Brilliant Herbaceous Border Inspiration from Professional and Private Gardens
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- Опубликовано: 25 июн 2024
- What makes a good herbaceous border? If you're planning to make your flower borders look stunning, don't miss these tips and ideas from inspiring private and professional gardens. I've put the tips I'm going to use myself when completely revamping my main herbaceous border this year - and setting myself the challenge of making my herbaceous border look better than it ever has! So do join me - wherever you live, these tips will help you transform your own borders.
00:00 Welcome
00:32 Clear your border first
01:50 Using yellow in herbaceous borders
02:18 6 Perennials That Flower All Summer video: • 6 perennial flowers th...
03:24 See more of Great Comp Garden in the Expert Tips on Salvias video: • Salvias - Expert Tips ...
03:38 A white flower bed border - how to use white
06:20 Rosy Hardy RUclips channel: / @rosyhardygardening
06:55 Doddington Place Gardens in Kent: www.doddingtonplacegardens.co...
07:14 Joff Elphick's Pot & Cloche podcast: www.joffelphick.co.uk/podcast/
07:20 Blue in a herbaceous border
08:00 How to create stunning garden borders with Tom Brown video: • How to create stunning...
08:20 Think about foliage shape when planning a flower border
08:59 Reds and pinks together in a herbaceous border
09:25 How to plant a stunning perennial border video with Steve Edney: • Create an outstanding ... The argument over the persicaria is at 14.34.
09:47 How to place plants by height in a herbaceous border
10:09 'Hot' herbaceous borders
10:24 See more of Gravetye Manor Hotel's autumn borders in 6 Best Shrubs for Late Season Colour video: • Six best shrubs for la...
10:46 Naturalistic planting design - how to get it right in your own garden video with Michael McCoy garden design: • Naturalistic planting ...
10:49 Contrast plant shapes in your herbaceous border - round, upright and horizontal
11:15 See more of this garden in How to Make a Flower Border Look Amazing video: • How to make a flower b...
12:15 Middlesized Garden Beautiful Borders Planning Checklist: www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.u...
12:35 Beautiful borders playlist - videos to transform your garden borders: • Beautiful borders - tr...
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I’ve got to say I love the look of using more plants of one kind. That is my goal for the coming gardening year.
Mine too!
So nice of you to take us along on this new border planning! I found that gardening is such a personal preference kind of thing, that all you can do is, take advice and inspiration from others. Then go do your own thing! I tend to favor purple flowers, but also have quite a few yellow flowering perennials mixed in. I redid a section of my yard a few years ago, when a large overgrown shrub was removed. In that area I took my time adding another shrub first, bulbs the first Fall. Then I added many perennials the second year. I know it's best to plant in larger drifts for visual impact, but I also like it when different colors and shapes mingle. So I try to use repetition as well, especially after a few years when I can divide plants I already own and like.
Most important thing is YOU have to like your garden. Putting work into making a garden according to other people’s tastes makes no sense.
@@pansepot1490 Yes, of course.
That sounds lovely.
So much information in this video, all the borders look amazing. That said I think first & foremost is to choose plants that will grow in your soil type(mine is heavy clay) & also whether sunny, part sun , shade etc.
Absolutely
I love your videos- you really showcase the sculptural aspects of garden design that really inspires me!
Thank you!
Could you do a video on garden islands. Intown gardens often have an island in the lawn. In the states we don’t have the beautiful brick and stone walls that you have to frame a border
Another timely great tips. Just when I’m thinking about colour schemes. Also your tips for clearing out the border with conviction, which I was hesitant and feeling incompetent; such good advice again. Thank you Alexandra.
Thank you!
Christopher Lloyd quote - “cold, staring and assertive, white catches your eye and makes you wish it hadn’t.” That said you make some great points Alexandria, many thanks.
He certainly could turn a phrase. What an artist he was.
Have to say I totally disagree with Christopher Lloyd on this. I think you can't go wrong with white or cream flowers in a border.They bring it to life & enhance all other colours & also all greenery.
@@jwalton6819Me too. Love white.
I see alot of British gardeners say they despise yellow in their garden or the combination of yellow & pink. Not sure where that comes from? In America you see yellow & pink all together in gardens and I love it. Some of my favorite blooming plants are yellow. David Austin Charlotte is my most beloved rose in my garden. 💛
It depends on what shades of pink and yellow are put together. A bluey pink with an acid yellow is good. Peachy pink with brassy yellow is horrible.
