What lights and Shrubs?

Hi All,

I have attached two pictures of each side of my garden and need some help in deciding what to do with it (apologies we still have building work going on). I have gotten this far and now have no idea on what to plant Planter domensions are c. 60cm deep, 70cm wide. I have two questions

1. Shrubs/Trees: What trees/Shrubs would you recommend I plant. I like colour, the garden is facing north.

2. Lights: Should I put in uplights (from the soil) or wall lights in. I know this may be dependent on the answer to point 1 above.

If anyone could offer any sort of advice it would be much appreciated!

 

Some small evergreen shrubs might be a good idea, Hebes would look nice, there are several varieties and you can get variegated ones.
I don't know about lights, that's a matter of personal preference.

 

Hi @Niall , just so we are clear and give useful advice does the planter/fence face north?

Also how wide, front to back is it, and how deep is the soil and/or is it open to the ground at the bottom?

 

Sorry, have just realised that you gave the dimensions so just need to check the aspect and if it’s open to the ground

 

It's the aspect of the beds themselves that matters @Niall, hence Butterfly6's post. It's not easy to tell from the photos. If your garden is north facing when viewed from the property, beds on either side will have quite different aspects, and that will affect the choices.
Some shrubs are adaptable or unfussy, but it's important if you want sun lovers or those that need shadier sites.
Filling them will also take a fair amount of soil, and you'll need mainly soil if you want shrubs rather than annuals.
Lights are a personal choice, as already said, so it depends on whether you want a permanent solution, or are happy to have a go with some of the solar lights available. Many of the latter are a bit short lived.

 

Gardens are so personal. What one person loves someone else will hate. I would wait until all of the building activity is finished and you have cleared the whole area. Then you can decide where you would like to have a sitting area. Put in any hard landscaping such as paving/pergola. Then you can move on to filling the beds. It might be good to have a combination of uplighters as well as wall lights. Even just one tree or shrub with large architectural leaves, lit from below, can be stunning. Wall lights are more for being able to see or mood effects. It might be worth thinking about putting in electrical cables around the garden, solar lights usually only last a couple of years if you are lucky.
Choice of plants is endless. You may prefer evergreens to give year round interest. You need to think about how much time you are able or want to spend in your garden. Plant and leave, renew each year with annuals for change of colour and design, a mix of both, your preferred choice of colour. Trees, climbers and shrubs form the structure of a garden with height, leaf colour, autumn colour, flower colour, contrast of leaf form to add interest, climbers. Larger growing plants need a decent depth of soil for their roots to get down into.
It is usually a good idea to plant the largest growing plants first then fill in around them.
So much to think about and to choose from. Good luck and most importantly, enjoy.

 

I agree about the lights. If you have the means to have the wiring installed by a qualified electrician, go for it.
The layout of my garden means that over the years I've used solar lights, and even the best quality ones give up the ghost eventually.
I do feel guilty about using them but I have to be honest, I love the way they light up the garden.

 

Thanks all for the valuable insigts. Some really good advice on offer.

@Butterfly6 - Picture 1 (with the orange bucket in it) faces East and the other faces West

I have the electrician running a cable around the garden as we speak! I would really like something that has a bit of colour but low maintainance (as I am sure we all would).

So much to think about! I always think that there are planter staples which a lot of people would always have but I dont know what these are!

 

Have a look at the different Nandinas (evergreen & low maintenance), phlox spring up every year & there are some lovely colours. Also heucheras have lots of different coloured varieties and I think ferns look great in planters.

 

As said heucheras, hebes and ferns. I would also look at Libertia chilensis, evergreen scrappy foliage and attractive long lasting seed heads.
Rosemary would give evergreen structure, upright or a prostrate form which would tumble over the front edge.
A small Acer outdoor give height, am not up on Acers enough to recommend a specific cultivar or alternatively a Phormium could look good against the fence.

