Planting ideas for my garden ?

What about tall phlox? They come in a range of heights and shades from White through the to dark pink. They continue to flower through to the first frost, if you dead head them.

There is also a tall perennial yellow cornflower ( or it could be a scabious) , I don't know the official name. It grows at the back of my garden near the neighbours awful evergreen hedge. It sends up very tall spikes of yellow flowers and does not need staking.

X

Back again, just looked them up - giant scabious Cephalaria Gigantea, it doesn't spread much, mine's been in about 20 years and has probably just trebled in size from the original plant, but lots of flowers.

RHS site describes them and several places sell by post.

I'm sure lots of others will have favourite suggestions. Happy planting.

X

Verbena bonariensis is pretty as a backdrop. Nice lilac flowers set off other plants and it doesn't seem to need supporting.

Hollyhocks are good for height and self seed and I wish they grew in my garden!

Thanks , I like the idea of Hollyhocks and phlox . I have verbena and it grows very well in my garden .
I have some nice things elsewhere in the garden , when would be a good time to split ? I am such a novice , but have spent several years looking after my dear Mum now deceased and the garden was last on the long list ! Well that is my excuse x

Spring or Autumn are the time to split herbaceous plants. It is better to do it in the Autumn because you are replanting in warm soil. But if you have to, in Spring I'd wait until a warm March day.

If I'm splitting plants I sometimes put the small bits into large pots, so that I can nurse them on a bit! Just in case.

x

Dahlias are good for summer flowering. I have only recently come to appreciate them for their impressive display right through to late summer.

I learned how to garden by watching Gardeners World. Geoff Hamilton was the lovely presenter then, but Monty Don is better looking. The beauty of watching is you can see how to do it. There's probably lots of tuition on YouTube. I came late to gardening and consider that it feeds my soul. I even like weeding. I hope you find enjoyment in your garden F77.

I've grown dahlias for years and there are some for every situation, tall, short, heads as big as dinner plates if you like them like that, though I don't. The old variety Arabian Night is lovely grown with montbretia - they seem to complement each other very well. I wish I could grow lupins, but having tried in every garden I've ever had they simply won't grow for me. Galling really since they grow wild in colourful abundance on railway sidings up and down the country.

That's a coincidence Greyduster I have just bought four Arabian Night to plant out this year. They looked such a gorgeous colour and I couldn't resist.

Greyduster my soil does not like lupins so a couple of years ago I grew some from seed, in large pots. They have done very well and the slugs don't seem to have found them!

I put the pots in the boarders to fill gaps.

x

Quite honestly if you can give little time to your garden because of ill health I think perennials are one of the highest maintenance plants there are. You would be much better to plant up your long border with shrubs and bulbs with perhaps a few perennials, such as grasses to add movement. Rather than a straight line perhaps you could "snake" it to add interest, taking the border further out into the garden and then winding it back thus softening it. Your shrubs could easily supply you with flower/interest all year, and climbers would add height.

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Simona818 , I bit far for him to come I am in Cheshire Lol !

Thanks for all the ideas folks .

Whitewave , any ideas which shrubs ? my problem is lack of knowledge as well as lack of stamina . I do spent lots of time in the garden when it is better weather and am OK if I only do a bit at a time and rest in between . Lupins do very well for me but dahlias don`t seem to grow unless in pots . I have got some shrubs which have got out of hand (lavateria for one ) it is so massive I can`t get it out and I don`t want to make the same mistake again .

As your garden is south facing you need to go for drought tolerant plants with autumn interest like heleniums and sedums. Ornamental grasses like stipa arundinacea are low maintenance and would look good in front of a privet hedge.

Steer clear of plants like asters and hollyhocks which can easily become diseased in dry conditions.

I have a dry garden and Beth Chatto's book is my bible.

www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dry-Garden-Beth-Chatto/dp/075281642X

Hope you enjoy your garden this summer.

f77ms Simon is flooding the forum with spam links to his London website, which seems to be all things to all people but is no use whatsoever to most of us, and the links are probably about to be deleted anyway as against the rules!

I envy you. Lavender, repeat flowering shrub roses (try David Austen) that require little pruning, scabious in various forms, I've found the short ones floriforous last year, Iris which love the sun and their foliage is constant.
Any hardy fuschias (flower until the frost), bulbs such as allium that have good seed heads, perennial geraniums (so many different colours and sizes available),
Good luck and enjoy.

j52 I wish I could tell you that I hadn't tried that. They did OK the first season, but didn't survive the winter even though the pots were sheltered. I might give it another go this year.

Thinking back to my last garden, we had a lovely sidalcea which was tall and looked well against the privet hedge. It didn't seem to need much in the way of attention and came back year after year. They come in shades of red and pink.

What a shame! Maybe you are in a cold or wet spot? I kept my seedlings under glass for the first winter. They've just been in a sheltered spot this winter and are sprouting!

x

f77ms If there is a local garden club do go and join it as you will have access to cuttings, throw outs and loads of helpful advice as well as new friends. Perhaps even a helping hand too?!

I have a long and very wide herbaceous bed in my new garden and I am looking forward to planting it up properly. I know that some think it is labour intensive but we have had them in every garden we have ever had and once you get them planted and keep them well mulched to keep the weeds down and retain the moisture they really are easy peasy. Planting in odd numbers is the key for good flow and to ensure you don't get a spotty look. We often buy one really big perennial plant and split it into three to make it go further and be more economic. You could use seeds for perennials or annuals which is a cheaper way of filling the beds. We make bays with their own colour themes, breaking them up with shrubs. This has the effect of pulling you into the garden to see what is round the next corner and it is good not to be able to see the whole thing in a glance. Just keep cutting the shrubs back hard to the size you want to maintain but not all at once or it makes it hard work!

If you don't know what they look like search on these names and you will find others alongside them. Eremerus x Isabellina are gorgeous and would look lovely against a solid green hedge. Echium Pininana is another one and a very appropriate name for GNers!
Other favourites are Leucanthemum, Centaurea, Coreopsis, Lavender, Lithospermum, Liatris spicata, Monarda, Actaea cordifolia, Heleniums, Penstemmons, Sedums and Sidalcea and loads and loads more!
The bees really love Scabious and if you search for bee and butterfly flowers you will find many others. Autumn bulbs are useful too.
You have really set me off now! DH will be getting anxious about the bank balance if he knows I am talking plants! Have fun and just be warned it is very addictive even if like me you can't do so very much yourself and have to get your enjoyment vicariously.

Plants being 'over' by August is often a problem, but you can overcome it by having a few pots placed here and there [ we do this] with later flowering annuals.If you have a clay soil, it can be really hard to work, so by planting in pots using good quality compost, it makes planting easy.Hydrangeas keep flowering late, either in the border or in a pot, as do pelargoniums [geraniums] or dahlias.

roses that works really well and you don't have to plant them out either, just use them to fill in a space. DS does this with lilies because DDIL loves them so.

Well I can give you masses of ideas for well behaved shrubs but it depends on your soil. Also not cheap so you could sit and plan (I love planning) your border over the next year or so - depending on your budget. Say draw out what shape border you would like then fit the shrubs in bit by bit.

Also if you live somewhere extreme need to take this into account.