City Garden

delthedriver

Last year we cleared out our gardens and installed new lawns and gravel borders.

Can anyone recommend please some nice shrubs , to provide some year round colour, ideally low maintenance which won't take over the place?

Many thanks

d:)

Niall_daaS

Go for

- Forsythia intermedia
- Philadelphus coronarius
- Spiraea arguta
- Ribes sanguineum
- Weigela florida
- Deutzia 'Mont Rose'
- Cornus alba 'Sibirica'
- Cornus sanguinea 'Winter Beauty'
- Prunus spinosa
- Buddleja davidii
- Cornus mas

All of them are simple growing, easy to maintain (they should be trimmed once a year), bring different colored blossoms at different times of the year (or colored branches in winter) and are very welcoming to bees and birds. And depending of size it shouldn't be too expensive. Maybe you mix them with some evergreens like e. g. Prunus laurocerasus (asuming it's not getting to windy and cold where you plan to plant) or Ilex aquifolium or Taxus baccata.

Niall_daaS

Go for

- Forsythia intermedia
- Philadelphus coronarius
- Spiraea arguta
- Ribes sanguineum
- Weigela florida
- Deutzia 'Mont Rose'
- Cornus alba 'Sibirica'
- Cornus sanguinea 'Winter Beauty'
- Prunus spinosa
- Buddleja davidii
- Cornus mas

All of them are simple growing, easy to maintain (they should be trimmed once a year), bring different colored blossoms at different times of the year (or colored branches in winter) and are very welcoming to bees and birds. And depending on size it shouldn't be too expensive. Maybe you mix them with some evergreens like e. g. Prunus laurocerasus (asuming it's not getting to windy and cold where you plan to plant) or Ilex aquifolium or Taxus baccata.

Norfolk Enchants_

Might sound obvious (the best ideas usually are), but you should buy the plants that you like, it's your garden, failing that employ a professional to do the job.

delthedriver

Niall_daaS wrote: »

Go for

- Forsythia intermedia
- Philadelphus coronarius
- Spiraea arguta
- Ribes sanguineum
- Weigela florida
- Deutzia 'Mont Rose'
- Cornus alba 'Sibirica'
- Cornus sanguinea 'Winter Beauty'
- Prunus spinosa
- Buddleja davidii
- Cornus mas

All of them are simple growing, easy to maintain (they should be trimmed once a year), bring different colored blossoms at different times of the year (or colored branches in winter) and are very welcoming to bees and birds. And depending on size it shouldn't be too expensive. Maybe you mix them with some evergreens like e. g. Prunus laurocerasus (asuming it's not getting to windy and cold where you plan to plant) or Ilex aquifolium or Taxus baccata.

Thank you so much for your detailed reply which is greatly appreciated:) Some very nice plants /shrubs in your list

delthedriver

Norfolk Enchants_ wrote: »

Might sound obvious (the best ideas usually are), but you should buy the plants that you like, it's your garden, failing that employ a professional to do the job.

Thank you so much for your reply. This is the final stage of a project which commenced last Summer. We have a professional Gardener who is fantastic. He likes to hear suggestions from his clients rather than impose all his ideas, so we usually have a great chat over coffee. Being a complete Philistine I don't want to meet for coffee without having some homework done !

PS Norfolk is an enchanting part of the world !!!:)

Sonnenblumen

I'm always amazed how anyone can compile a list of plants without any knowledge of site, ground conditions, spatial aspects not to mention owner's preferred maintenance requirements etc.

That side, who would want to plant up a garden full of deciduous plants? Come winter, what's there to see never mind admire? Wahnsinn

Niall_daaS

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

I'm always amazed how anyone can compile a list of plants without any knowledge of site, ground conditions, spatial aspects not to mention owner's preferred maintenance requirements etc.

That side, who would want to plant up a garden full of deciduous plants? Come winter, what's there to see never mind admire? Wahnsinn

You are absolutly right when it comes to many plants. But coming back to my suggestions all of those plants are nearly working like everywhere. Depending on ground, light etc they just grow slower or flower less. Btw, in winter you have the red colored branches of Cornus alba & Cornus sanguinea "WINTER Beauty" and the early blossoms of Cornus mas as well as the leaves of the evergreens like Prunus lauroc. or the conifers (to which I added the advice to check if they are hardy enough for the chosen place).

macraignil

You could also consider:

Photinia × fraseri ‘Red Robin’
Pieris 'Forest Flame'
Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis
Sage Salvia officinalis
Bay Leaf Laurus nobilis
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
Red Currant Ribes rubrum