The longer term plan...

Having the same thoughts/problems too. My garden is very much a summer/autumn garden too, must add some winter/spring interest. It's mainly because the type of plants I grow.
Must add flowering bulbs this year. The only problem is that I'd forget where I planted them.
Last year I sowed loads of wallflowers problem was that when they were at there best I had too rip them out to replace with summer plants.
Looking forward to hearing suggestions too

 

Erm, well my tuppence worth but I'm sure there are many views on this common topic and many different ideas of what is 'right' (I've made so many hideous mistakes in the past, but gardening is really a learning process and enjoying it even when it goes toes up). It is an age old problem and one that every gardener is trying to get right ....

I do think having a garden that is too focused on one type of planting can be marvellous but be either patchy throughout the year (say, if you have huge areas with annuals/biennials) or a bit dull (if you have, say, huge areas of conifers). So a garden with a lot of annuals or biennials can be a real treat but keeping it interesting is tough - I remember my Mother's first garden, it was like she was in a sweet shop, she rushed out and bought all the plants she took a fancy to, nearly all annuals - gorgeous in summer but a nightmare to keep looking nice apart from about 4 months! Likewise a conifer based garden can look gorgeously green but perhaps a bit monotonous (though I love them! many people find them insipid). Also annual type gardens are a lot of work to maintain and keep looking good, the maintenance is hard going I think. Still, finding a good balance for throughout the year interest is really difficult.

I think one suggestion that is generally made is to 'design and combine'. And work with what you have as landscape. Don't be afraid to chuck out or give away things that really don't work. Most everything in the garden though I think can be adapted to a new design.

First thing is to take your time over the design, this I think is the most important thing. Once you have the design down on paper (or computer), you can actually imagine flowering times/colour comibinations and spot where there may be 'dead' areas at certain times of the year. Having it down on paper will also focus your mind onto what kind of garden you want (depending on your budget). If on a small budget, reuse as much as you have and don't be afraid to leave gaps where you want things to be that you can't afford yet but can put in later (you can always fill it with annuals in the meantime). I do think putting it down on paper graphically (not just a list of plants) is a good idea.

Everyone has a different notion about what their garden will look like which is the nicest thing about gardening, it is individual. So there is no wrong way in my mind. Just as long as it pleases you.

My general approach is to start with what is there (shape of garden, things that cannot be moved like large trees, lawned area that you want to keep and any features you have) and also aspect. Anchor plantings of trees and evergreen shrubs that are judiciously placed bearing in mind you want these to carry you through the wintertime. My personal choice is approx 70% trees/shrubs (mostly evergreen, many flowering) for the basic 'structure' interspersed with perennials and the odd annual - I am fortunate as a fairly lazy gardener that I love lots of rock solid evergreens and foliage plants, with splashes of colour given by perennials and some annuals. Having the 70% makes the garden more manageable in terms of time for maintenance for me. You can still keep your hand in with seeds and propogation to fill in the gaps. There are all kinds of variations though. Bulbs are the obvious early spring colour option, but I also find they get trampled on and I really dislike having to watch them die back in situ. So there are well marked clumps of bulbs throughout the beds and put in last after everything else is planted and happy.

Early spring interest apart from bulbs/annuals - existing shrubs that look good year round like dogwoods, phormium, virbirnums, doronicum, flowering currant, hellebores, perennial grasses, evergreens like alchamilla, ajuga and thyme for ground cover. All plants that are not difficult to maintain and are predictable. There are lots of others.

Autumn/late autumn interest - Chrysanthemums (out of fashion but Monty had a feature last week), crocosmia, echinacea, fuchsia, coreopsis, cosmos, anthemis.

But the simple things work best in my view - what is more beautiful for instance than a handsome juniper bush that can be appreciated year round (and complemented by nearby flowering perennials).

Gosh, a right can of worms, I've gone and rambled on rather but it has gotten me thinking about my own bare bits and drab parts of the year in my garden now

Intersting to hear others approaches.

GG

 

Because most of my gardening is done in containers etc, I tend to do a lot of underplanting.
I have also used this method in borders etc. as well.

For instance, Mowgley, I interspaced my wallflowers with summer plants, then instead of ripping them out I cut them back to around 3", then the summer plants grow away whilst the wallflowers have their summer rest before getting ready to grow away again in the autumn. That way you also keep some colour (albeit green) in the borders in winter as well.

 

A problem I feel too. I love my annuals, biennials and perennials borders but they're a lot of work. Spring time, I'm raring to go but by now I'm quite thankful for the shrubs, they keep the weeds at bay, look big and beautiful, don't need watering and if you plant the right ones for your space you can have flowers and even fragrance. My fav's are choysia, vibernum, sambucus, photinia and weigela

 

Winter flowering Mahonia looks good all year.

 

Agreed!

 

I love mahonia too but I did sacrifice it
My children where very young at the time and I think it's important to say
Do not walk across the grass (with bare feet) near it
Do not let your kids run on the grass (not even in slippers)
Be very careful when weeding (strong gloves)
Keep it in an area you don't hand weed much
The leaves this plant drops are evil

 

Hi Loki,

Have you seen the new one ?

It's called " Soft Caress ".

It's gorgeous and the leaves are strokeable ( sorry "M")

 

Maybe have a quick look at my post in Projects section re loving herbaceous FC. Because I have a huge garden and am slightly falling to bits herbaceous borders are a godsend for keeping the weeds down and looking colourful from Spring to Autumn. You can see the change in just 1 year. I'm not saying herbaceous look after themselves, they do need splitting up every now and again but in comparison to annuals they are much less hard work. The trickiest thing with herbaceous is getting the spacing right IMO as some are much more vigorous then others. I never get it right! What is good fun tho is moving the plants about to have different combinations so you garden doesn't always look the same each year. The new border I've created isn't the finished article by any means but will "do" for this year. I'll play about with heights and colour combinations next season.
I use quite a few Hostas for colour and shape from Spring to Autumn, Geums and Lupins, both easy from seed and flower for a long time and fair number of hardy Geraniums which start flowering in April (probably earlier in The South) and flower right through to September. If you cut them back after their 1st flowering many will give a 2nd flush. Many of my herbaceous have very strong coloured foliage (Agastache Golden Jubilee (brilliant yellow) and Cimicifuga Racemosa Atropurpurea (almost black) as examples) so they give colour for a long period even when not flowering.
I too like my borders to be full to bursting. The photo below sort of shows how you can have quite a bit of colour without loads of flowers. The Meconopsis behind the Hostas have finished flowering but there is still interest in the border with coloured foliage filling the "space". The Hostas will then flower in July/ August. Time taken in the Spring to organise this bed approx 10 minutes. Maintenance required during the season approx 10 minutes!
Re you wanting to cater for more seasons than just Summer, Spring herbaceous is quite easy, Autumn is a bit more tricky certainly up here in Scotland as many Autumn flowering herbaceous aren't that hardy. Japanese Anemones are great Autumn performers along with some hardy Chrysanthemums, Crocosmia, some varieties of Sanguisorbia and Heleniums to name a few. I hope you will enjoy changing things and see it as a positive move rather than 1 of necessity. This gardening malarkey is hard work and I embrace anything which makes it that wee bit easier.

 

Hi, guys, sorry it's late(Wimbledon freak) I apologise if my post didn't sit well with people.
It's only my opinion, not law, I love all plants! Please forgive me x

 

Nothing to forgive.
I'm like Shiney and would never pander to a child in the garden. After all, nature will not pander to a child outside of the garden.