I think it came from Vita Sackville-West originally, but she was writing around 100 years ago!
Comprehensive as always Alexandria. Looking forward to your creation
I've the opportunity to revamp a border after my old Laburnum tree was blown down in last years gales..this has given me much to think about,,,thank you!
Thank you. Another wonderful video and very on topic with a lot of gardeners who want to start again with borders since the drought of last year.
It was very tough on plants, that's what did for my border in the end.
This is a great video to rewatch and keep learning, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I took advice from the West Dean video and planted a new border, using plants I needed to move. I waited til last Fall after they all died back. So now I have no idea what I actually made until this Summer.
One thing I did learn, is I need to plant in 15's or more. I am competing with a breath taking mountain view. There is nothing to stop the eye, in the background. It's windswept fields, no trees, and then snow covered peaks. If I don't make a big impact, my beds are a jumble you don't even notice.
Good point! And I know what you mean about not knowing what everything is. I think there's some of that going on here too.
The best advice in my opinion is what Piet Oudolf said : take a picture in black and white of your garden, and if it still looks good, because of foliage contrast but more importantly, shapes, then you've got a great garden. Of course the next level is to have the garden look good in black and white AND during all seasons.
Yes, I've always loved that tip of his. The Beth Chatto garden in Essex was very much conceived in black and white as well as colour.
I revamped my one perennial border last year keeping only the roses and peonies and adding new perennials. I also added hydrangeas, dahlias and glads. My white garden has turned into white, blues, purple and pinks. I guess I just love colour too much. Perennial borders are my favourite. This video is truly inspirational. Bonny zone 5b Canada new subscriber
That sounds beautiful. Thank you.
South-East Florida Border in process: I look at many borders on-line for ideas, but your videos provide, in addition to the visual, a wealth of information. In particular you answer the question, "why" the border is attractive. When I mention to people here that planting in clusters of 3, 5, 7 (Fibonacci), instead of rows is more attractive; I get odd looks from people. I then direct them to your videos and let the results speak for themselves.
Interesting, of course, I hadn't linked it to the Fibonacci sequence but it makes perfect sense.
This gave me so much inspiration. Thankyou for the lovely video and showing those beautiful borders.
Love these boarders. 💐
Thanks so much 😊
Wanted to take a minute to tell you how much I love your channel. From the time I was a little girl, I was fascinated by the English garden. All of them. The cottage gardens, formal gardens, the hedges, topiary, and roses with delphiniums tucked into the mix. I lived as a child in a small town in Mississippi, and when I was young, I would ask our local librarian to find books on English gardening for me. Back in the 1970s, our libraries had a state wide system we could borrow from, and she would find a few titles at other libraries in the state and request them for me. In 3-4 weeks, I would get a postcard in my mailbox letting me know the books were in. They were only my books for 3 weeks, but this was like our Amazon. I would be walking on air as I walked to the library after school to pick them up.
I got my love of gardening from my mother, who was inspired by her mother, my grandmother. My great-grandmother's garden, it was magical for me. That's where I learned to shell peas, sun-dry muscadines, separate Iris clumps, deep mulch the gingerlilies in the fall, and start seedlings in the Spring. Growing up in the deep South, my great- grandmother had beautiful gardens with plenty of white colored flowers like Easter lillies, dogwood, star jasmine, magnolia, gingerlily, daisy, Grancy Greybeard, yarrow, gardenia, tea olive tree and white wisteria etc. So beautiful, but the British garden was different, and I loved looking at it. It was almost healing to me in a way. We just can't grow delphinium here, and only certain roses do well.
