First landscaping project. Give me some confidence, please.

That shouldn't happen because I've made a path with a couple of slabs for the scooter. In theory, the stones shouldn't move because no one should be walking over them, but in practice, people might get lazy and take a short cut over the stones.

 

Does the curved path need to be there ? (cant see the other end on the photo)

I'd be inclined to remove the curved path and have it all grass

 

Here's a picture from a month or so ago when the landscapers where in.

The small area of lawn nearest is what I'm putting the slate on.



Removing the path is a possibility, but it could done at a later date. I think for now I'll just get the slate down.

 

I put the 40mm plum slate down last night and took some better pictures this morning. As you can see, the path goes up to some outhouses.



So now I'm looking for ideas what to put on the slate. I dug the soil over before I put the membrane and slate down and it looked like good soil to me, so I could move some slate and plant in the soil, or I could put tubs on, or even a statue etc.

As the camera looks at the property it's looking south, so the sun comes up to the left of the picture and goes down to the west at the right of the picture. The slate is pretty much shaded all day by the shadow of the house. The garden slopes down coming towards the camera so the slated area gets good drainage.

 

Looks really neat @hoofy

 

Do you have a preference for plants ? Ground cover / taller ?

Sempevivums grow well in shade and there are lots of textures / colours but they are low growing.

Hostas like shade and there are plenty of colours / sizes. They will die back for winter so only look at their best in summer.

 

I think ground cover is probably the most sensible choice if we don't want to obscure the view of the rest of the garden from the house. Possibly something a bit taller in the corner farthest from the ramp?

 

How about ferns? If you can water them regularly for the first summer, ferns are surprisingly drought tolerant.

You could have bold, shuttlecock plants (evergreen or not) in the middle and smaller, interesting plants around them, perhaps Painted Ferns , Asplenium and other interesting ones? Ferns are brilliant just now when the fronds appear and slowly start to unravel into their leafy glory. Morrisons have had a nice selection of cheap ferns in the past years.

Some spring bulbs would also fit nicely in with the ferns

 

Ferns would look great there. A bit of planning with the heights and it would make a great feature

 

So, if I do go for ferns, would they be best if I plant them under the slate?

 

Depends on what pleases your eye @hoofy Personally I'd dig the space up, add a lot of good leafy compost and use the slate elsewhere. But that's just because I prefer a wild, natural look.

Ferns also make side shoots and growing through the slate would prevent that.

Then again, ferns in gravel actually look really fine and elegant (picture from google). The slate mulch would also prevent the soil from drying out.

Containers would be too fiddly to water so probably not a good idea, unless you go for a very big one. I've seen some Victorian style planting schemes with ferns and they are very sophisticated

 

I went to the local nursery yesterday but they didn't sell ferns so I decided to just have a chat to the owner and get some recommendations from him based on my explanation of the area. I bought 3 vinca minor (periwinkle), an elaeagnus coastal gold and another plant in the middle of the picture that has no name tag on, and I can't remember its name.



I also bought a rather nice statue off ebay.




Any suggestions or recommendations on placing before I plant these under the slate?

Here's a closer picture of the un-named plant. Can anyone identify it for me please?