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need help i'm a virgin!!

• Message 1. 

  Posted by mischievouslittlemo (U2935852) on Wednesday, 11th January 2006

  
  Hi I am need of a lot of help.
  I have moved into a bungalow, which has a lovely front garden with drive but it is on a very steep gradiant. I have a large square of lawn surrounded by borders, the front border is ok it has large Laurel bushes growing but the other three borders I just dont no what to put in. I need something that is quite low maintenance but very pretty, as I look after my disabled husband 24/7. I keep getting told to put plants in that come up year after year but that means nothing to me. I did grow my own marigolds of different variety's last year, but need something just a little more spectacular.
  At the top of the front garden it becomes very dry, obviously as its on a hill,so the rest of the borders seem quite wet, so I think it will have to be different plants up there. Please could anyone help!!

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Wednesday, 11th January 2006

  Hi Mo, I am disabled & have a long list of plants which are low maintenance but will give you plenty of colour - but I will need a bit more information to make sure I give you ideas which will be suitable for your garden. Could you let me know how much sun your garden gets (or whether different areas of it get more/less sun than others)? Also, do you happen to know whether the soil is acid or alkaline (if you don't know, do your neighbours grow a lot of things like rhododendrons & heathers? - if they do it's probably acid)?

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by mischievouslittlemo (U2935852) on Friday, 13th January 2006

  
  Hi Juliet,
  
  Thank you for your reply.
  My garden gets sunshine all day, but I dont know what sort of soil it is. The neighbours seem to grow a bit of everything and I must admit what I have put in so far seem to grow quite well although the one's at the top of the garden which is on the hill seem to get very dry and I noticed after I had planted some plant that they needed very moist area, so now I know why they died!!
  I have some sort of pink wild geranium that spreads and grows like wildfire, and some varigated periwinkle. I did plant a yellow leafed holly bush but the poor little thing has hardly grown.
  Look forward to hearing from you with more help
  
  mo

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  Hi again Mo,
  
  I've been thinking about your garden & suspect this is going to be rather a long post (or series of posts), so make yourself a cup of tea ...
  
  Ready? OK, I'll try & divide it up a bit. Firstly some general information (apologies if I'm telling you things you already know, but given the title of the thread I'm assuming you're new to gardening!). When people tell you to put in things which come up year after year they're talking about perennials, as opposed to annuals (you have to plant annual seeds every year). A lot of plants are perennial - including things like trees & shrubs - but mostly when gardeners talk about perennials they mean the plants which are sold in garden centres as herbacious perennials (cottage garden type plants, like hardy geraniums or oriental poppies). Personally I wouldn't recommend you put in too many of these if you are going for minimum maintenance as you will have to dig them up & divide them (cut them in bits) every 3 or 4 years - it's not a massive job but it is time consuming. A lot of the bigger ones will also need to be tied to a stake to prevent them falling over if it gets windy. So I would just get a few small ones and mostly go for small flowering & evergreen shrubs which don't need as much care. Don't get bigger shrubs (say, ones which grow over about 6') - as you'll need to keep cutting them back, so make sure you check labels of anything you buy to see what the ultimate height is. And make sure everything you get is fully hardy - if it isn't you'll have to dig it up & take it indoors for the winter, which is obviously more maintenance than you want.
  
  to be continued ...

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  Now some suggestions - I'll give you a long list of things I think would be suitable so you can look them up & see which ones you like ...
  
  Shrubs which will be happy at the wettest end of the garden:
  Cornus (dogwood) - get a variety such as cornus alba siberica or cornus sanguinea midwinter fire for nice autumn colour & red stems all through the winter (some of the other varieties won't be suitable).
  Salix (willow) - some of the ones which would normally grow into trees can be grown for their coloured stems like cornus (if they're cut back each year - don't panic, it's a really small job) - eg salix alba chermesina (red stems) or salix ala vitellina (yellow stems). You can also get really small willows which don't grow tree sized & look completely different - like little shrubs with silvery leaves - such as salix helvetica or salix lanata.
  
