Architectural plants for raised patio

Evening all.

I've built a sort of quarter circle raised patio in the corner of my garden. Its raised to the height of a breeze block standing on its edge. I filled it with rubble, then soil, and laid flag stones on top covering most of the enclosed area.

I've deliberately left about a foot width of exposed soil all the way round, and there will be occasional bigger gaps when its finished (tomorrow or monday night, weather permitting).

The deliberate gaps are for me to plant things in. For the patio, the look I'm going for is kind of seaside garden look, with a few very architectural plants with pebbles at the base covering the soil, rather lots of bedding plants hiding the soil.

The trouble is, while I know the look I'm going for, I don't know the plants that will help me achieve it.

The conditions will be part shade, getting just a few hours per day of direct sunshine in the evening (its the last part of the garden that the sun gets to before it sets), I expect the the soil wont dry out too much, as the flagstones covering most of the surface will keep the sun off.

I thought about Hostas.

I like strelitzia but I doubt it would thrive outside up here in the north, but that sort of shape is what I'm after.

Any ideas?

 

Can you post a pic of the area. I'm not very good at visualizing things like that.....

 

hard to visualise without a pic and not sure how much planting space you have

however, depending on the size of your planting space, look at plants such as Chamaerops Humilis palm .... a slow grower, if you opt for this, plant it in a position that has the most sun (grows in sun/semishade).... grows to approx 6 foot tall

http://www.athelasplants.co.uk/images/products/medium/1265282929-74589500.jpg
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tree fern .... Dicksonia antartica .... also slow growing so choose the biggest you can afford, and also check places like ebay for bargains

https://vault1.secured-url.com/turn-it-tropical/ProdImages/antartica.jpg

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hardy evergreen ferns .... (some grow up to 1m tall)

Long Acre Plants Dryopteris

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Hostas .... there are all sizes .... make sure that the ones you choose prefer semi-shade .... some of the yellow leaved varieties prefer sunny positions

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Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' .... also known as japanese forest grass .... this is a definate must have IMHO .... plant this along the edging ....

http://www.perennialplant.org/ppy/2009_POY.pdf

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Musa basjoo ....(Japanese hardy fibre banana)

http://www.planfor.co.uk/Donnees_Site/Produit/HTML/images/musa_basjoo_planfor01.jpg

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Heucheras for all year colour .... try a combination of berry smoothie planted together with electric lime

Buy Heucheras from Heucheraholics

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if you have lots of space, look at fatsia

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loads more, but take your time planning ... and post some pics

 

Thanks. I'm leaning towards that hardy japanese banana at the moment. At first glance, it looks like it ticks all the boxes.

 

it is like a perennial .... dies down in winter and regrows in spring .... can grow over 3m in a season

in autumn, add 3-4 inches of well rotted farmyard manure and it should withstand temperatures of -15 degrees C (from what I have read)

Musa basjoo | Buy Palms and exotic plants online today at Palm Farm Online | Norfolk

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/Bananas/Musa_basjooJapanese_Fibre_Banana.php


I planted 2 in a garden 2 years ago in Cambridge in a sheltered position (sheltered from wind)....

both are doing very well .... last winter was the coldest winter in 100 years and they both survived with no probs

if you don't want to risk it, keep it in a large pot, then overwinter in the conservatory or greenhouse

lots of people on the UK hardy tropicals forum favour these