advice on front and id please

Long story short, decided we're not moving for a while..

Here's one side of the front..HATE it. Pre 2014 was a grass bank with a poor rhodo in the middle, 2014 wildflower mix (looked lush until Nov), 2015 dug over again and grassed it, stuck a lupin in the corner and alliums, centaurea montana, oxalis and hosta in the other where fat cat is sitting by.. we hate mowing it.

This has come up in a spring pot :s



What would you do with the banking? It's full sun from 8am till 8pm pretty much. Not the best soil but has been improved slightly by myself over the years and it is quite steep, was like dust when I first moved in. Hosta and stones need moving I know and I have a few plants that could go in but not enough to cover it for now. Any input would be much appreciated

 

Not sure about the ids but how about removing the grass, putting down a weed membrane, covering with gravel/shingle and planting a range of alpines.
Or levelling it into 2 terraces with sleepers/bricks as a path/retaining wall and then you could plant sun loving plants in the 2 beds.
Something along the lines of this, excuse the crude drawing.

 

Cheers for the suggestions My neighbour terraced hers off, put membrane down and got stones both sides, I'm not fussed.. every year I'm pulling weeds for her and it rips the membrane and her stones fall down so have to scoop them up.. here's her garden (she won't mind) It wouldn't be on her kind of scale I know but I'm still not fussed I think gravel looks to hard

mine

think it would look a little bit out of place if I stoned the other side but it might be an option to chuck sleepers in and tier it, soz for the squiff pics it started hammering down.

 

I didn't see your drawing at first, that was kind of what I had in mind when you mentioned sleepers although the top is on an angle I'm not sure how that would work. Thanks for doing that, very kind of you.

 

No worries, hope I got the idea across.
I didn't realise it was both sides of the steps, might be harder to retain than I thought.

 

Yeah I got it Ah no not both sides, just the odd shaped slope, the other side is ok to mow (I like a bit of lawn) plus it would cost/be a lot of work to do both sides. It's just a pain and an eyesore compared to the other side

 

Hi Linz,

I think it's Veronica Chamaedrys, also known as Germander or Speedwell.

 

I love wild flowers, but they can look untidy so I have them in the back garden, my front is just grass and shrubs. I like the suggested sleeper idea, but as that slope looks quite steep, you might need to put some vertical support in to stop them sliding down. I once used some concrete "Godfathers"(short fence supports) and they did the job without being obtrusive.

 

Hi Linz, I'm a big fan of geotextile weed suppressing membrane, especially on difficult slopes! Once the soil is clean, you could cover your bank and then plant spreading evergreens like cistus, rosemary, ballota, hebe, sages and thymes. They all love sun and once established only need minimal watering and in some cases a quick trim

 

Thank you Anthony, after a search I have just found out it's Veronica persica, it has one blue-white petal. I quite like how dainty it is.

Burnie, I agree as pretty as the wildflowers were, they look a mess when they finish and I don't want that in the front garden again. It is steep plus I'd have to build the side up where the path/ramp is to get tidy tiered beds in there I'd imagine, I don't want to be spending loads on a tiny space if I'm honest.

Thanks Shiney I was thinking just sticking plants in and putting some sort of border edging around it but my concerns were planting on the slope, I know it shouldn't be a big problem but wondering after they get established somewhat, will they start to flop over or should I dig out a flat bit for each plant and also, if I were to put smaller plants at the bottom they wouldn't get seen as there's a wall in front. I love the Erysimum Bowles mauve, lovely colour and I like the shape of it thank you for that suggestion. And both of those plants are evergreen which is a bonus. Not planning to do anything this weekend it's a bit too wet so I can wait for your pics

@noisette47 I quite like the idea of a herb garden that would be nice and would work with full sun. I don't actually mind pulling weeds so I'm really not bothered about a membrane tbh, I know some people swear by them.

So far, we thought of sectioning the top awkward bit off then bottom half will have a slab in the middle and planting either side so it can be accessed bit better.. he's Mr practical though. Another idea was to create semi-circular/curved beds going down to counter the path down the side (he hated this idea, he hates anything that's not straight being a brickie) Will tell him these ideas when he gets in and nag him some more later, already got him to agree to a new fence at the back the magic of getting beers in!

 

I prefer your front garden as it is to your neighbour's

I would fill it with some a few evergreen shrubs such as choisya ternata, then fill up with perennials.

 

Aw thank you @merleworld. Choisya has come up several times when I've been looking for shrubs for full sun beds

Pretty miffed I've wasted so much time thinking about a different garden.. so I've picked up a few more plants and just gonna dig it over and bung everything in and stick log edging round it for this year when I get a chance and to give my plants a chance after being stuck in small pots for a bit too long! Hoping the Mr will buy me a few shrubs for my birthday I'll grow them on in pots and maybe plant them next year

 

Made a start.. the spade was too manly so done it with a bloody hand fork. . Took ages. "Saved" the poppies and buttons for now, I think