  You might also get away with:
  Chaenomeles (japanese quince) - they can be grown up a wall or free standing, flower in early spring, & come in a range of colours - apparently it's best to get a named one rather than one just labelled "chaenomeles" though. I have chaenomeles speciosa nivalis (white) & chaenomeles superba knapp hill scarlett (red) & they are on fairly boggy soil & doing OK.
  Jasminum nudiflorum (winter jasmine) - if you have a wall or fence for it to lean on - again, I'm growing this on the wetter side of my garden & it's fine.
  Forsythia - this will happily grow in boggy soil but most of them get a bit big, & I wouldn't grow them right up against the house as they have big deep roots. A dwarf one might be possible though.
  
  Perennials for wet:
  Trollius (globe flower) - flowers late spring.
  Saxifraga (london pride) - you may find this with shade-loving plants but I think they're OK in sun as well, & they don't mind what the soil is. Some flower in spring, some in autumn.
  You can almost certainly get more hardy geraniums which will grow in wet soil (there are geraniums for every situation!) but they are quite hard to dig up & divide as they have much bigger roots than most perennials - so unless you've got a lot of wet ground to fill it might be best to leave it with the one you've already got.
  
  and again ...

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  Shrubs for the middle of the borders (assuming these are neither really waterlogged nor completely dry):
  Erica (heather) - most of these won't grow unless your soil is acid so I wouldn't risk getting anything other than erica carnea varieties - they're tolerant of other soils & flower in winter.
  Euonymus - you can get both evergreen & deciduous ones & they'll both grow pretty much anywhere. There are a whole range of evergreens which vary
  in size enormously (a lot will get much taller if they're grown against a wall). I have euonymus blondy, which has green & yellow leaves & grows to about 2', and euonymus silver queen, which has green & white leaves & will grow up to 10' against the fence (it won't get that big unless it has something to lean on). The deciduous one to look out for is euonymus alatus (6') or alatus compactus (if you want a smaller one), which has brilliant autumn colour.
  Potentilla fruticosa - they are very hardy, tolerate a range of soils, and mine flower from May-October. You usually tend to see yellow ones, but you can get them in red, orange, white, and pink as well.
  Philadelphus (mock orange) - lots of different varieties, but I'd go for a small one like philadelphus manteau d'hermine. They have white flowers in late spring & a strong scent.
  Rosa rugosa - unlike other roses this doesn't need to be fed, sprayed, pruned, or treated with tlc - it prefers to be neglected, so it's ideal for a low maintenance garden. There are several varieties in shades of red, pink, & white, & they flower on & off through the summer & early autumn. If you deadhead them they do flower a bit more, but it doesn't matter if you don't have time. If you get one with single flowers & don't deadhead it, it will produce big red hips in autumn, which are quite pretty.
  Hebe - loads of different varieties - however, a lot of them are not hardy. I have ochracea james stirling, which is hardy, & has evergreen yellow foliage & white flowers in June. If you want to look for more of these, there's a hebe society website on - I don't think it lets you search for hardy ones though, so you would have to look through all of them.
  Ilex (holly) - I shouldn't worry about the one you've got not getting much bigger (unless it looks unhealthy) - they grow very very slowly indeed. Some of them do get very big (eventually) though so if you want any more, check the height at maturity. Ilex crenata golden gem is a pretty small one with yellow leaves & no prickles.
  Berberis - most of these would probably be too big to cope with but you can get some small ones, eg berberis atropurpurea nana, which grows to about 2', and has purple-red leaves.
  
  Perennials for the middle:
  Papaver orientale (oriental poppy) - flowers in summer & doesn't need any special care.
  Heuchera - pink or white flowers in summer, but these are more noticeable for their foliage, which is often deep purple or chocolately brown & virtually evergreen. There are a wide range of varieties.
  Geum, eg geum borisii, though there are several others in shades of red/orange/yellow. They flower from May-September in theory, but mine were in flower well into December this year! They'll probably be OK towards the dry end of the garden - they don't like to be too wet.
  
  and again ...

