Plant advice - shallow soil, full sun

Hi all,

Have created some new beds in the garden using the edge of a new area of lawn and a low retaining wall. However, because of the way the garden lies I only have about 12-15 inches of (good) top soil in the beds, plus lots of stone underneath which I hope will aid with drainage rather than blocking the water in.

If you lovely people have time, I need some ideas for some plants that

* have quite shallow roots (obviously),
* provide year round interest (possibly evergreen or a combination of early and late perennials)
* some good ground coverage (weeds seem to thrive in this area, especially my nemesis weed, horsetail!!)
* cope well in full sun.

My soil is clay-based, but well dug and weeded regularly and the bed is about 2.5ft wide by 10ft long.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Dave

 

Sounds a little like our garden - extremely well-drained with all the stone and in the sun from morning til night. We've only been here a few months, but some things that seem to do particularly well include.... a red-leaved berberis (not sure of the exact brand as we inherited it!), various geraniums, Evening Primrose, Day Lillies. The lupins were doing well til the aphids hit!!

Hope that may help.

Anthony

 

How about going in a slightly different direction from shrubs and going for an arid bed? full sun and drainage would be idea for yuccas/agave etc?

 

Hi Gaz,

I have thought about the same thing - although our weather is anything but arid at the moment! Are the roots going to struggle with the shallow soil though? Should I be looking to add a bit of sharp sand or something?

 

Im not an expert on arids, my other half looks after all of ours, but they seem reasonably happy with shallow 'soil' but want it as free draining as possible. Some of ours in pots as planted in 50% gravel and 50% soil. So drainage is key. As to sharp sand i recall being told to be careful as to what you use, as it often can have a high salt content, there is garden grade sharp sand available but i think it costs a bit more.

We have several yuccas planted out in the garden which is clay, they are in raised areas with hardly any added grit and are doing very well. Depending on your winters it can be worth giving some over head protection if possible for winter if you want to go for agaves and aloes.

 

I think I mentioned it before, but we have a Yucca in very much the same situation as yours - raised bed, clay soil - and it is doing fine! I will have a look into adding a bit more gravel to the soil itself then to see if I can improve drainage even further..!

Crofthouse - thanks for the advice. I love geraniums and day lilies, so will look into adding a few!

 

Together with the yuccas, euphorbias, sedums (spectabile and telephium for height, any of the small ones for ground cover), opuntias (some are hardy) different iris in bold clumps and, if you have time to lift a few tender things for winter, agaves and aeoniums would make a rather wow bed, imho.