My last name is very British (my father's name). My mother's as well and her mother's maiden name also. All this said, I just did ancestry test and traced my family back on all sides to England most from the Yorkshire area but also family from Staindrop, Wittering, and my 11th Great grandfather was Sir John Robinson, Lord Mayor of London. Who was known, according to Wikipedia as a "talking, bragging hufflehead" (my kids got a kick from that). I have one French relative mixed in and one Scott and two Irish but the rest....well, I am about 75% British. After finding so much British on both my Mother and my Father's side....has left me wondering if my fascination with the British garden was a part of some sort of "genetic" memory or was it just that this gardening style was passed down from Grandmother to Grandmother to me. Of course because of our climate and soil we can't have the exact same style but I do know my love of gardening and flowers was passed down to me through the immediate women in my family and I have been able to find examples of writing and diaries from some of the other great great great great plus grandmothers on ancestry that show a love of gardening. Thanks again....your channel has always enchanted me... Many episodes I have watched again and again. I love how sometimes you travel and visit with other gardeners and I get a chance to "look" around. Carry on with joy....it's always an inspiration.
Thank you, and how interesting!
Thank you for the checklist.
Absolutely outstanding video...and wonderful ideas
I like very much the samples of white flowers with spots of contrasting darker colour..
Thank you for showing various combinations.
Lot of good suggestions. Always enjoy❤❤
Thank you!
Amazing colours schemes…
They are!
Thank you for all the inspiration!
Lovely post
Thank you very much for sharing your excellent ideas and know-how. Reply appreciate watching your videos. Best regards, Helen
You are very welcome
Thank you for the impact of these great advices
This video is all eye candy, thank you! - I always had Euryops green leaf, because they go all through winter with their happy yellow flowers and stop flowering around June. But my favorites are blue, purple and deep pink flowers. Great idea to plant many plants together! I typically have one 1 or2 of an addition and wait forever for them to look good ha
Thank you!
Many thanks!
Timely inspiration and immensely helpful video, thanks as ever!
Thank you.
Already watched this video several times and paused to examine the various designs! Thank you for sharing and walking us through your thoughts, Alexandra. I’m looking forward to seeing how your boarder develops. Love from Buffalo, NY in the States 🌻
Thank you!
I just put in four roses. I'll have to remember to water deeply. I've never grown Rocky Mountain penstemon or Scottish bluebells before. I'll see how well they do with a hot Colorado summer.
Excellent!
Thank you for sharing different ideas of garden experts. Each idea has own good point. Also, many thanks for your advices.
So much good information, will have to watch again!
Great video with beautiful examples!
Another brilliant video. Thank you for the great compilation of design insights, suggestions, and beautiful photos which are so instructive as well. Can't wait to see in what direction you decide to take your border, but I'm already delighted to see your use of grasses. My planting area is somewhat smaller, but they are in my design this year, as well. Thank you!
Thank you. I'm looking forward to using more grasses.
I am just now tackling a large new garden space (muddy expanse!) in the front of my house after some major renovations. As I plan, I'm trying to keep in mind what is reasonably sustainable for me to keep up. So thank you - I really appreciate watching your videos. I was inspired by many of the gardens you featured and I've planted seeds for dozens of delphiniums, lupins, foxgloves & hollyhocks, and have invested in ordering some panicle hydrangeas. I'd love to learn more about some of the more subtle yet long flowering and hardworking perennials - the types that I typically overlook but think I probably need to achieve fullness and harmony. I wish you the very best with your large project and I look forward to seeing the progress!
Thank you! You may have seen these two videos, but if not, I hope they have some good plant suggestions for you: ruclips.net/video/8Yeihq61_TU/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/xZr4n75Cr6g/видео.html
Always great information 🌼🐝
Many thanks
So much inspiration 😍
Thank you!
It's -26C here this morning so your video was a most welcome distraction.
That is cold!
Loved this video. I thought the white garden with the dark red/purple lupins was beautiful. You say you haven't got room for a warm and a cool boarder. If I had your garden, I would dig up some of the lawn and make more boarders. 😉
Thank you, yes, that's definitely a thought, but my husband would be somewhat resistant!
I love this. I am redoing beds and I love all the ideas. I can get stuck sometimes!
I think we all can!
Those borders are amazing. I'm changing my borders as well and I left the roses in too.
It's an exciting project!
great video! Thanks
Thank you as ever for a beautifully curated collection of useful advice and inspiration, much enjoyed.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fabulous as always!
Thank you!
