Newbie gardener, need help with small border plants

As you can see, we have a small 'L' shaped border in a small garden. We have just planted it out. We have neighbours on both sides and the shed on the left is 8x6. The border gets some sun in the afternoon, but is mostly in the shade due to the shed and nearby buildings. The soil is just topsoil, but seems ok. We have dug down deep and turned it over before planting. We had no clue on what to put in the borders, so we just purchased random plants from our local garden centre We are now hoping that these will grow I'm sure we have made a mess of this, so if anyone can advise or help, that would be great!

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Julie - that brilliant. A lovely clear picture and a good collection of plants.

I think what you have done is absolutely right. You just got stuck in. Its the only way to start. In a year or two, you will look at the plants again and say I really like that, or I don't like that, and you will have a much better idea of what you really want. I think that's the way most of us started.

 

I'm a real beginner too, but we've inherited a mature garden.

All I can say is keep an eye on that heather! Ours has gone completely mad and taken over about a quarter of the garden! It's lovely, but it's gone too leggy because we didn't know what to do with it - and now I think it's beyond redemption.

 

Thanks all for your responses and suggestions so far. To be honest, I was panicking a little about fertiliser. I did not think to put any in the soil when I dug the border :DOH:The soil is a little heavy and does not seem to dry out at all. I hope this is ok for the plant roots. Should I do a PH test on the soil too? If I just mix in some fertiliser with compost and cover the whole bed thinly with it, would this be ok? I am worried that if I have to turn over the soil again that I could damage roots.

 

Nice job Julie! Its going to be a colourful corner.

You could probably squeeze some annual climbers in there too, to clamber up over your shed- try sweet peas or some black eyed susan.

Dont worry so much, it'll look after itself. As JWK says sprinkle some fish, blood and bone about and the rain will do the rest. (You can pick it up in pound shops atm).

Also, its going to be slugageddon round yours in the next week or so!

 

Really nice little patch there!! I really wish I could have done something the same before I started on a new patch of a friends mum's garden I tend to. Unfortunately the patch arcs around and there are some woodland areas so it's impossible to get it all on!! But like you, I really felt the best way was to get stuck in. Whacked a load of spring bulbs and summer bulbs in, and alot of soil improver last summer prior to planting things out and it's amazing how much it's come on. Put a lot of perennials in the past couple of months, lupins especially and loads of random stuff I've just picked up out of curiousity. I know I will end up moving a lot of this around....but you don't know until you try and at the moment I am finding it hard to work out the spacing and positioning. I've gone with instinct, and hopefully this will be enough

Nice idea about the climbing annuals by the way. Picked up a packet last week, didnt cost a lot and I'm going to plant them in position this weekend.

Have you thought about everlasting sweet peas? I keep looking at them and debating it, but can't say I've seen any healthy stock in the garden centres. Also purchased a Chilean Potato Vine a few weeks ago, which I'm told makes a lovely climber.

 

I am now having serious problems with cats digging holes in all the nice new soil gaps and pooing in them! I can't afford expensive water/sound repellent devices, so I was thinking of sprinkling lots of ground pepper (which I can get in bulk VERY cheaply) all over the bare soil. Will this help? I'm really gutted that my new (and expensive for me) border is being ruined!