Bit of fun ... help me design my new Purple border

Thought it would be interesting to throw this one out to the masses and see if I get any interesting ideas I'd not thought of

Background : I've a border about 9m long and varying between 1m and 3m deep, which has mainly got an old conifer hedge in it at the moment ... what a waste ! ... the hedge is coming out, I'm replacing the fence panels, and I'm going to have myself a nice new blank canvas to play with. I'm going to widen the border a bit and flatten out some of the curves ... on the images, see the two with red lines on to get a very rough idea of what I'm thinking shape wise (though that's not set in stone). Everything in the border will be ripped out and either ditched (the conifers !!) or relocated.

Colours : for my wife who loves purple, this is going to be a purple border ... purples, pinks, lilacs, purpley-blues and so on, every variant ... shot though with splashes of white to break up the purple and give a bit of contrast and lighten the area.

Style : be nice if I could get colour on a wider spread of the year (as autumn is boring in this garden). Mix of bushes (for winter structure), perennials and annuals. Nothing too over 2m high.

Misc : The photos were taken out of the upstairs window ... the rear living room window is just below that, so the border must look good looking up it (i.e. no massive bush at the south end). Shade is a bit of a problem, the north end gets more sun, but the south half gets shaded by the house even in summer.

Already Got : I have a nice Magnolia Satisfaction which grows to about 2m x 2m and I was thinking of putting that at the decking (north) end. I have a Camellia Brushfields Yellow (which is actually white) looking for a home so was thinking of dropping that in somewhere. Already thinking about white and purple Digitalis.

So there you go ... have fun I'd welcome plant suggestions, plus format and design suggestions (never done a border from scratch).

 

Honesty is nice, and probably meets your purple criteria.

 

lovely lawn! ...

here are a few suggestions of plants/shrubs that may meet your criteria:

large shrubs ... against the wall:

Photinia 'Pink Marble' ....grows in sun or part shade


Cotinus 'Grace' .... does better in a more sunny position, so will be best planted on the northern side of the photos



sambucus nigra black beauty .... hardy


Buddleja davidii nanhoensis 'Nanho Purple'



Ceanothus .... flowers better in a sunnier position, so plant near the north part of the border

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some huechera for all year colour:

Heuchera 'Cinnabar Silver' ....


Huechera Georgia Peach:



Huechera Shangai


Huecheralla sweet tea:


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a bit of white:

Brunnera Jack frost:


Brunnera Looking Glass:


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blue fescue 'Pepindale Blue' grassplanted in several areas:



for the front edging, plant black mondo grass the full length of the border:


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plant several echinacea green eyes:



echinacea secret romance:


shasta daiseys superbum (make sure it's the low growing specis):


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then add clematis fragrant oberon and clematis jingle bells and clematis freckles (freckles to be planted furtherst north) .... to grow against the wall .... these 3 cleamatis are evergreen and combined, will give flowers form november till the end of may






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also add several coleus (these will need to be replaced every year):



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add a few athyrium burgandy lace ferns:


then add several bulbs that flower at different times of the year (lots of blue ones available) ....

and the border should be pretty full then, and should supply interest for the whole year

 

HOLY BATMAN Dim, lol that's awesome thanks

Am liking the Photinia, that's on the list

I love the Cotinus Grace and funny enough almost bought one about 2 months ago in my local garden centre, but they grow really big ... too big for this border methinks. Ditto the Elder ... lovely, but too big ?

Some of those Huechera could make for an interesting pattern if you grew them together mixed. Sweet tea is particularly nice.

Echinaceas ... yes, think I need some "daisy" type actions going on Nice.

Superbum ?!? There's really a daisy called Superbum ?!? LOL

Those Coleus look like a houseplant ...





Any tips on laying the border out, or is it just "try it and see" ?

 

pleasure:

the photinia,cotinus, and black beauty can be pruned to the correct height (I would not go less than 2m high) .... the ceanothus wont need pruning, as it's narrow and grows to approx 2m high

I have planted the cotinus in several gardens, but have planted the other darker leaved one (royal purple) .... I have only seen the pink one on photos on the internet

I always include huechera in the gardens, as it supplies colour for 12 months of the year, and they are fairly cheap (under £5 a plant) and hardy .... they need manure mulch in winter though

Coleus should be planted in spring when all frost has disappeared .... they will die in winter and not recover, but are cheap (I prefer buying these to trays of pansies every few months) .... they always look stunning in a border

with the border, check which shrubs require the most sun and plant those towards the north section of the bed (where there is most sun) .... then decide what combination looks the best for you when placing/planting the other plants ....

the black grass can be divided when bought (you can split each one in 2 ... they are very hardy and evergreen)

the clematis may not be needed, as when the shrubs mature, they will screen off the wall .... however, some of those shrubs are not evergreen .... so, I included the 3 cleamtis, as they only cost a tenner each and grow fast ...( they will cobver the wall in evergreen leaves/flowers until the shrubs fill out)

shasta superbum are superb .... they make loads of flowers per bush, and once they have flowered, if you cut them right back, they flower again in the year (at one client, there are still loads of flowers on the bushes at the moment)

good luck!`.... take your time, and research properly before choosing what to plant .... am sure you will gets lots of ideas from other members shortly

you have a nice place!

