hardy shrubs

Hi all,

Looking for some ideas on my border as it's got loads of spaces! I have a 25 ft long border which is about 3ft wide and it already had 2 well established red hot pokers at either side and some sort of daisy style plant that grows flowers upto 3ft high in the summer then dies down to the ground over winter.I bought a cordyline 2 yrs ago and this is the middle and has doubled in size as its a south facing border but I would like some evergreen shrubs or grasses to give height at the back to hide some of the fence and break up the expanse.The soil is clay and neutral so any ideas out there??

 

prunus laurocreasus (? spelling?) is good, as is any form of laurel - they grow quite quickly, but have nice white flowers. Mahonia x intermedia is great - spikes of yellow flowers in the winter. How about a tree - not evergreen, but has dangly yellow stuff in late winter, early spring - Hamamelis, and likewise, no leaves, but pink flowers, even in January or Feb, that is DAphne mezereum. Hope that gives a few ideas!

 

Choisya ternata,Osmanthus Burkwoodii, several varieties of Pyracantha, Ceanothus, Escallonia, Olearia & Hebe could make themselves usefull.

 

A small tree for winter interest - consider Garia - its evergreen, and the silver catkins are striking in late winter. Perhaps underplant with bulbs, like scilla and snowdrops - and perhaps golden hostas.

 

For some nice scent -sarcococca confusa - (Christmas Box) - I love it.

 

Pittosporum Silver Queen makes a beautiful specimen shrub/small tree but i'm not sure of its hardiness where you are.

 

Thank you all for your suggestions.I'll take these names down and hit Dobbies garden centre on Friday to see if they have any of them.
A couple of questions more - in general is it cheaper to buy plants online or at a garden centre? And also Kilmarnock willow - do you keep these long or cut and underplant?

 

try you local Nursery, not the Garden centre, as they really only supply plants and a few sundries, unlike Gardencentres, they sell more sundries now a days than plants, and are usually more expensive.
buying on line is ok, but deal with people that you have had recommenations from.
depending where you put the Kilmarnaock willow, i would leave it to do its own thing, if you want something you can cut down each year then try a couple of different CORNUS (dogwoods) AUREA, ELEGANTISIMA, FAVIRAMEA, SPAETHII, to name a few varieties.
hope this helps