Very beautiful garden views, I’m looking forward to seeing your border creations. Thanks for sharing your garden revamps. 👍❤️😊
Thanks so much 😊
Love your program
Yes! So many things to think about. Lots of great info. An issue I have with white flowers is with our heat, they can turn brown very quickly. Roses are fine, and I use white alyssum and bacopa in pots or at ground level to visually lighten up that area. White flowers in shady locations are good for the same reason. A number of plants come in various colors, so you can get the texture or size you want, but may choose colors that work. I'm not a fan of orange, and was annoyed that a packet of tiger lily bulbs ended up producing lots of orange lilies without a spot or stripe in sight. I'm digging those up this week to pass off to the friends who loved them when I posted the photos last spring. :)
There seem to be so many cases of mis-labelling these days, but at least your friends will be delighted.
Such a good video! More like this please!
Thank you!
I feel as though I live and garden in one of the most challenging climates in my country (and maybe most). I would love to live and grow in a temperate English climate as I can only drool over the variety in the borders! Alas I choose plants that can withstand
my climate extremes and don’t have the luxury to choose by color palate. I’m too busy just trying to get things to survive from one season to the next! Mine are chosen for hardiness or sun exposure. I do enjoy the inspiration and thought.
That's a good policy - I know we are very lucky to have such a mild climate, even if it sometimes means hardly any summer
So much great info!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video once again. My garden goal this year is to plant only what I love, to simplify, and to remove anything that doesn’t flow. I love all the rich fall colors, the royal purples, deep reds, rusty orange, with a splash of vibrant yellow and chartreuse. I love the cheerfulness and energy it provides. In Canada, zone 3b, our winters are very long so when spring comes, I crave Lots of color!!
Thank you!
Hello! Oh my goodness, so much inspiration and information. Thank you for taking the time to put this video together. Those boarders are absolutely stunning. I know that I could never be a judge at the Chelsea Garden Show as I would just love them all! 💖 It is a dream to one day attend and see all the amazing displays.
There's something so cathartic about tearing out an old boarder and revamping it. I have done that many times over the years. I can't wait to see how yours takes shape. Good luck with it and have a week! 😎
Thank you!
Lovely border. I always get inspiration from your channel. Thank you
Thank you so much!
I vote for the happy healthy plants first!
Stunning presentation, excellent examples, I feel inspired and glad that I don't discriminate against yellow.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent review and very helpful tips. Time to work! Thank you so much for your video!
Glad it was helpful!
Some great advice I read was for about every 5-6 feet width of your border try to have something of interest for each season or as many as you can
That's great advice
Always a great video from you and this one is no different!
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that.
All really beautiful borders. Personally I’ve never worried too much about mixing colours, as long as there are things flowering from snowdrops through to dahlias I’m happy !
And that's a very wildlife friendly approach too.
Thank you so very much for this fantastic thought journey! It is exactly what I need on this cold and snowy Chicagoland morning. And, I appreciate your lovely suggestions on other garden bloggers and RUclipsrs. Generous as always! Enjoy your 2023 planning and growing!
Thank you!
Really great advice, and your video makes the point that there is not one "correct" way to design. I like to remind myself that even if I were able to design the perfect garden on paper, various bits would not go as planned, and if I make a mistake or two or twenty, it is always possible to edit.
Absolutely! I love the way gardens keep us surprised.
Uhhhhg interesting...in currently playing with the same ideas for a few corners in my garden. The clearing out part is so essential but also the hardest part
Great timing, I've decided my foundation shrubbery is quite dead now after our deep freeze so it's a brand new border for my front entrance. I think I might like the white/silver this time, which is a new like for me. I wouldn't have considered it three years ago, but we do change unexpectedly sometimes.
White, silver is lovely and you could always pop one other contrast colour in, like red or blue.
Thanks again for a lovely video Alexandra. I found it very interesting and useful. I've written quite a few things down.
Thank you!
I LOVE plants with dark red/black leaves
Me too
What well researched and put together video. I really loved the no named border from Kent. So beautiful. I am a native plant landscaper in the US in North Carolina. My favorite herbaceous perennial borders usually consist of geranium maculatum, coreopsis verticillata, salvia, yarrow, joe pye weed, baptisia, iron weed, goldenrod, black eyed Susan, various grasses in varying layouts. But those plants work well together in most sunny situstions and are sure to be beautiful no matter what. I especially love joe pye weed. I tend to really love large clumps of at least 5 for the best impact. It creates such a statement. However, very context is different. Thanks for the video. =)
Thank you. That sounds like an excellent list of herbaceous plants, I particularly love yarrow and geraniums.
