A few suggestions please

Hi everyone.

Would appreciate a few tips and suggestions here.

I'm going to do a log border and fill with topsoil.

Area here:



There is 3 conifer trunks as shown here:



The area is East facing.

What do you suggest I set in this border?

Also would you fill in with topsoil first then bang in the log border? Or vice versa?

Thanks

 

Hi Greenfingers.

I did exactly that some time ago - used log roll on borders like yours. I'm on heavy clay, so I wanted to dig in a lot of gravel, sharp sand and organic matter rather than extra top soil. The net result was that the soil level was raised by two or three inches - although that wasn't an objective in itself. I found it easier to insert the log roll first. You want a reasonably deep one as you must bury at least half, especially if you are going to raise the soil level. I just dug a a continuous line with a spade, put some water in it to soften the ground, then hammered the log roll in.

I would certainly dig in as much organic matter as you can at this stage. Its so much easier than doing it at a later date. And remember log roll doesn't last for ever. Mine is about 7 or 8 years old, but has now rotted in places - so I wouldn't pile the soil too high or it could eventually spill over.

As far as what to plant, it all depends on what sort of thing you are looking for - shrubs or garden flowers etc. My starting point was to look through pictures in several books (you can do it in a bookshop). I flipped through pages saying what pictures I liked and what I didn't like. In the end I decided I wanted all flowers with a colour scheme of pink, purple and blue.

If you can get an idea of what short of style you want, there will be loads of people who can recommend the plants themselves.

 

Thanks for that Peter, some good suggestions there :thumb: