Looking for advice on what to plant in new garden

[simplyem]

Hi everyone

I'm a new member from Scotland, UK. I'm really looking forward to learning from everyone.

I have recently moved to a new home. The front garden already has a section of plants and shrubs that the previous owners planted (photo attached). It doesn't look the best and needs to be completely redesigned and new shrubs planted. But that's where I'm stuck. I have no idea what to plant in this section.

I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions on how I should design this area and what would work best.

Thank you so much and I look forward to your advice

 

[Sheal]

Welcome simplyem.

A few questions first please. What part of Scotland do you live in? Just your county will do. Do you live rurally? Do you know what type of soil you have? I live near Inverness and here in Scotland the area, climate and soil can make a difference to what plants are suggested.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Welcome to the forum, simplyem. They do look a bit forlorn don't they. Look forward to seeing your reply to Sheal, meanwhile have an explore, you and he are not the only Scots here

 

[simplyem]

Welcome simplyem.

A few questions first please. What part of Scotland do you live in? Just your county will do. Do you live rurally? Do you know what type of soil you have? I live near Inverness and here in Scotland the area, climate and soil can make a difference to what plants are suggested.

Hi Sheal,
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I live in the suburbs of Stirlingshire area. Upon looking online and cross checking the area in question I would say our soil is a loamy type of soil.

Thanks again and I look forward to your suggestions.
Emma

 

[simplyem]

Welcome to the forum, simplyem. They do look a bit forlorn don't they. Look forward to seeing your reply to Sheal, meanwhile have an explore, you and he are not the only Scots here

Hi Oliver

Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm looking forward to learning from you all.

Oh yes, I couldn't agree more with you; they certainly look forlorn. I'm excited to work on this area and get it looking great

Thanks again. I hope you are having a good week.

 

[Sheal]

Look forward to seeing your reply to Sheal, meanwhile have an explore, you and he are not the only Scots here

@Oliver Buckle, just thought I'd point out I'm neither male or Scottish. Very much, according to my family tree, Anglo-Saxon and female.

If the bed is to remain open to the public footpath I would consider a few low growing shrubs between the two. Hebe's come first to mind and will flower for a good part of the year. Ceonothus, Lavender, Spiraea, Viburnum (perhaps a winter flowering variety). I'll have to think a bit more on this but I'd avoid roses. I have sandy loam and roses, being hungry plants tend to suffer.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

My apologies, Sheal.
Some nice choices there, remember things take time. I have a row of fifteen lavenders that started as cuttings four years ago and were planted out two years ago, by next year I expect them to look like a continuous 'hedge', almost. Weigela, is a nice choice for Spring, early Summer flowering. Ceanothus are very varied, anything from light to dark blue and tree like or bush like, maybe worth finding a named variety so you know what you are getting, but they are one of my favourites. Lavender, like ceanothus, can be very varied, mine are cuttings I took from pruning, all the owners told me "It's a Hidecote you know", they vary from eighteen inches and very dark blue to four foot tall and light blue, hmmm.
Think about your colours, it's easy to get a lot of blue for example. Evening primrose is a good splash of yellow, They are bi-annuals, low growing and not flowering in the first year, but not as long to wait as the shrubs.
It is a little late for planting out wallflowers, but it is not a normal winter, you could get away with it if you can find some, lovely scent, another element to consider besides colour. looking at the list developing you might have to dig up a bit more grass When I have turned grass into beds this time of year I have dug spade wide squares and simply turned them over. the winter weather breaks down the soil exposed on top and when you come to cultivate it in the Spring there is a layer of composted grass underneath, not perfect, but it makes for a good start.

 

[Sheal]

Not a problem Oliver, you're not the first here to think I'm male.

 

[simplyem]

Thank you @Sheal and @Oliver Buckle for the recommendations - I really appreciate your time and knowledge. I'm a bit clueless, so your advice is so helpful. To be honest, it feels quite daunting to make a start and knowing not only what to plant but where to plant them and when to do it. I've made a note of the shrubs you have both mentioned, so I will check them out. There is currently a rose bush planted in this area, is it probably best that I remove it? Do you know the names of the shrubs that are already planted here? Do you recommend keeping any of them? Thanks again

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Is the one in the corner the rose? When we get past heavy frosts you could prune that back to three buds They are probably not greatly developed buds, but you should be able to see them fairly well. Difficult to tell what they are from the pictures, and I am not all that good on ornamental shrubs anyway, the little one could maybe be a box, very small leaves. If it were me I would be tempted to keep them to see what they do when/if they flower.

 

[Faz]

Hi Simplyem,
I am new to this forum as well I guess we are going to be learning together. Anyhow I would first suggest you figure out your growing zone, when I googled it, it came back with 6-9. I would check out the Fragrant Tea Olive Tree (keep in mind it is zone 8) and the Gardenia jasminoides 'Kleim's Hardy' which is growing zone 7. These shrubs look great and smell amazing.

 

[Sheal]

I noticed the rose. From what I can see it may be a climber that hasn't been looked after. Oliver's suggestion of pruning it back is good, to see if it revives it next year. I can post a rose pruning guide here for you if that would help. The gold shrub on the left of your picture could be a Euonymus. Close up pictures of leaves, flowers and berries are helpful please for identification. It's difficult to tell what they are at a distance.

 

[Sheal]

Welcome @Faz. Osmanthus fragrans (Tea Olive tree) is a possibility but Gardenia Jasminoides is likely to suffer in loamy soil as it's free draining and lacks nutrients.

 

[simplyem]

Is the one in the corner the rose? When we get past heavy frosts you could prune that back to three buds They are probably not greatly developed buds, but you should be able to see them fairly well. Difficult to tell what they are from the pictures, and I am not all that good on ornamental shrubs anyway, the little one could maybe be a box, very small leaves. If it were me I would be tempted to keep them to see what they do when/if they flower.

Yes, the rose is the one in the corner. There have been a few roses on it recently. Unfortunately, I don't know much about rose bushes. We moved to this house late in the summer, and I don't think I've seen any of the other shrubs flower. I'll keep a look out and see if they do flower at some point. Thanks.

 

[simplyem]

Hi Simplyem,
I am new to this forum as well I guess we are going to be learning together. Anyhow I would first suggest you figure out your growing zone, when I googled it, it came back with 6-9. I would check out the Fragrant Tea Olive Tree (keep in mind it is zone 8) and the Gardenia jasminoides 'Kleim's Hardy' which is growing zone 7. These shrubs look great and smell amazing.

Hi @Faz - welcome to the forum Thank you for the tip on figuring out the growing zone. To be honest, I hadn't heard of this before, but I'll give it a Google. I love the idea of adding shrubs that smell amazing. Thanks again!