GRASS TO GRAVEL

HI
I HAVE JUST RECENTLY REMOVED MY LAWN AND REPLACED IT WITH 20mm GRAVEL AND TO BE HONEST IT LOOKS DULL, THE LAWN WAS ONLY 24 SQUARE METRES SO I CANT EXACLY PUT A BIG FEATURE IN THE MIDDLE,
HAS ANYONE ANY SUGGESTIONS ie PLANTS IN THE GRAVEL OR PLANTS IN CONTAINERS , FAILING THAT IT WILL BE OUT WITH THE SHOVEL AND THERE WILL BE BAGS OF GRAVEL FOR SALE........THANKS

Bench and sundial? Fountain? Boulder with small tree?

Hi Stefr, you never said if your gravel was back or front garden, sun or shade, this would help in the selection of plants that would suit various conditions, Pots are easy but need a lot of watering, every day, in hot weather, maybe twice a day, but give almost instant results and are attractive when placed in groups and not like a traffic line, Gravel plants are also easy, but need to know if you have sun or shade, can you get back to us on these things, as I am sure some of us could help you in more detail, thanks. WeeNel, Scotland UK.

The gravel is in the front garden but its only about 16 to 20 square metres so i cant really put anything in thats big, regarding the sun it only gets about three hours sunshine a day sorry cant be more helpful......cheers

Hi Stefr, I now have a better ida of the position of your FRONT garden and will give you a list of things that will be happy to grow with short hours of sunshine, however, whether you will like them is another matter, I will give easy to look after plants that give coloour and will fill out a bit each year.
Hostas, for greenery and attractive leaves but die doen each winter and grow again the next year. higjt from 6 inches to 15 inches.
Astilbe, nice leaves, green, bronze or greyish, flowers are Red, white/Cream, or pink with hight about 12 to 15 inch, die in winter, back in spring.
Digitalis, (foxgloves) tall about 2/3 feet, green leaves, bell shape flowers come in, Pink, yellow, copper, white, purple. die /come back spring.
Helleborus, (Christmas Rose) lovely leaves and colour/markings, about 12/18 inch tall, many different shapes and colours of flowers that have lovely spots on the flowers, flowers die off, but greenery will stay in our climate all year.
Cyclamen, A corm/bulb, very dainty, nice leaves/paterns, flowers pink, white, purple cream. dies down after flowering but comes again EARLY spring, about 6/8 inches, dont bury tubers.bulbs too deep, only just cover them.
Bergenia, good leaves, all sizes/colours, flowers pink, purple white/cream, about 8/12 inches will spread over the years.
Primula, all sizes, colours and shape of flowers from pompoms what we call Primroses yellow, purple, white.small to tall.
Rhododendrons, shrubs, some will grow in your part shade garden, nice evergreen leaves, flowers all colours from white, red, yellow pink etc,
as your garden is small, go for ones that wont grow higher than say 3 feet. you need an acid soil for them OR add acid compost to planting hole when you plant, get this from garden center.
Mahonia, shrub. evergreen, has leaves like Holle but not prickley, you get some like rhodo's that dont grow too tall, has yellow flowers in spring and berries early summer, birds like them.
Hydrangia, shrub, can get tall, but you prune back each year early spring, looses the leaves in winter, flowers when faded can be used indoors for arrangements or sprayed gold/silver for Christmas, flowers are blue, pink, red, white/cream,
Lonicera, (Honeysuckle) climber (trellis) flowers are perfumed, but you will have to look for fragrant type as all dont smell, flowers white/cream, pink/red orange/cream, dont prune or you will cut off the next years flowering stems, can grow tall and ramble, but not for a good few years will it become too big.
Camellia shrub/small tree, like rhodo's like acid soil, flowers EARLY spring before the leaves, lovely flowers and shapes/ pink, white, cream, some with coloured eye inside flowers, takes care of it's self like rhodo.
I think that is enough to get you started as there are lots more you could choose.
If you have laid ground cover material under your gravel, you will need to cut crosses where you want to put plants in, SCRAPE AWAY THE GRAVEL FIRST, dig out the hole, put in some plant food mixed in with your compost and put plant into this, tuck groundcover fabric under and bring gravel back upto about inch aeay from stem, water well for the first few months, till the plants settle into your climate and position. Good idea is to lay your plants out in the position you think you want, then if it looks ok, just dig them in where you placed them, this way it gives you a chance to move them about till you are sure and you dont end up with holes you dont need.
Hope this is of some help to you and gives you a good start. so good luck. WeeNel, Scotland UK.

cheers that will keep me occupied.......phew