Beautiful inspiration. I find that white works well in my garden in the middle of other colors when the white flower size are small , otherwise white and blue is what I like best. White narcissus and purple allium.
Interesting point!
Love this video, like them all. I like yellow, it mixes well with all my greens, purple, blues,
lilac, white & deeper purples. Late Spring all my Hippies come up & my col. palette changes
again. Overall, I try to keep cols. together. However, I do surprises.
That sounds like a lovely combination.
Just the job dear gardening friend. It is almost miles away the month of April .I am designing my last garden room . 120 yards sq. I have designed and built 6 gardens over three acres but for this one I keep coming back to that master piece at Wollerton old hall gardens . Upper rill . Mine ill not fully copy but will use the formal pond idea with sides full of ideas .love the lollipop Hornbeams each side. It is all to win in April May this summer . Then and only then can I get on with filling the gaps in my main borders to the gates . It is not my strongest skill but will give it my very best to look amazing. I can build from my designs the frame .Then have to really mess about building borders .My rose gardens I loved planting up but main borders I worry over. I dont live near great gardens to ask head gardeners as Europe is not really a gardeners ideal .Then land was cheap and house I built in farm fields is what I have now in Edwardian splendor that few are interested in here . So seeds and hard planing to give plants the best of presentation is all I can do .In all 6 acres of gardens for one man is enough
Which country do you live in?
Luv the video i can't be disiplined mine te d to just ramble but I get pleasure from this living in Australia idont have to bring plants in over winter
A very nice video, I reserve a part of the garden for blue and white mostly with a little pink and yellow in between, blue Delphinium and blue Sylvia, also a white Floridian rose and Shasta daisy, also looking forward to add a white Dahlia and on the lookout for more blue, I did add a blue Perrineal geranium but I didn't like the look so I will be removing it to another location, good luck with your new makeover also
Thank you!
It would be great if you show step by step how to plan and plant your new border. I would like to do over my perennial bed and like you I have some plants I cannot take out ex: my tree peony, a lilac and a small peony. Thank you.
Good idea! I will try to plan that.
Good afternoon Alexander, it is big decision time again. With your advice and visiting other gardens, we have got quite a bit of information to work at. It is so lovely to look at the establish borders and they give a good idea what you can decide to do. I did love the dark red cosmos flowers and then the other complimentary plants about 11:49 min into the video. Sometimes you can place potted plants in a large container on bricks or flagstones at the back of the border making a delightful addition maybe planted with Inca Lilies, depending what your fancy is. I am thinking of sowing wild flowers a winter selection over the grass as it dies down in winter then there is at least some colour. What do you think? Thank you for sharing the gardening ideas with us, I notice you are quite warmly dressed, take care for colds or flu. It was lovely to listen to all your suggestions. Do take care, be warm. Kind regards, Elize
Thank you, Inca lilies sound lovely, as do the wild flowers. Yes, it has been quite cold here recently.
Fab video as ever. I really dislike white gardens as I find them dull, i'm a colour lover and particularly like a multi colour border for maximum impact in my country garden. Every colour work with the others and on a small scale, it works well I think. To counter balance that, I think the heights can create harmony, and try to make sure it works with the different heights of the plants. I do like white with other plants, especially pink and blue but just never on its own.
It would be interesting to explore the use of colour in different climates. In the UK, one sees quite a bit of the blue-lavender-pink palette, but here in Zone 6a Canada - which is much sunnier and hotter - those flowers don't always thrive. Light frequency has an influence on colour, so perhaps we would all be well advised to familiarize ourselves with what works best where we garden. I'm in Ontario, and London UK is 556 miles to the north of me. I envy your blues!
How interesting!
Hi Alexandra,
Do you happen to have a video on the application/concept of a 'Planting Framework ' when designing a mixed border?
Love your videos.
Thank you.
This is probably the closest, but it's something I'll try to return to: ruclips.net/video/N3qLU7Uli58/видео.html
What a beautiful video. Funny, I thought I'd ask on this weeks video how your new border was coming along, guess I now know. Now I'm wondering about your front garden, still trying to make a meadow.? My moms favorite flower was the Delphinium, the Foxglove has my heart, wish it bloomed all season.
