borders for planting, how wide?

good evening all

how wide would you say the average border is. 1metre or more?

the reason i ask is on one side of the garden (right side) i'm thinking of putting a border half the length of the garden,(from the top end) but don't want to take too much lawn away from my little one.

edited to say thanks in advance.

Al

 

Hi Al n
good question.
A border is what you want it to be. The wider the border, the greater the need for something to fill it - AND the bigger the target for the little one.
A 6" border can be full of colour. A metre border may be less manageable with kiddies chasing balls and other tossable objects in the garden.
The answer is not neccesarily helpful. It may raise the main question - what do YOU want from your border?
Sweet dreams!

 

well as this is a g a r d e n i n g forum then I will give you an honest but bias opinion of

THE BIGGER THE BETTER

 

I'm sure I read somewhere that it's 6ft but in reality I suppose it's the old "how long is a piece of string" question. If the border is going to be against a fence you have to think about how far you can reach to get at it, if it's against a hedge, how dry will the ground be, any barrier may create a wind or frost pocket etc but all of those considerations are more about suitable planting than width.

Don't forget of course you'll need to plant child-friendly and pretty robust plants.

 

It depends what you want to plant in it and how much. My border by the fence is less than a metre because I want to keep as much lawn as poss for the dogs.

It really does depend on what you want. How about getting a hosepipe and mapping the border to see what looks right?

 

hi there al n. Aren't these gardeners helpful? So much food for thought and we can all benefit from just reading this thread.

 

Meant to say, it doesn't have to be straight - it can be wider at certain points to accommodate larger plants and narrow at others where smaller plants are to be planted.

 

i was thinking of a long, elongated triangle. wider at the bottom of the garden and then tapering. so your answer is food for thought.

i do want to accommodate some biggish raised planters too, so the border can't be the full length. i need these for junior to plant some (as he told me!!) tomatoes, flowers and carrots

the garage side, i'm just going for 3 big planters (hopefully make these myself time willing) with something i havent decided on yet

oooh, if only i had the time and money to do it straight away. i'm very impatient me like...........................

 

Depends what "heights" you want. You could have a single row of something, it could look fantastic, but would only need to be as wide as that plant needed.

If you want a border with something, say, 6' tall at the back, some 4' things in front of that, and some 2' plants are the front you need the "average" width of the 2' + 4' + 6' plants.

I think the border will look more interesting if it is wide enough to accommodate plants of variable heights, but it all depends how much space you have. I don't have a space problem and have made my borders the depth of the planting I want (deeper in fact, and have some small trees at the back)

 

cheers guys and gals for the replies

cut the lawn for the first time since being laid, i've used my old flymo from my other house where my lawn was much smaller (more planting than this one at the mo) and i might as well of used nail scissors took ages, not so much as its a big lawn, but a dog chasing the lawn mower and a 2 1/2 year old playing at the same time. then realised that the flymo i've got has no grass collection box so had to rake the cuttings up afterwards.................. then the said 2 1/2 year old playing in the pile of cuttings.............

i've decided on this:-

going to go for a border 1/2 the length of the garden from the top with planting to echo what i've started with the top left of the garden but with crocosmia lucifer along the front then 3 large planters from the border towards the gravel with bamboo's, huchera's and ferns in each one.

opposite on the garage side, again 3 planters with the same planting as the ones by the border so its symetrical. i'm hoping to make the planters myself out of either deck boards, or if i can get some cheap enough, some old scaffold boards.

the back end of the garden just a small border (probably around 1m deep) with climbers, euphorbia's, bamboo's, hosta's, fatsia's and lillies.

i've been playing around with some on-line garden planners to plan it, but the ones i've used won't let me save the plan . i was hoping to post it on here if i could save it to see what you all thought on the layout.

anyone no which garden planner i could use which is free and able to save the plan??

ta,

Al

 

I do not want to rain on your parade
But using a flymo and having a child (or anyone around) can be dangerous
No not from running over them and chopping of their toes, But from flying stones that could be picked up, and worse than bruising a leg removing an eye

A million to one chance, but I do not wish your kid to be the one

Experienced the one in a million chance when my wife had an operation, done on hundreds a week in the UK a HIP replacement, she has never walked since
The paper work you sign saying the chance is acceptable, means there is nothing you can do about it

Sorry to be gloom, just want you to be warned,
This is not usually my style, I am off to party at Dims, a full spit roast COW a Boar and two sheep, Oh with cheese straws,, I am taking some cans and rum along

Cheers

Jack McHammocklashing

 

you know what? i never even thought, thanks for bringing that to my attention

enjoy your scran and drinkees

 

Thanks for accepting that with good grace
Only it will never happen to me until it DOES

I have never been namby pamby or worry, still am not but cautious

Regards

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Not quite so tragic as Jack's scenario, but just to press the point - I have put out a pane of the greenhouse in the past by a pebble launched by a Flymo. It could just as easily taken a kiddies eye out.