Some plant ideas please.....

Trisha57 - looks as though I may not be a million miles from you!

Mrs Tagain, how about privet ? Old fashioned but easy to manage. Or dogwood- not evergreen but it is still good to look at in winter. Or you could plant some tall grasses.

Euphorbia myrsinites.

I have a lot of success with alchemilla alpina in full sun. Unlike its cousin mollis, it doesn’t invade. It’s low growing and its outlined leaves look particularly good when dappled with rain drops.
I also have low-growing Euonymus in various colours which I’d recommend.
In winter the spiralling leaves of euphorbia myrsinites look stunning when covered in frost. However the plant grows like topsy and the sap released when it is cut is an irritant.

Espee I totally agree with you! Beware too of verbena and violets…..if they like you they take over!

A vote for heucheras from me. Here in my Herfordshire garden it keeps most of its leaves over winter, has delightful long spires of small flowers for months as long as you deadhead them and grows in nice neat clumps. They sometimes push themselves out of the ground and get a bit leggy but it's easy to just take cuttings or replant them lower down in the ground. And the many varieties with differing leaf and flower colour is tremendous!

Auntieflo

*Mummer*, I wish my Alchemilla Mollis could hear you!.
We have a very small clump and it is not spreading.

They behave for a number of years to lull you into a false sense of security then when your back is turned they take over your garden.
You have been warned!

Also some of the lower growing forms of hardy geraniums..

Alchemilla conjuncta.. smaller leaf with silver serrated edges.. much finer version of A. Mollis..

Mummer, I wish my Alchemilla Mollis could hear you!.
We have a very small clump and it is not spreading.

Brunnera macrophylla are clump forming, flowers like forget me nots and attractive foliage. They don’t suffer from mildew either!

p.s.
Sorry if I appear to have highjacked someone else's thread! I couldn't see how to start a new one.

Suggestions please.

I live in a little town house in Dorset, where we have to keep our bins at the front. The ivy covered trellis that used to hide the bins, came down in the recent storm. I don't want to replace it, and I've cut down the ivy.

I want to plant something as an alternative that will grow to bin height, stay evergreen, and hopefully produce flowers. I don't want anything with roots that will damage the house foundations, and whatever I plant will be in competition with next door's hedge, for water.

All suggestions considered! Thanks.

Mummer

Depends where you are,in UK? Or further? North/south/east/West? It makes a vast difference as to what will or won't survive! Check very carefully the hardiness of your choices and recommend of locations where they will survive or you may find yourself in a heavy loss financially! Plants are expensive and some places will sell specimens totally unsuited to outdoor growing in some areas.be careful and happy planting! On a high note, put as many cards/narcissus/crocus as your can shove in!!! They're a delightful repeat performance for very little outlay!

What are cards?

agree with Mummer 100%. Looking at all the ideas expressed here already, I think evergreen low growing hebes and rosemary are two of the best; and the former flowers in a range of colours - the purples are especially attractive. Both easy to prune and will withstand wind, wet and cold weather.
Heathers can be good - but only if you have acid soil. Check out your soil type and feed/compost it accordingly - it does make a difference.
Lavender is lovely but doesn't last for ever; it can get messy; and may not survive weather extremes. Good luck!

Depends where you are,in UK? Or further? North/south/east/West? It makes a vast difference as to what will or won't survive! Check very carefully the hardiness of your choices and recommend of locations where they will survive or you may find yourself in a heavy loss financially! Plants are expensive and some places will sell specimens totally unsuited to outdoor growing in some areas.be careful and happy planting! On a high note, put as many cards/narcissus/crocus as your can shove in!!! They're a delightful repeat performance for very little outlay!

Auntieflo

How about Alchemilla Mollis?
I just love the leaves that catch rain drops and the dew. They should also clump up.

.......and is an absolute THUGG!

I’m not a gardener and have nothing like the knowledge that others on here have, but I do like seeing colour in the garden and I too have back problems.