 

you can buy 28 coleus plug plants for £15.99 (57 pence each)

Coleus Collection 28 Plants |Super and Jumbo Ready Plants

I have seen them for much cheaper ....

if bought online, they normally despatch in april ....

 

For some year round greenery, how about a Rhododendron or two?

They come in all shapes, sizes and colours so depending on where you want to position it, you could choose the size accordingly.

I use the Millais Nursery website for ideas (click on the colour on the right hand side for suggestions, or select type from the left and then select colour, flowering month, height, etc) :o

I personally like Rhododendron Marcel Menard which I have in a container and which produces lovely purple flowers.

 

I have a sweet low growing heath or heather that is giving off pretty purple flowers right NOW. And it is January, and very cold here. Truly don't know the name anymore. But it is there somewhere. You'd have to research it.

 

Well, don't think I'll bother with any suggestions then
Awesome!

 

Hello Len: There are some attractive 'purple' Hemerocallis and for front of the border you could use Nepeta; Sedums offer attractive bushy perennial and you can also use varieties of Campanula. White varieties of Echinacea can also look good.
Hope you get your plan sorted.

 

Following on from a recent thread. I just bought a rose from Poundland.

On the box it simply said "Climbing Rose. Fragrant. Purple".

No idea on the variety or anything else, but you could fit a few of those in!

 

Okay, so this is what I've got so far design wise (see attached ZIP, which contains an Excel xlsx document, so I hope you can read it)

Note there's two tabs, one with a list of plants, one with a rough diagram ... not finished yet obviously ! Still work in progress ... I need more stuff towards the front of the border, I mainly have middle/rear stuff.

 

I would give some thought to the tones of purple that you might be using.
There are

True purples
Bluey purples
Pinky purples -
Red /orange purples -
Brown purples -
Pastel purples, i.e with a bit of white in

This is all made more complex by the fact that flowers are often streaked or shaded in colour so other elements get added.

So you shouldn't assume that a plant described as "purple" necessarily goes with another plant also considered purple. For example, I have a cotinus Royal Purple planted near a sambucus Black Beauty - both purple, both beautiful, but actually very different, almost to the point of clashing.



Yellow is the opposite colour on the colour wheel to purple so if you wanted a boldly accented effect you should stick to mainly pure (not pinky) purples and throw in the occasional clump of yellow. (Eeeuch, I can hear the forum crying as one voice -but think of aubretia and daffodils). You could get a similarly lively effect by placing orange instead, think of cotinus with marigolds.

Placing purples with pinks and whites would be charming and slightly less in-yer-face. The addition of white would calm the colours down and make the border more visible at dusk.

If it was me, I would cut out all purples with a pinky or pastel cast, and stick to pure purples with some true blues mixed in - delphiniums, ceanothus. Being close together on the colour wheel the two will vibrate together to create a wonderful rich intensity. In other words, colours from near the bottom of the colour wheel. For me, throwing in white or pastels or other contrasts might destroy that effect!

If all this is a bit too complicated, just ignore me, I'm a bit of a design fascist and have art training so I spend a lot of time thinking about this sort of stuff. I used to colour theme my borders but it never worked very well so now I just enjoy the random combinations that work well or stick to pairing plants that I know to be good together. Like clothing, some plants just don't flatter each other. Trying to get seasonal effects makes the situation even more complicated.

Anyway, you should have some sweet rocket, (hesperis matronalis) comes in purple and sometimes white, perfect for taking over from the honesty and preceding the foxgloves. Seeds around and smells great!

 

My favourite purple flowering plant, Campanula!





There's many different kinds, and you can divide them, etc..

 

some nice plants there on Dims list, I'd like to know a bit more about your garden first. Do you know your pH and what is the soil like to work? Is it reasonably sheltered or does that border catch a blast of prevailing wind. Looks as though your fence will run roughly North South and the border face West yes?
Do you want a border that needs little maintenance or are you happy to do some maintenance?

I'll put some ideas up later in the week!