Border Refresh - Mayo
This south-facing house in County Mayo had a large number of small flower beds already that were planted with beautiful perennials, but the homeowner felt it was lacking in winter structure.
The site is quite exposed with fairly strong winds. There was around 100 sq m of planted beds to be rejuvenated across six or seven distinct areas. The homeowner loves plants and there was already a good selection of trees, shrubs, roses, perennials and bulbs in the garden that we were able to retain in the design.
The design
The owner likes colourful foliage as well as flowers and has a gorgeous selection of beautiful roses and perennials. However, we identified that more structure and height is needed to tie the design together, to fill the ‘gaps’ in the borders, and to provide more interest through the winter. There are different plant requirements for different beds.
The priorities for the design included:
creating year-round structure and more height
the addition of winter flowering plants and shrubs
selecting wind-tolerant plants to add to the existing stock
choosing hare-resistant plants that wouldn’t be nibbled!
Driveway beds
There are two large semi-circular beds at the entrance to the property. These beds are south facing, quite exposed to wind, covered in a gravel mulch and contain some sparse planting. The two deciduous trees will be retained along with the existing grasses (Festuca glauca), Sambucus nigra, and a number of other small shrubs. Some plants - namely Helleborus spp. - have been moved to more suitable locations. New planting includes:
Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘golf ball’
Carex morrowii ‘ice dance’
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning light’
Verbena bonariensis
Achillea millefollium ‘Apple blossom’
Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’
Patio beds
The large patio to the north side of the property has a large L-shaped bed that surrounds a seating area, a square raised bed, and several pots. These are primarily full of flowering perennials and the homeowner noted that it looks its best in mid summer.
To ensure it looks good through the winter too, we added a number of structural plants including evergreen multi-stemmed umbrella shaped Osmanthus burkwoodii, evergreen clipped balls of Prunus laur. Sofia and a mixture of ornamental grasses (Calamagrostis a. Karl Foester, Pennisetum Fairy Tails and Pennisetum Little Bunny) to balance out the flowering plants and provide a longer season of interest.
All of the flowering perennials (i.e. geraniums, coreopsis, verbena etc), bulbs (alliums) and tubers (Dahlias) in this bed will be retained. Some plants may be moved to other beds to make space for new shrubs and grasses.
One of the key requests during the consultation was for winter colour and flowers. We suggested a statement shrub - Camellia sasanqua - for a patio pot to bring the colour close to the house. This shrub is a lovely shape, with glossy evergreen leaves, and open, single sometimes scented flowers that flower for a period of 4 - 6 weeks between November and January when very little else is in flower.
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL