Suggestions please

After making sure that the bees had done with my lavender - I've dug the lavender up this morning as they were just getting too leggy/woody.

I'm now left with a sloping gap at the front of the pond - appreciate any suggestions as to suitable plants for this area .

The soil is clay - it gets sun throughout most of the day and is a little exposed to winds. It's difficult to get to the front of the pond as I have to climb up onto the retaining wall. So, an evergreen perennial, with flowers that doesn't get so high as to block out our view of the pond - something about 30 cm high when mature would be ideal. If such a beast exists that is.

 

I'd plant another lavender and put a lot of grit in if the soil is clay, I've got lavender seedlings growing in the tarmac and they love it but they're too big to move them now.

 

Cistus creticus or C. Grayswood Pink, prostrate Rosemary, Ceanothus th. repens

 

Escallonia golden carpet.

 

helianthemums? Double ones

 

To add to the cistus miss sunshine is a good dwarf variety . Maybe the odd Abelia - heathers - hypercium calcinium bit invasive though even some azalea are small - vinca , my nandina firepower very slow growing - some leucothoe are small but like the nandina lack interesting flowers .

Bergenia - heuchera - tradescantia like blue and gold - hellebores - Liripoe quite a few to pick from - geranium macrorrhizum are semi evergreen .

I'd be tempted with V. Bonararises / sanguisorba to get some reflection in the pond while being see through with salvias carrodonna / other and sedums like red caulii pls others.

Or maybe you could go simple with just a grass like carex ever gold ( could mix with ophiopogon ) and plants some alliums . Or could go with grass / salvia / bulbs even nerines for late colour if soil amended .

I don't know how big the area just rounding off some ideas

 

Thanks everyone - I've a lot of googling to do - to see what these plants look like and where I can get them from .