What do I plant in this big gap

Never too late to alter things @latimer - I spend a lot of time doing that as I get bored easily!
Containers don't have to be huge if you're using smaller things like crocus, iris and dwarf daffs. Pasqueflowers [Pulsatillas] are also good for this time of year.


You can use cheaper pots and have small, fancier ones in front to disguise the big ones.
Snowdrops will work too. Perfectly happy in pots -and just move them into a shady spot to die back for the rest of the year.

 

Hebe rakaiensis makes a mound shape with a bright mid-green leaf. Mine are hit and miss for flowering (white) but I grow them forever green structure. Don’t need clipping and don’t seem to be prone to getting leggy like many hebes. If you like interesting foliage Hebe ochracea James Stirling has bronze foliage, almost conifer like. Both like full sun and grow to around 1m

 

As usual, you’re right @fairygirl. I should stop striving for perfection and just get on with something, plastic pots for now will do!

Thanks @Butterfly6 that James Sterling looks interesting!

 

My Catalpa is the yellow leaved variety, C. bignonioides aurea @latimer, as @pete mentioned. I'd say the leaves are more of a lime green which I like. The photos below show before and after pollarding. Beware the second photo is quite shocking! I'm pleased to say that there are now several shoots appearing on the trunk. I planted mine with the intention of controlling its height with pollarding in order to get bigger leaves. We'll see!

 

Do you have any photos of your pollarded Catalpa please @pete? I need reassurance !

 

Holy moley @Plantminded! I would be terrified doing that!

It is a gorgeous tree though and looks fantastic in that position.

 

I was @latimer, it took a couple of years to build up the courage to cut it! By that time, after 10 years of growth, it was getting too big for that location. It was also starting to show stress in the summer due to drought and had to be watered a lot. My thinking is that the smaller tree with fewer larger leaves will be what I was aiming for 10 years ago! Gardening requires future planning and patience!

 

Interesting that you say that perennials are far more work than shrubs/trees @fairygirl. I find perennials easy - plant them and let them do their own thing then divide them or hoick them out if you don't like them! My Rowan tree makes a lot of work for me, constantly dropping leaf litter and then berries on my steps below. Most of the shrubs also need annual pruning which involves either balancing on a sloping bank or a ladder, both of which I have fallen from in the last 12 months!

 

Ha, 2 things I struggle with lol!

 

That's one of the reasons I like grasses @latimer, they reach their full potential within a couple of years!

 

I've been trawling through my photos but cant find any of the tree ATM, its in my front garden which I rarely photograph, but its probably a fair bit older than yours and I'd say at least twice the size, the leaves are about 12 to 14 ins across, I do reduce the shoots so to channel the growth to a certain amount.

 

Just taken a picture of my Catalpa as it is today, its quite old and gnarled.

 

That's incredible @pete. How old is that now?

 

Its probably 35 to 40 yrs old now, I grew it from seed.

 

That’s impressive @pete, thank you very much for posting your photos.