|
Post by troykerr on Apr 19, 2009 16:08:56 GMT
We have a curved beech hedge to part shield the shed and would like to under plant with flowering plants. Any suggestions folk? The beech hedge is not dense and still fairly young.
|
|
|
Post by Fi on Apr 20, 2009 0:39:03 GMT
If it's a copper beech hedge, I'd stick with white flowers as a contrast to the dark leaves. I love anenomes and they thrive in such situations - if you want very short plants, Anenome blanda is lovely and has a long flowering period in early summer, but if you want something taller, Japanese anenomes would do equally well - they flower towards the end of summer. Both require little attention after they have settled in and their leaves are a nice contrast to the beech leaves. I'd also put in some spring bulbs such as crocuses for interest early in the year. If it's ordinary beech - same genera, but colours other than white would look good. One other suggestion, but not for underplanting, is to plant some Tropaeoleum speciosum under the hedge so they can climb up it. They are a bit choosy about situation, and there are no obvious rules for success, but once established can look fantastic. A neighbour has a beech hedge about 10' tall and each summer the west side turns into a flame coloured wall from the mass of flowers. The pale leaves also contrast nicely with the darker mature beech leaves.
|
|
|
Post by lottielou on Apr 20, 2009 10:23:10 GMT
Carl, Fi is spot on, my anenomes are thriving under our beech hedge and we also have Lily of the Valley. In January we have Snowdrops and later crocuses that do well. Recently there have been some beautiful primroses that have just popped up from nowhere. These naturalised primroses pop up everywhere this time of year and can be seen all along the hedgerows and scattered all over our field.
|
|
|
Post by ivy noidea on Apr 23, 2009 9:04:24 GMT
I wish you well if you choose the Tropaeoleum route, Carl. I have tried (and failed) several times to grow this. I think it is lovely.
Remember to post photos if you have success!
|
|
|
Post by troykerr on Apr 23, 2009 19:30:38 GMT
I wish you well if you choose the Tropaeoleum route, Carl. I have tried (and failed) several times to grow this. I think it is lovely.
Remember to post photos if you have success! Hi - Not sure if it is the way to go for us as the hedge will be topped out at say 4 to 5 foot only. However it looks so fantastic we may look for elsewhere to plant it. I will post photos showing layout of garden as we have a series from when we planned it out. Many thanks to Fi and to Lottielou for the suggestions BTW.
|
|
|
Post by Fi on Apr 25, 2009 10:18:56 GMT
Tropaeoleum don't need anything very high to scramble up - there are some lovely ones in Dundee Botanical Gardens (worth a visit at any time of the year) that have self seeded in shrubs only 3 or 4 feet high. Alternatively you might like to try Canary Creepers. They are as easy to grow from seed as other nasturtiums and, whilst not so dramatic as their red cousins, are nevertheless very pretty. UNtil I read the article in the link, I didn't realise that they could be perrenial if sheltered in winter. I might give them a go - where we used to live it got down to -20 or more most winters so they hadn't a chance of surviving, but now we're enjoying much milder winters they are well worth an experiment or three.
|
|