New border bed

Further to the posts I made in 'General Gardening Discussion' I thought it best to start a new thread.

I mentioned clearing part of a boundary in my front garden of scrub that has grown through from my neighbour's 'wilderness'. I don't think I'll be able to make a proper start on it until next Spring so I'm currently at the thinking stage.

An assortment of different views below. The border is approximately 40ft long (having checked it today) to the end of the oil tank. I've cleared all the scrub apart from the large Prunus suckers on the right by the tank. I'll be tackling those next.

The old shed you can see belongs to my neighbour and sits on the boundary line. He used to own the ground that my home sits on.



The whole plot is on an incline from front to back. The soil is sandy loam and is like working with dust. Even under the lawns it moves around creating dips and slight mounds. So it's vital to try and anchor it with plants.







Please excuse the bad artwork. This is a rough idea of the shape I'm thinking on. I want to bring the bed round the back of the tank to disguise it from the road.



I live in a rural area so choice of plants will be in keeping with that. Mostly flowering shrubs but possibly herbaceous perennials too, that depends on whether I expand further into the lawn. Shrub height approximately 6ft and must be hardy down to -15C.

 

Are you interested in suggestions of plants that grow in poor sandy soil, on a slope? (Not that I could provide an extensive list!)

 

What an exciting project, Sheal! Could I make a suggestion re. the shaping of the border? It would make mowing ever so much easier if the narrow bit is curved gently inwards, rather than forming an angle. The knack is avoiding a 'squiggle' effect

 

Sorry, @Sian in Belgium, I had to laugh. If anyone's an expert on plants for sandy soil, it's your good self. My last garden was coastal so had sandy soil but I find this sandy loam challenging. I have to create concaves in the ground around shrubs otherwise water just runs across the surface and doesn't soak in. It's almost as if it there's a non porous coating on it, but compost helps to stop it drying out to quickly too.

Yes, suggestions are welcome please, particularly with shrubs as they will be the first to be planted.

 

Thank you @noisette47. If you knew how many times I attempted to get that red line right.....! I don't plan layout when I'm gardening it was just to give an idea where the border will run. The real layout won't happen until my spade hits the turf and the loose marbles I have for a brain kick in. In fact I realise already the indent won't work and the border will have to be deeper to accommodate the shrubs. As I dig it will come together.

 

I know exactly what you mean by “non porous coating”. It’s as difficult to hydrate as clay soil (and I grew up with lovely clay soil at home). When planting on a bank, eg the drive bed, where the slope is about 1 in 2, I create mini bays. This means that when the planting is first done, it has a look of rice paddy fields, with the soil behind the shrub cut away a little, and a dam in front. Using cable tidy tubes (the ones with the straight cut down one side) planted at the same time as a tree enables watering to go straight to where it is needed. And yes, we enrich each large shrub planting hole with garden compost, to slow down the run-away.

Generally, I assume that plants will not grow as big as normal, as the soil is dwarfing.

The plant that I find does really well is rosemary. I know - not what you would expect. But it loves the free drainage, and I have numerous big shrubs of rosemary - over 3 foot tall, and in diameter. I cut them hard back every 4 years or so, to stop them getting too stag-y, so they can cope with snow and winds. They grow back dense and lush.
Sage also does well, and grows energetically.
One of the main “weeds” in the grass is broom. It grows well, but also seeds well.
Lavender is very slow to get going, but once started, grows well. I haven’t found any of the big lavenders since we moved here. When I lived in the Chilterns, we had a lovely old variety called “seal”, which grew vigorously on the flint. I would love to have one here...
Dogwoods grow well. I bought 3 plants in 3+ litre pots. One was planted straight out, and the other two I grew on in larger pots first. The two that were grown on for a year, when planted out, have done better. They did have improved soil around them.
Our deutzia established well and seems happy. It was a supermarket bargain plant, so I don’t know which variety. It doesn’t flower as spectacularly as book specimens, but the foliage is good and lush.
Buddleja does grow, but is slow to get going. I don’t cut back as hard as I would on better soils, as the height and vigour is subdued by the soil.
Fruit trees - generally, they make me weep! Having said that, our Medlar, one of the last fruit trees we added, is growing really well, and is covered with its strange looking fruit yet again.
The quince tree is doing well. Apples generally struggle, but the plums are more successful.

For ground-cover, the creeping thymes, and savory both do well. The savory regularly creeps into the grass. Of course, marjoram is very happy, and self-seeds everywhere.

I will keep thinking away here...

 

Thanks Sian, some lovely ideas.

Luckily my garden is a slight incline but not only runs down from front to back but side to side too. I've gardened on clay too but I didn't find that as difficult to irrigate as this sandy loam.

I'm not sure about the flowering of rosemary and sage. I need shrubs, not with big blousey flowers like hydrangeas, but large enough to to put on a good display. I have the same problem as you with broom - and gorse. The crofting land that surrounds my garden is covered in it and I mow the seedlings off the lawns. Only last week I pruned a lot back on the garden boundaries. It's stunning when it's in bloom though.



I like the idea of Dogwoods and Buddleja, they will grow well here and I've earmarked Deutzia Scabra 'Pride of Rochester' for the opposite lawn. It will be added to two other shrubs already there. I won't be planting fruit trees, but thanks.

Your suggestions of ground cover are welcome, not for the front garden but for the bank in my back garden. After major work in April for my septic tanks I need to re-plant it not with grass (high maintenance) but with plants that will look after themselves.

 

Ohh, just realised I’ve missed out a large ground-cover plant. Persicaria. I didn’t remember it straight away, because I didn’t plant it - it was already established here. It grows well, covers the ground, stabilises banks, and the bees love it.

I have no idea which one I have. The leaves come to around 18”, and the flower spikes take the height up to about 3’. The flowers start in early summer, and will continue for another month, each spike is around 5” long, at this time of year mainly spent tiny flowers, but the bees and other insects are still very grateful for the food.

It does seed a little, but the seeds are easy to identify (we have no dock!). If the established plant is growing where you don’t want it, the surface-running tubers are relatively easy to remove early in the season, and after two years the plant is gone.

 

Thanks again Sian but Persicaria is too tall. I'll be using ground hugging plants for the bank, as I need access not only to the three tanks and their pipework but the housing for the pump too. They are all at intervals along the 30ft length and halfway down the bank.