 

Some of the most important things to check when choosing plants for a garden is the location/area of the garden, two, learn what kind of soil you have, three, what is the aspect of the garden.
There is nothing more disappointing than spending a lot of money on plants and losing them because they cannot cope with the conditions. Usually referred to as " "wrong plant in wrong place".
Open to strong wind, sea air, frost pockets, fast draining/ dry, shady, very sunny, wet or damp, especially in the winter. Clay, loam, sandy/gritty. If you have to import topsoil to fill raised beds it will very probably be nothing like your local soil. The location of nearby large established trees on other properties take a huge amount of moisture from the ground.
When buying/choosing plants read the cultivation notes on labels and go online to recheck. Take the pretty, colourful pictures with a very large tablespoon of salt. The sellers job is to beguile and sell.
I do not think there is such a thing as a basic plant list suitable for everyone. It might be helpful to Google the conditions in your garden, ie, damp, shady, dry, etc. rather than individual plants. A list of plants happy to grow in those specific conditions will then come up. By a process of elimination you should be able to pick out plants which appeal to you and hopefully avoid wasting money and/or time. Make a list, I am a great list maker! of what you hope for from your garden. Then, as you consider plants, reject any that do not meet your criteria. Hopefully you will end up with a few plants that should be happy growing in your little bit of heaven.
I grew up on Guernsey where anything grew like a weed, then I spent a long time in the Thames Valley area, heavy, fertile clay, now I am living in Cornwall on dry, gritty, shallow impoverished soil so each of my gardens has been very different because of the plants I have been able to grow, or not, as the case may be. I have lost so many favourite plants because I have moved them from one location to another not suitable for them.
We gardeners are very stubborn, we believe if we love a plant enough, we can get anything to grow where we want it to. Not always so. We have no control over weather as such, late frosts, early heatwaves, hurricanes and deluges will always take their toll, but we keep battling on, and remember, there is never only one answer to any problem.

 

What you'll have to bear in mind is - you have to fill those planters, and they'll take a lot more soil/compost than you think! Bulk bags will be needed. Once filled, allow them to settle before planting, because the level will drop - quite a lot. Then top it up before planting your choices.
Having said all that, your east facing planter will get earlier light, and that can be problematic with anything which flowers earlier in the year - small Azaleas, Camellias, Rhodos for example. Many of htose will be fine in the west facing site - especailly the evergreen Japanes azaleas, as they're smaller, but very slow growing. Plenty of colours to choose from. The west facing planter will get later sun in the summer, and that's easier for many shrubs and plants.
Your location is also important. What thrives, and survives, in the south of England won't necessarily do so if you live where I am, or further north, or in a location at proper altitude. A sheltered town garden is totally different from an exposed site on a hill.
Acers are good, but - pick an easy variety, and be very patient, as most are slow growing. If you buy a mature one, you need to be very, very sure you can maintain it properly, especially in hot months of the year. Those also won't appreciate an east facing site, but the west one should be fine, especially in the shadiest parts, and where they don't have full on summer sun. There's a huge range though, so don't rush it.
A few shrubs which don't mind much where they're sited are Choysias [the green ones] Potentillas, and Euphorbias. There are lots of types of the last one, so again, take your time if you want that. Philadelphus is another shrub which would be fine in the east facing site, but some can be quite large, so bear that in mind. They'll also manage the west facing one, but again- be wary of summer heat, so choose the shadier spots for that. I grow a more compact one called Manteau d'Hermine, which can be kept to around 3 feet or so. It can be pruned to keep it smaller too. Sarcococca will be happy in a shadier spot, and is evergreen. You may also want something that will climb a bit, and if you can give a bit of info about possible sites, you'll get suggestions.
If you want a mix of sturdy shrubs, and perennials/bulbs, get the shrubs in first, so that you can see what it all looks like. Loads of perennials will be fine - many have been mentioned, but do some research as to what will work. Many grasses will also work well. Try and get a good succession of flowering plants, as that gives the best effect.
The good thing with a raised bed is that you can also add barriers within them. That means you can have plants which like drier conditions next to ones which like the opposite, and even ones which like a low pH next to ones that are the opposite.

 

Your attractive horizontal fencing seems to give adequate screening so it doesn't look like you'll need large shrubs or trees for that purpose. It looks like you've already got some bamboo there which provides an interesting dimension against your fencing. I'd keep it quite simple and choose maybe 5 plants and repeat them, perhaps two evergreen shrubs and three flowering perennials.

Many of the plants mentioned above will be suitable. Try Phormiums and Heucheras which are evergreen but colourful, and maybe three easy perennials like Nepeta, hardy geraniums or Erigeron plus the Japanese grass Hakonechloa macra which will cascade over the edges. They will all tolerate shade, are shallow rooted and require little maintenance.

You could also add some bulbs in the autumn for spring colour. Subtle uplighting which throws shadows of your plants on your fencing would look good, nothing too bright to alarm wildlife or the neighbours .