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  • Natural/wild border planting suggestions

    As the title suggests, I’m looking for border suggestions for a natural garden.

    Having spent quite a bit of time and cash on the borders since early March I’m really disappointed with how it all looks rather frankensteinish. The saving grace are the alliums and blue fescue which I planted tightly in a reasonable sized area under a conifer my wife insisted on cloud cutting. It looks awesome but the cloud cut conifer doesn’t appear to like its new hairstyle, that’s another story though.

    We have another area, it’s earmarked for raised beds for next year which has sprung to life with foxgloves (I know that one) and all sorts of natural looking plants and flowers. It looks mint and hasn’t cost us a penny haha!

    So...without spending a fortune I’m interested in perennial bulbs/seeds which will give us the quintessential English garden I now know I’m looking for. I’ve got evergreen shrubs etc for year round interest so am really looking to fill out the borders to the max for spring, summer and into autumn if possible.

    Looking forward to any help and suggestions!

    Thanks

  • #2
    Teasels look quite interesting and though not perennials, they do self-seed very freely - good for bees and birds too.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by nickdub View Post
      Teasels look quite interesting and though not perennials, they do self-seed very freely - good for bees and birds too.
      Thanks, the early purple flowers will work well with the alliums as most of the ones we have are purple. Good call! Will check out seed options.

      Other thing which you mentioned is the birds and the bees, I never realised until recently that our fauna won’t bother with stuff that’s not indigenous. That’s also key to this topic!

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      • #4
        What's at the back of the border - wall, fence, hedge??

        I like wild edible hedges of all sorts of fruit and nuts - but, from the sound of your cloud-pruned conifer, you may be looking for something more cultivated!

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Perko View Post
          Other thing which you mentioned is the birds and the bees, I never realised until recently that our fauna won’t bother with stuff that’s not indigenous. That’s also key to this topic!
          Lots of garden flowers are not native to the British Isles, but butterflies and bees love them.

          Check out this list:

          https://www.thompson-morgan.com/nati...-native-plants
          Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
          Endless wonder.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
            What's at the back of the border - wall, fence, hedge??

            I like wild edible hedges of all sorts of fruit and nuts - but, from the sound of your cloud-pruned conifer, you may be looking for something more cultivated!
            At the minute it’s 2 strands of wire running horizontal on 3ft concrete posts running almost the full length of the garden on the side with the beds. It’s kind of nice cos it makes the garden feel massive and we get on well with the neighbour fortunately! But we’re getting a puppy after the summer holidays so will be fencing it for security reasons to stop the little swine escaping!

            I’m not really looking for hedging though, I want it to be flowers, plants and shrubs. Would defo think about blueberries etc to fill a bit of space tho. I just don’t want it looking disjointed as it does currently.

            Ha, the cloud cut conifer! I was really proud of my other half after she’d been banging on about doing it, I wasn’t so sure but it did look amazing when it was finished. I think it to too severe a cut though and it’s now turning brown. I’m not too bothered, I’m not a massive fan of conifers unless as a screen. Will look for something more elegant when it gives up!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by mothhawk View Post
              Lots of garden flowers are not native to the British Isles, but butterflies and bees love them.

              Check out this list:

              https://www.thompson-morgan.com/nati...-native-plants

              Thanks for that will have a look. I’m certainly no pro, it was something I saw on a programme last week where the lady was creating a wildlife haven in her garden and she mentioned that a lot of non natives are no interest to our wildlife

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              • #8
                If you are up for a small tree, I have an Amelanchier canadensis which is v popular with all sorts of wildlife and doesn't cast the same dense shade some trees do.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by nickdub View Post
                  If you are up for a small tree, I have an Amelanchier canadensis which is v popular with all sorts of wildlife and doesn't cast the same dense shade some trees do.
                  Just googled that bad boy and I like it, a lot! Will probably wait for the conifer to finish doing it’s thing and then replace with one of these. The seasonal colour range on the RHS site is very impressive as is this video, this guy is a legend, he sold me this tree (you too ha). Thanks for this, definitely on the list!

                  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5yHvqCuF2TU

                  Cheers

                  Dan

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Perko View Post
                    Just googled that bad boy and I like it, a lot! Will probably wait for the conifer to finish doing it’s thing and then replace with one of these. The seasonal colour range on the RHS site is very impressive as is this video, this guy is a legend, he sold me this tree (you too ha). Thanks for this, definitely on the list!

                    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5yHvqCuF2TU

                    Cheers

                    Dan
                    Hi Dan,
                    You are very welcome - I'm still hoping to taste the fruit one day, but so far the birds have beaten me to it. Just thought, going with the purplish theme, how about snake's head fritillaries on the bulb list ?

                    Happy gardening :-)

                    Nick

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      One of the plants I'm going for is anthriscus sylvestris Ravenswing - it's a form of our native cow parsley (currently filling all the hedgerows round here with white froth) but it has dark leaves and pink flowers.

                      Poppies and maybe other cornfield plants... not perennials but self-seed as long as you turn the soil over a bit from time to time.

                      There must be loads of websites with ideas for native plants for borders, I'd have thought.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by nickdub View Post
                        Hi Dan,
                        You are very welcome - I'm still hoping to taste the fruit one day, but so far the birds have beaten me to it. Just thought, going with the purplish theme, how about snake's head fritillaries on the bulb list ?

                        Happy gardening :-)

                        Nick
                        Originally posted by nickdub View Post
                        Hi Dan,
                        You are very welcome - I'm still hoping to taste the fruit one day, but so far the birds have beaten me to it. Just thought, going with the purplish theme, how about snake's head fritillaries on the bulb list ?

                        Happy gardening :-)

                        Nick
                        Nick,

                        Another absolute belter, do they spread being a a perennial bulb? Thats what I’m after like with the alliums how they will keep spreading in time. Keep these coming...

                        That titchmarsh bloke has got nowt on you pal ha!!!

                        Cheers

                        Dan

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Mitzi View Post
                          One of the plants I'm going for is anthriscus sylvestris Ravenswing - it's a form of our native cow parsley (currently filling all the hedgerows round here with white froth) but it has dark leaves and pink flowers.

                          Poppies and maybe other cornfield plants... not perennials but self-seed as long as you turn the soil over a bit from time to time.

                          There must be loads of websites with ideas for native plants for borders, I'd have thought.
                          We’ve got some cow parsley growing in the area that’s due to be cultivated for next year though. I do quite like it and have seen pinkish varieties which look good.

                          There’s probably loads of places to get suggestions but thought I’d ask the question here. I could troll the internet for hours without having the quality of suggestions I’ve had here already

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Cow parsley spreads everywhere - don't ask me how I know!

                            Bees don't like muti-petalled flowers, they need to be able to reach the pollen easily so sow simple flowers, not fancy ones!!
                            Foxgloves come in lots of different colours and heights.
                            Hardy fuchsias are great - mine are in flower now and will stay colourful for the rest of the year.
                            Plant lots of spring bulbs, they'll die back as the perennials grow in spring.
                            Have some evergreen plants (not conifer!!) for year round colour. Lavender,sage, thyme and rosemary are good all rounders and useful in the kitchen too.

                            Have a look at https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...its_99360.html for ideas.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Mitzi View Post
                              One of the plants I'm going for is anthriscus sylvestris Ravenswing - it's a form of our native cow parsley (currently filling all the hedgerows round here with white froth) but it has dark leaves and pink flowers
                              Let me know how you get on with the ravens wing. I've tried it several times and it's super frail....cow parsley is everywhere in my garden but I can't get the dark one to be happy.

                              Comment

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