I dither endlessly over the front garden mini meadow, but I will put my ditherings on video soon. The latest thought is to make it a spring mini meadow but cut it at other times.
I like what you have done with that corner - the topiary looks great. The brick wall looks somewhat uneven - perhaps a vine of some sort may loos great - such as a clematis or ivy.
About the colors you mentioned - I agree that white does not look good with dark jewel tones. In the fall garden, if you keep your strong colored dahlias, yellow will offset it well - yellow chrysanthemums with small flowers, or in theUnited States we have a golden rod called fireworks. Something yellow with small. Round or spiky yellow flowers.
The wall is very old, and I am rather wishing I could encourage my husband to take up wall repair as a hobby, although I don't have much hope. I'm thinking about a vine of some kind, but I also don't want to cover it completely.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden May be an annual one. Or you could hang some garden art on it. I think it’s a good location for filming videos, But think of some garden art which would go with your topiary - a picture f some sort.
Oh wow! Absolutely loved this video. So very inspirational. Has me eager to do something about my borders which i felt left a lot to be desired last summer. Admittedly the hot, dry Summer didn't help but I felt there was something lacking in the hot border. My blue, white and silver border made up for it- south facing, well drained and planted for the situation. My only small border in the garden that has a lovely sunny position. I have day lilies, Rudbeckias, Geums, Heliopsis and Heleniums in the hot border, but still feel it needs more oomph! Not sure what else to plant there or how to rearrange it though. Thank you again, Alexandra, for another great video
It really was a very tough summer, everyone's borders were looking frazzled.
Maybe some grasses between the flowers?
@@Zi_de_primavaraThank you, but I am concerned they might swamp my plants which are only young? I havez grasses in a separate bed.
This is so timely . We (90%) cleared a border at the start of winter and , inspired by the Moskowitz border video, mulched it well. I have just started thinking about planting it and will watch this video a few times more for inspiration. I have already taken on board the advice to plant in larger groups than three . The border checklist is an excellent idea too.
Thank you. I'm finding my border revamp an exciting, but rather terrifying prospect!
I love white in a garden! My pool garden is full of white flowers in summer. May is for iris alba and star jasmine and Althea. Then come the peruvian lilies, crinums, moonflowers, brugmansia, hosta, hydrangea, clematis and vinca. August and September is for sedum, ginger lilies, and white roses. The vinca, petunias, cosmos, and impatiens are still going strong. Pure white has an almost reflective quality, enchanting at night but hard to find pure pure white. For me, jemison weed (moonflower) and ginger lilies are the brightest of the whites and they POP! I felt that the aqua of the pool was already enough color in this area. I wanted something visually cooling and the white really takes the temperature down. I do however rely on an evergreen structure of mature privet, tea olive, camelia, acuba, magnolia, nandina, daphne, viburnum, and pineapple guava. The wide variance of texture, shape, and color of the foliage is the secret sauce that makes all white garden interesting. I so want to add festiva maxima peonies. If anyone here lives in a hot, humid climate not suited for peonies, but has beat the odds please give me advice!
That sounds like a gorgeous list of plants, especially with all the evergreens.
Wonderful vlog as I am revamping one of my borders. Love,love,love it all.When can I start planting and when is the best time to buy from my local nursery. I live in North London .
Depending on the type of plants and what sort of weather we're having, early to late spring is a good time to plant, and that's a good time to buy as well. Your local nursery should be able to advise you too. Plants are cheaper in the autumn, but there's less choice and you may have the problem of what to do with them over winter if it's not the right time to plant them.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden thank u Alexandra, will continue my research of plants as loving this process.
I like a white garden, One reason I'm an artist, and I paint in color all day all the time, so in the evening I like to sit and relax and not look at color. In the spring I have some blue and lavender mix of plants, like a Delft garden. Then is all changes to all white. Main summer it's all white and silver. Then in the fall creams and browns. Oh yes I bought a white oriental poppy and it came up orange red. I keep digging it out but it comes back again, So I just cut it and put it in a flower arrangement. I have a rule if it flops or breaks it's in a vase. But I'm thinking with an all white garden I can change the color theme with annuals every year. I'm thinking of doing a creamy yellow like butter and lime green combo this year. It has options with annuals.
That sounds beautiful!
