[iandromiskin]

We have this long flower bed type thing in front of our estate on the way in. We cleared it of a lot weeds at the weekend so now apart from a few established scrubs etc there are a lot of gaps that i would like to see filled with flowered plants.

The only one I thought of was Lavender to fill the gaps, its evergreen, nice flower and scent, but does anyone have other suggestions for good hardy plants with good flowers, height and spread etc ? Bear in mind too that I'am not likely to get much money from the residents committee so cost is also a factor.

[verge]

Any idea is it located in sun, part shade, soil type, windy etc. I would avoid lavender, pretty as it is it has very little bouncebackability. If something or somebody falls on top of it (drunk vandal, ball retrieving child or otherwise) it tends to be brittle and break easily. Something like Phormium (New Zealand flax) is very durable like that, but is a bit dearer than the average shrub.

[iandromiskin]

In terms of location, it would be north facing, though sheltered by a house opposite. It would be moderately sheltered to the north, west and south and would get the sun in the morning, mid morning and evening. Not a clue re soil type, but its covered in a layer of membrane and gravel, so it could well be a compact clay and possibly not very deep either.

[birdie]

I second the phormium for its durability but it gives little if any flower. If you keep the weeds away and lighten up the soil a bit you could also plant lots of heather for winter colour. For summer sow lots of nasturtium and Columbine seeds for absolute pennys and lots of colour.

[iandromiskin]

On a different subject, but similar, we have this large expanse of green in front of a number of houses in our estate. The only thing on it is about ten trees, but I have sugested that we put in a few flower beds to brighten the green up and make it look, well... nice. I was originally thinking of a small 2.0m circle, but I'am not sure now if thats too small.

Does anyone have any opinions as to what would be a suitable size of bed (I'am presuming that it would have to be circular for the grass cutting man) and what sort of planting scheme would be best ?

[Lisa-Adam]

[iandromiskin]