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  Shrubs for the driest bit:
  Lavandula (lavender) - you can get white & pink ones as well as the usual purple-blue.
  Rosmarinus (rosemary) - flowers in spring & if you plant it next to the path/drive you get the lovely smell every time you brush past it.
  
  You might also get away with:
  Cistus - so long as the soil is light/sandy & not heavy/chunky - they like really dry light soil & full sun, so make sure you don't plant one in the shelter of the laurel. Not all of them are hardy but there are several which are, eg cistus corbariensis. They are evergreen & flower in early summer.
  
  Can't think offhand of any perennials which will be happy where it's really dry but someone else might?
  
  However, I think there are some bulbs which will grow at the dry end of the garden under the shrubs (so long as they're not right in the shade of a big shrub - these all need sun):
  Crocus (unless you have squirrels, in which case it's not worth trying - the squirrels will eat them!) - you can get ones which flower in Jan-Feb or Feb-March.
  Anemone coronaria - flowers in April-May (again, in theory - I've had them out in November!).
  Triteleia (also called Brodeiae) - blue flowers in June-July - they're not supposed to be fully hardy but mine are, so unless you live somewhere very cold it's worth a try.
  
  Daffodils are probably the easiest bulbs to grow & will probably be happy anywhere in your garden so long as it's not right at the wet end - they'd rot there. They do like a bit of shade though so they are good to plant under the bigger shrubs, or under your laurel.
  
  I'd suggest planting bulbs in groups in pots or plastic baskets (ie dig a hole & plant the pot) - as after a few years you will need to dig them up & divide the bulbs - it's much easier to dig up a pot than a lot of individual bulbs!
  
  nearly there ...

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• Message 8

  , in reply to message 7.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  Most if not all of the shrubs I've mentioned will survive if you put them in & ignore them, but they will look better & produce more flowers if you give them a bit of a trim from time to time (I don't think you need bother with the holly or the euonymus). They don't need any complicated pruning - just a bit of a haircut to keep them from getting too straggly -ideally every year, but every second or third year will do for most of them (the lavender & rosemary should be done every year or they'll get woody). The general rule is to trim plants just after they've finished flowering, but if they flower late summer/early autumn & it's getting frosty, leave it until spring (you can trim potentillas in October/November if it's not frosty). Rosa rugosa doesn't need trimming but if you think it's getting straggly & want to do it, it should be done in March.
  
  The one job that really needs to be done every year is to cut down the cornus and coloured-stemmed salix to within 3 or 4 inches of the ground - I know this sounds drastic but new stems will soon shoot up & if you don't do it you won't get the lovely coloured stems the following year. It's a really easy job & takes about 5 minutes per plant!
  
  Finally a bit about planting:
  If you are planning to get several plants at once & pay someone to put them in for you, the best time for most of these (except the bulbs) is April - & you're likely to have to book them well in advance! If you're doing it yourself, & want to not do too much at a time, you're probably alright any time in spring or autumn, so long as there's no frosts forecast for a few days - I'd do the wet end in spring though.
  
  Phew! If you're still reading, congratulations! - hope it was helpful - & good luck with the garden.

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• Message 9

  , in reply to message 8.

  Posted by Lottie (U2331125) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  You deserve a Gold Juliet...what a response!

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• Message 10

  , in reply to message 8.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  Oops - just realised I forgot to say when you cut the cornus (& the salix)! - at the end of March.

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• Message 11

  , in reply to message 9.

  Posted by Juliet (U2196646) on Saturday, 14th January 2006

  You deserve a Gold Juliet...what a response! 
  
  Shucks! It's the "gardening virgin" bit that sets me off, LL - I've been there myself a few years ago, & people kept giving me advice which was incomprehensible or incomplete - or completely useless to someone wanting low maintenance - determined to be a bit more helpful to other people in that situation.

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