I am so looking forward to see your new beds
But I agree with the Gardner John Lord on saying be careful of a white border as if you need to keep up with dead heading as a white border can turn dirty look as I agree with and I notice no matter how you try yellow flowers are the last to go and do give that harvest look 👀 but also colour is good for depression the brain health makes people stop warring black and brings in good humour it has been practiced by the mental professionals for a long time even in cemeteries black tombstones are so down compared to putting an up lifting colour
God Bless the work ahead I just know it going to brilliant
Thank you!
Brilliant content - now completely hooked on your channel. Quick question for you. I’m creating my own 2 meter depth boarder and was wondering once I’ve planted all my plants. If the front plants come up first how do the plants at the back and lower down grow without as much sun? Many thanks in advance.
Much of the sun's rays come from overhead, so unless you've planted absolutely huge plants in front, I don't think there'll be a problem. And if there is, you can always move plants around in the second year.
Great video!
Thank you, Alexandra, for another practical, inspiring video! Do you have any recommendations/formulas/ratios for border size? I have a very small backyard and I’m struggling with proportions - in particular, what the depth of my borders should be (front to back) to create impact. Than you ❤🌼
The advice garden designers give is to make your border deep. Actual measure depends on the situation, anyway absolutely avoid a thin border that can host just one row of plants in it. I suggest browsing Alexandra’s channel for videos about small gardens for tips and ideas.
Thank you! The Middle Sized Garden is my favourite gardening channel and, as such, I have seen many of Alexandra’s videos. I had read somewhere (maybe Monrovia’s site?) that there is a base formula to use as a starting point…. something like 3 feet deep for every ____ of length. I don’t remember. I was just hoping for some conformation, or alternate suggestions. I appreciate your feedback.
It's an interesting question, and I've asked designers sometimes, but have never had a completely definite answer, perhaps because there isn't one. I think it's worth considering where to place the border - in a small backyard, you could have one biggish border down one side (rather than two smaller ones on either side), but you could also run a border across, dividing the space into 2, or across the back. I suspect that it's ultimately a question of instinct rather than mathematics as spaces are so different in different gardens. But I'll bear it in mind and try to address it if I can find someone who does do calculations.
This was interesting. I have been putting off making choices and ended up with an empty border full of weeds. I know it's 'trowel and error' but it's the expense of buying at least three plants of one type and then getting wrong that's making me hesitate. I feel emboldened by this. I look forward to seeing your new border. I wonder if you have ever visited Wollerton Old Hall Garden in Shropshire. It is one of my favourites
Buy one of each and trial them in a corner of your border. Throw seeds of annual flowers in the rest of the border so it fills up with flowers instead of weeds. The following year you can divide up the perennials and get three or more plants from each of the original ones. (Mind, not all perennials are the same: some can be multiplied no problem, others are more fussy. Easy to google for info though).
As it happens, I have visited Wollerton. Lovely gardens.
I'm thinking of visiting Woollerton Old Hall. Yes, Panse Pot is right, you can divide perennials to make more and fill gaps with inexpensive annuals sown from seeds. I think maybe don't worry about 'getting it wrong' because in a way, because even if plants don't turn out how you hoped, they're not necessarily 'wrong'. I do sympathise as I feel a bit the same way myself, which is why I said 'I'm going to force myself to buy 5s and 7s'. If friends are dividing perennials, they may be able to give you some for free or look for local plant swaps.
i sure do not like yellow, except in daffodils, and my moms from england so maybe its inherited, although my mom did like yellow, i would pick on her when she planted yellow!!!
Another well timed video for me thank you. Please could I ask for your advice, I have quite a steep garden which I struggle to maintain so I’ve decided to have it made into two tiers with the work starting in February. If I took the established plants out would they survive in pots for a week or two as I don’t want to lose them and I can’t afford to buy new ones. I’m quite new to gardening and I’ve realised over the last couple of years that most things are in the wrong place especially height wise. Thanks.
I have moved many plants into pots for up to a year (or more), partly out of indecision or procrastination, and they all survived and went back into the border. It can also be a good opportunity to split them, at the right time of year.
Yes, I've moved lots of my plants out of the border into pots, and friends have done so too. You may lose the odd one or two, but you could lose plants any time, and most plants are very happy in pots. If they are still in pots in the summer, they will need regular watering, plus some kind of liquid feed every week.
