Border shrub ideas... Please :)

Hello,

I cleaned out a lot of carex pendula and an end of life lavender last year. I need some inspiration with respect to filing a gap. I've not built up much garden creativity yet!

On the photo, to the left, is a DA Gabriel oak planted early this year. To the right is a hydrangea taken from a cutting and a more established one which I hard cut back last year. I need to fill the border up between the rose and hydrangeas. Any ideas?

Soil is sandy, slightly more acidic than neutral, and the border gets a nice dose of afternoon sun over the small fence for most of the afternoon to eatly evening (the photo is looking to the West.

Love some ideas from someone more creative than me

Many thanks

 

Hi, I'd on Farmer Gracy before the perennial sale ends at midnight! Swear I'm not a bot haha, but they're always good quality and so cheap for me.


If I was you - and depends on your taste of course, go for echinops. Farmer Gracy has white and purple, they're stunning and the bees adore them. I also bought two types of sea holly, & tumbling ted (soap wort). All of the above are also drought tolerant, meaning less watering trips. Good luck!

 

Your rose could potentially grow to about 4 foot in both width and height so I would fill in the gaps in that border with an easy perennial like Erigeron, Nepeta, Salvia or Achillea which are all free flowering and shallow rooted so they won’t compete aggressively with your rose and hydrangeas. They are happy in sandy, free draining soil. Your rose and hydrangeas may struggle though so some added organic matter would help to retain moisture. If you prefer another shrub then a hardy Fuchsia or shrubby Salvia would be possible easy options.

 

Thank you both. I've actually grabbed a few of both of your perennial suggestions, claimed my£5 voucher and ordered from Farmer Gracy. Found them decent before.

Got some Sea Holly, Achillea and Tumbling Ted. I've a low sandstone wall that could hand over.

What's the latest I'd want to be getting perennial bare roots into the ground? Get them in a pot first?

Many thanks again for your help and suggestions!

 

I'd pot the bareroots up first then plant out when they get going .

 

I had no idea what DA Gabriel Oak was!
I agree though - you wouldn't have a lot of room there for another shrub once all those grow properly. 2 hydrangeas is quite a lot along with a large-ish rose, so you'll certainly need to beef up your soil as @Plantminded says, so that they're all happy.
The only other things in terms of shrubs or woody plants that would have suited would be something naturally upright, and that's quite limiting. The columnar yews would probably have been ok for a while, and would give variation in shape and height, but I think those perennials are a better idea. If you can find a few cheapo bags of daffs or even lilies in a GC or diy store, you can get those in there too, although you coul dwait until autumns to get secific ones, as long as you're careful about putting them in with the perennials.
Pot up the bare roots for a while, as said, to get them growing, and do the same if you get bulbs, and then they can all go in together.

 

@fairygirl superb. Thanks. I'll throw some bulbs in too.

I've potted up the perennials I bought - the sea holly being quite big clumps of root, and others being a bit more delicate. Potted up in 20cm pots in multipurpose miracle grow compost and just left out in a more sheltered spot.

Would this do until the autumn, do you think k?

 

Me neither, so I googled it....imagine my dismay to learn it's a David Austin rose(I don't particularly like roses)

 

It’s a lovely rose with a great colour and perfume so an asset to any garden unless of course you dislike roses which the OP obviously doesn’t

 

Heathen

 

There's me thinking you didn't like vicious spiky things....oh, how the tables have turned!

 

Damn!

 

Hi Nick, I got my delivery from Farmer Gracy delivered last week, I'm a rather impatient gardener and I've thrown them all in the ground! I'll let you know how they get on - take pics of your sea holly if you fancy - it'd be cool to see how they differ in growth between pots and ground!

 

I'm the same re roses @flounder . There's a general feeling that everyone loves them, which isn't true.

 

I will. I'll race you!