sunn
conditions is "Gardening in the Shade" by Margery Fish. As it wa
written well before global warming started playing havoc with ou
gardening calendar and our ideas about plant hardiness, her selection
should be suitable for a more exposed site.

Hope this helps.
Ornata

Post by Lynda Thornton
Hello all
We have a large north-north-west facing lawned garden with high beech
hedges and woodland shrubs around and I would like to add some colour
and variety with a long perennial border running along a wooden picket
3ft fence we recently put up. I have already removed 2ft of the turf
and am about to prepare the soil by digging in some organic matter and
adding some more topsoil as much of it went with the grass.
I have been thinking about plants which would be OK in this situation.
It isn't shady and does get sun but it can get windy and cold too. It
gets some sun first thing and then a bit more in late afternoon, from
the other side. I would like some taller plants for added interes
and
hopefully the fence will provide some shelter and support. I have
2 hybrid tea roses, 3-4ft max
acanthus mollis
asiatic lilies
verbena bonariensis
Some plants I am still thinking about a
lilium regale
primula vialli
phlox paniculata
bell flowers (like canterbury bells I think)
aquilegia mixed
monarda mixed
hellebores
verbascum phoeniculum
dicentra pregrina alba (only grows 30-40cm).
Does anyone have any comments or suggestions and are any of thes
plants
completely wrong for the situation? I am not super keen on orange or
bright yellow so have avoided those colours mostly.
Any other ideas would be welcome - I am really looking forward to
sitting in the garden this summer with a view of a colourful flower
border hopefully!!
Thanks
Lynd

--
Ornata

[Lynda Thornton]

My garden has the same aspect. For winter/early spring interest, how
about some bergenias? Go for a variety where the leaves turn
plum-purple in cold weather. Lots of plants will be happy in
part-shade. Tricyrtis formosana (toad lilies - purple spotted) and
Aconitum (monkshood - deep blue) provide flowers from late summer to
early autumn. Both can be ordered from J Parker (I'm guessing you're
thinking of ordering from there, as they misspelled the dicentra
peregrina). As you say the site is a bit windy, how about some grasses?
And don't forget ferns - the evergreen ones provide useful colour in
the winter months. Athyrium nipponicum pictum is deciduous, but it
does have beautiful silvery fronds. Dryopteris erythrosora (the autumn
fern) is evergreen and has lovely coppery new fronds. Also, add to your
stock of spring bulbs. Crocuses have the annoying habit of only opening
up their flowers in full sun, but they and most other bulbs are happy in
part shade. And fuchsias, of course, like shade and are fairly
wind-resistant (often planted as hedging in coastal districts).
Aquilegias will flower from May to July. The great thing with them is
that they hybridise freely, so each year your stock will increase, with
hopefully some interesting new colours.
A useful, if slightly quirky book about gardening in less than sunny
conditions is "Gardening in the Shade" by Margery Fish. As it was
written well before global warming started playing havoc with our
gardening calendar and our ideas about plant hardiness, her selections
should be suitable for a more exposed site.
Hope this helps.
Ornata

Hi

Thanks for the interest! I know bergenias but am not over keen - from
experience with them in a previous garden I don't like the large leaves
which sometimes get into a mess over the winter and in fact I don't
really like the flowers either - sorry! I had some toad lilies in a
shady part of my last garden but they were really puny and the flowers
very small so I didn't want them again either. I do like monkshood on
the other hand but I don't want to risk it with a young child running
around as they are extremely poisonous of course. There are ferns in
other parts of the garden, we have a lot of hedging and they grow
happily in the shade there, so I didn't want more of the same in my
perennial border. Bulb-wise I am putting in some allium of a type which
doesn't mind part-shade and am trying my luck with one agapanthus to see
if it manages! There are plenty of spring bulbs elsewhere in the garden
on the other side of the house and around the hedge boundaries. There
are also a lot of fuchsias elsewhere too, so I didn't want to put those
in. Sorry to sound so negative, I'm just giving my reasons as to why I
have decided against certain things, however, I have changed the list I
am getting, partly because after further research I think some plants
would not have thrived in the soil which is on the acid side or would
have wanted more sun.

I wouldn't be against grass as long as it didn't spread (I had some
stripy stuff in a previous garden that just took over a large area and
drove me mad). A small dainty well-behaved type would be welcome as
long as it didn't need full direct sun :)

The planting list now includes:

phygelius -semi-evergreen hopefully!
lilium regale
bellflowers
liatris (white)
foxglove (white with burgundy inside), again poisonous I know but not
quite as bad as aconite, it will be tucked behind other things!
achillea colorado red
echinops
hardy white geranium
cornus alba - winter colour
liriope muscari - evergreen
more hellebores including speckled lady and queen of the night
acanthus mollis
verbena bonariensis - I think it prefers full sun but I'm chancing it
echinacea purpurea - as above ...
gaultheria procumbens - evergreen hopefully with berries in winter, plus
birds apparently love it, another good point!
aquilegia

I am really hoping that this lot will mostly thrive and provide a good
range of colour and form in the summer and later summer too, plus a bit
of variety and colour going on through the colder months.

I've ordered plants from T&M, Parkers, plus ebay too! In the olden days
I would probably have grown lots from seed and I might put a few
nasturtium empress of india into pots to grow but I can't devote the
time like I could before. I've also moved a (very) dwarf rhododendron
into a corner from a temporary place so that will also provide a bit of
winter shape, plus I bought 2 small conifers over the weekend, a
chamaecyparis silver tipped one and a thuja rheingold, both of which I
don't think will get very big and are slow growing anyway, so they will
also help with winter colour.

I've just seen the weather forecast saying snow next week - I hope a
colder snap doesn't harm my poor new plants - we've already had a very
heavy frost yesterday and I delayed putting some of them in until today
which was much milder :(

Lynda