Pruning the old rosemary

Hello. I'm new to this forum. I hope I'm asking in the right place.

I'm gardening in Brittany, at an older house where the previous gardener didn't have the time to look after the plants. Now that it's my house I want to get the place in order.

Over the last week I have been pruning the dead wood out of a planting of several large old rosemary plants. These rosemaries are part of a decorative planting bordering a patio. From what I can see no one has ever pruned them to remove the dead wood.

Now that I have removed most of the dead wood, the rosemaries have taken on a kind of bonsai look that is quite attractive.

I would like to plant something that grows very low under these rosemaries.

Can anyone suggest a low-growing plant that would grow in the dappled sunlight?

The problem in Brittany is the strange weather. Most of the time it is very rainy, raining every day all summer as well as most of the winter. Then, about every four years, we get a summer like this one, where it hasn't rained for over a month and the clay soil is bone dry.

TIA

Fiona

 

There's a nice Hardy Geranium 'Elke' that would grow well in that situation.

 

If you want to keep with a scented, herby theme, you could try a creeping thyme. you can hardly see the leaves on ours - as it is white with flowers (about 30cm in diameter, and started from a small herb pot last June). It would soften the edges of the patio, and is useful in the kitchen too.

(It copes with Belgian weather, which is colder than Brittany, but can also do more extremes than the UK)

 

Geranium 'Elke'. Very nice indeed, and a possibility.

Thank you for the suggestion.

(Lessee now.... Where's paper for that plant list?)

 

I doubt there's enough sun for creeping thyme (or any thyme) under the rosemary, as I expect the rosemary will grow in thickly as it has on the edges of the plants.

(I found a lot of spindly live shoots growing in amongst the dead wood that I pruned out. I assume they will become healthier now that they get the sun.)

However, I have some other places in this garden where I could use creeping thyme.

We live on the south coast of Brittany in the Finistère. This garden is less than 100m from the sea, so it never gets really cold here. Damp, nasty, rainy, cloudy, misty, foggy, stormy, dreich, but never really cold. (Right now it feels like North Africa in August. :( )

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Fiona, scribbling yet another suggestion to the Plants-to-Buy list before going back out to move the watering hose

 

Ohhh, we love Finisterre - and often holiday near le Conquet....

Creeping thyme is lovely, but then I am probably biased! Do you have lots of fuchsias growing semi-wild there? Always amazed by the hedges!!

 

No fuchias here Lots of ferns though. The hedges are marvellous. Ours is about to erupt into an amazing display of yellow flowers. (I have no idea what kind of hedge it is.)

The sea, cliffs, and rock formations are spectacular. It's a lot like Cornwall, which I also love.

 

I LOVE roses. We don't have any roses at either house, sad to say. I don't think one can leave roses for weeks on end with no care. :(