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Planting along a garden path

Hi, I'd love suggestions for what to plant along a narrow garden path in the front garden of my traditional Georgian townhouse. There are currently camellias, peonies, lavatera, acanthus mollis and giant daisies. Most of these spill over far too far onto the path making it unusable! Any suggestions for things that might remain a bit more compact? Thanks so much

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,140

    I'd plant a dwarf lavender hedge - trim it back to around 8 or 10 inches once a year after flowering and there you are - it'll look wonderful throughout the summer and very in keeping with the house image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Thanks, that sounds like a great idea....
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,140

    Some info here http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg2/flat/module3/pathside_planting1.shtml

    add some grit to the soil as lavenders like it well drained, and mound the soil slightly then put your plants into it, so that when it rains the plants aren't sitting in a damp hollow. 

    It'll look gorgeous - there are several different lavenders that would be suitable, I'd recommend one of the English varieties as they're hardier.

    Enjoy your gardening image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BookertooBookertoo Posts: 1,306

    Sedums and small hebes also make good path edgers, as do some smaller hostas - unless you have a great number of slugs and snails. 

  • Visited one of the NationalTrust houses in Cornwall earlier in the year, they had used alpine strawberries to edge a path, looked glorious and it is edible.

  • joslowjoslow Posts: 218

    chris2 I am confused this says santolinas are half hardy?

    http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/santolina-chamaecyparissus/2068.html

     

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,140

    I would have said that santolinas are not as long lasting as lavenders - Cornish winters are not usually as hard as those just a little further north, and while I admit that santolinas have a smell, personally I would not compare it with the beautiful scent of lavender. image

    The lavender fields in Norfolk  cope with everything that the east wind from the Urals and the North Sea can throw at them every winter and look at them http://www.norfolk-lavender.co.uk/pages/lavender-fields.php

    The plants are cut back rigorously every year and they last for years and years.


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,076

    I too would recommend English lavender such as Hidcote or Munstead Dwarf.  I have a hedge of the former and it has withstood some very harsh winters in the 12 years it's been planted.  It provides perfume and is a bee magnet.  If you leave the trimming till some of the flowers have set seed, you'll have babies to grow on in case you do need replacements?

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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