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Negligent gardening
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Posted by Weatherlawyer SoT UK (My Page) on Sat, Jul 9, 05 at 10:50
| I live in a council flat and the back plot is a triangle of some 18 x 20 panel fences. The council mow the grass but do not touch the borders. They were so overgrown and scruffy that I decided to clear them.
Now what can I put in there an just leave to its own devices.
Cheap and cheerful please.
One side has cypress/cupressus?, shading and drying the ground. The other side is in full sun most afternoons.
The soil is clay with a fair smattering of concrete. The corner gets really wet in the winter. It would make a good garden pond really but that is not going to happen.
The grass has a lot of moss in it telling the draining potential:~) |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Negligent gardening
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| Buddleia will grow almost anywhere. You could buy one plant and take cuttings. Vinca minor will carpet the ground, and again it grows easily from cuttings. A row of sunflowers will brighten it up- either plant the seeds direct or transplant pot grown ones. |
RE: Negligent gardening
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| Oriental poppy seed. Or opium poppy seed for flowers in the first year. Iris in the wet spot if it is sunny. |
RE: Negligent gardening
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| Too late this year, but climbing nasturtiums up the fence panels? They will self-seed the following year too. |
RE: Negligent gardening
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| Perenial geraniums are very good ground cover and will prevent weeds growing through. |
RE: Negligent gardening
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| Lysimachia punctata is very obliging and just gets on with it. Only one season of interest, though, round about now. That tall perennial sunflower thing is good value for Aug/Sept and doesn't need staking. You'd have to like yellow, though. An edging of ladies mantle always looks good. For winter structure, some regularly spaced box plants would be good, put up with a range of conditions, and don't have to be clipped - they look good shaggy as well. I'd recommend interspersing them with stands of red-barked cornus, but they do have to be cut back every so often to get the best effect. |
RE: Negligent gardening
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| Maybe it would be better to fill the bed with perennials that will look good and green all year round, e.g. Hypericum, Weigela, Potentilla, Hebe, Mahonia, Holly, Pittosporum, Choisiya and Euonymous, which also do not need anything in the way of maintenance, except some pruning every few years to keep them small! |
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