@@irenenl9349 thank you for taking the time to reply. I was meaning more about the time of year I’m uprooting them. It is quite mild here in Yorkshire and I could put them in a cold frame if needs be.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Many thanks for your prompt reply. I think that’s going to be my job in the next few weeks. Let’s hope the weather stays mild here in Yorkshire.
Hi Alexandra.I’ve recently moved to a middle sized garden. At the moment it’s a very boring long rectangle with one very neglected flower bed which has a ceanothus and magnolia in it. I’ve also go a tall leylandii hedge that goes the whole length of the southern boarder. Cutting it down is not an option as it provides privacy from the nursing home. I live in Lincolnshire. Can I grow anything near the hedge? Or create a boarder by it? Sorry for the long post 😘
It's quite tricky to grow anything too close to a Leylandii hedge as the roots take up all the moisture. However, you could do a border across the garden or down the other side (or both). There are a couple of videos that might help if you haven't already seen them: ruclips.net/video/HtsqXEMeocM/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/5kQQDGUOXlg/видео.html
Hello! I've been meaning to ask you a question about weeding for a while. I am in the process of creating a mixed border and weeds are my main issue in spring. When all my perennials start to shoot I find it difficult to distinguish between the weeds and my plants. Probably because I don't remember exactly the shapes of their leaves and where exactly I put them in the first place. Now most of them are in full growth but the dahlias are now popping out but not at the same time so I 'm confronted to the same problem. I have accidentally uprooted good plants in the past so I am being extra cautious now. For example there's a weed whose flowers really are nepetas or salvia look alikes. And it is growing in a place where I have planted said nepetas and salvias. I gathered it must be a weed because I have seen it in other areas of the garden where I have not planted nepetas and salvias. I am still a bit worried about removing the good olant instead of the bad. I am at a point when I think "well, if their flowers look alike, that means they are pretty, so why bother?!"
I am very baffled by all that. How do you deal with this??
It is a bit of a problem, and we all weed out the wrong plants from time to time. You could let the plants and weeds grow a bit so their characteristics become more distinctive, or perhaps pay a professional gardener to teach you weeding. You could also use a plant identification app, but I don't use these so I can't recommend a good one. Finally, do you have a friend who is good at gardening who would come round the garden with you? If you took photos of each plant on your phone, or video it because then you can say the name, then you would have a record and could compare the plant with the picture or video.
Will any of this work for New England in the USA (Greater Boston Massachusetts)?
The basic principles of design work across all zones but specific plants may or may not survive the winter. Even if they don't survive the winter, many people dig them up (eg dahlias, cannas) , keep them somewhere, then plant them again.
I have tried to grow cottage garden plants which I love but I am plagued with slugs and snails, I cannot bear them so cannot go out at night to remove them I have tried beer traps and grit but there are too many! I’d love suggestions for slug resistant plants for a sunny border, I already have roses and a large Camellia but want to revamp it. I think slugs like dahlias as I never have success with them either 😢 love your garden and your advice 😊
Have you tried including a pond to attract toads and other natural predators to help?
@@user-sq3kk3wt8p yes we have a pond but it’s a raised one so no frogs unfortunately. I’ve wasted so much money on plants only to be eaten, it’s a problem
I'm sorry to hear what a huge problem it is. A last resort would be loads of slug pellets to kill them (if you haven't tried that already). They have an organic ferric (iron) phosphate one that won't injure other wildlife. Good luck! Where there's a will, hopefully there's a way 🙂
@@user-sq3kk3wt8p thank you 😊
I solved my slug and snail problem by clearing up all fallen leaves and twigs, taking out logs and any wood, raised beds or anywhere they would hide. After that I did beer traps for a year. I stopped using wood chip mulch. And I did a year of night hunts, snipping the molluscs. The combination of all the approaches has made a big difference. I can now grow foxgloves and phlox in the ground. I grow larkspur and dahlias in large pots.
Hi Alexander I have south east facing garden what plants grow well can you suggest please
It depends what your climate is like. South East facing will be 'partial shade' so when you go shopping, look for plants that say they're happy in 'partial shade' on the label. If you shop for plants locally, then you should find plants that grow in your soil and climate, and if you have a good plant nursery nearby, they will also give you good advice and help you choose.
We leave in milton Kynes in uK