My daughter in South East England has had a patch of lowgrowing blue flowers by her front door for the last 20 years. I thought they were Campanula but it turns out that they are a hardy Geranium. Here in Portugal in a shady area are three tubs of what DH bought thinking they were Pelegoniums but turned out to be an evergreen Geranium with a dark green leaf and just bursting into flower now, very pretty lilac flowers.
Other stuff that grows here probably wouldn’t in England so I can’t really be much help. Some violas did very well last year but now we’ve mostly given in and planted succulents, even they struggle with the combination of builders rubble and underground rocks.
Oh and we’ve allowed ourselves a gardener for an hour a month.

I’d second the last suggestion of cc’s which was dwarf Ladies Mantle. I’ve just been cutting mine back from the path edges this morning. It really softens the edges. It needs keeping in check but is pretty though I chop the flowers off after a while as they flip and look messy.

How lovely a new bed from fresh !
Can you manage a trellis ?
Clematis Montana is so lovely and tough .It produces pink lilac blooms.
At the back of the border -Japanese Anemones in white or pink for wonderful late summer colour .

English lavender is a beautiful edging plant
Remember to prune it hard at the end of the season .
Otherwise-Dianthus -Pinks are a joy and easy to grow. I love the hummocks of grey leaves with the gorgeous perfumed blooms they produce.
Heathers are easy if your soil is acidic .
Hellebores for early colour .The green are spectacular .
They hybridise themselves -cut any nasty leaves off and throw out .
I grow bearded irises and the old varieties are so easy to grow only requiring their rhizomes to be divided every three years.
I have a whole bed of Ola Kala , which are pure yellow .They are 36 " high so not in the front of the border .
I had a magnificent show of Carnival Time .
The old purple ones are amazingly prolific .
Day Lilies produce bright orange trumpets. They are indestructible.
Miniature roses are easy .
Geraniums are even more forgiving.
You can winter them indoors.

Vinca can spread though they are so lovely.

Don't forget spring bulbs like perennial Muscari and hyacinths.
Tulips usually need replanting yearly . I think that the dwarf ones ie :Red Riding Hood are wonderful .

I throw Godeta seed on a well prepared bed and am always thrilled.

Winter pansies are pretty too ...

I tend to plant my flowers sticking to one colour of each variety for more impact .

If you don't feel like planting you could just fill the border in with pots and change them as you like.
Pots needs more watering .

I also highly recommend a slow release fertiliser like Vitax Q 4 .

My list is growing! - thank you.

There is a smaller Alchemilla which is not invasive but does flop a little so you need to plant it well back from the edge of the path. Geranium Kashmir White (not a spreader), Hellebore Red Lady and Amemone White Swan (both lovely and not invasive).
At the edge of the raised bed a prostrate rosemary would be good, but a less vigorous one such as Severn Seas. Personally I love salvias which would be nice next to the raised bed or fence but some are huge and need cutting back hard or replacing. You can stick the prunings in the ground and they will grow. Hayloft plant sell plug plants of lots of suitable plants but look them up elsewhere to check the sizes and if they spread too much.
I also love London Pride but it is a spreader.

I just ordered some ground cover roses ,from QVC ,I have phlox and campanula as ground cover at the front and these will fill a space the size of a 3 seater sofa according to the presenter.Anything that keeps the weeds at bay is my type of gardening .I'm not sure how my camanula will do this year as Icaught a young deer feasting on it at 3am last month

How about grasses - clump forming ones - I have Hakanacheo ( spelt wrong I think !) bright green low floppy Japanese grasses and look amazing mixed with dark plummy black heuchera
Grasses aren’t evergreen but in winter they have anice structure then you cut them back in spring and off they go again

hardy geraniums will do well and flower from May to October.You would need the lowgrowing varieties as some are quite tall. They are troublefree! The slugs leave them alone.