12ft x 4ft Year Round plants

CeeCeeBloom

Hi,

I have read a few threads here but can't seem to get my answer.
I am a total novice!

I have an area 12ft X 4ft and am going to get some plants into it.

Could anyone offer any help as to what I could put in there to have it all year round flowering?

I will be putting some sleepers around it to box it off, however I am unsure if I should completely box it off and add soil or but the sleepers lower & use the ground.

Any help would be much appreciated.

CeeCee

The Continental Op

How good is the soil (the ground) that you already have? How deep is it and does it get waterlogged?

CeeCeeBloom

Its damp in the shade and gets evening sun, Doesn't get waterlogged & I think its about 1ft deep.

The Continental Op

So really no need to raise it up except for aesthetic or easy of maintenance reasons. If you can raise it then its a lot easier to maintain as you don't have to bend over so much and you'll have a deeper soil but thats not really needed here.

Start with easy stuff like hostas planted around the edge. Then some hellebores for flower at this time of year a little behind them.

looksee

If you are going to put sleepers round I would suggest putting in some more soil anyway. Dig the area first, if it is shaded and damp it is likely to be a bit compressed, even if it doesn't get waterlogged.

You need to check up on plants for shaded areas - shaded areas are often a bit damp anyway. There have been lots of threads on plants for shaded areas, its difficult to get flowers all year round in a shaded area but it is possible to go some way towards it. I would suggest some ferns to create cover, and show off the flowers that you can achieve. Berginias, hostas and Helebores (Christmas roses) are all happy with shade and have flowers. Anything that normally grows in woodland will deal with shade - honeysuckle (though maybe not suited to a bed), violets, oxalis, snowdrops, aconites, foxgloves, campanulas, perenial geraniums.

What you will not get in shade is the big blowsy summer bedding type flowers - petunias and pelargonums (aka geraniums, but they are not geraniums) and so on. You have to find plants that will be happy in the area and enjoy the more modest flowers.

CeeCeeBloom

Thanks so much for the advice I at least have somewhere to start!

Much appreciated ��

The Continental Op

Keep an eye on Lidl and Aldi for Hostas, they do some good ones at reasonable prices. Don't just stick with one type you can have pale green, nearly yellow, variegated and grey leaved forms along with vastly different leaf sizes.