BEAUTIFUL BOUNDARIES

AN EXPERT OFFERS TIPS ON REVAMPING YOUR BORDERS WITH ARIOT OF COLOUR. BY

HANNAH STEPHENSON

Are you fed up with your boring boundaries edged with high-maintenance, low-interest planting? Fear not, because your borders can all be perked up with amixture of the right easy-care shrubs that will provide flowers and fruit.

So says gardening expert and writer ValBourne (right), who maintains that using amixed planting of ornamental shrubs will require less work than aformal hedge and give you plenty of colourful interest too.

“If you use deciduous plants, the woody canopy will allow light though once the leaves fall. In winter,the woody roots will help to drain the soil, allowing you to underplant with easily grown spring woodlanders, such as pulmonaria, primroses, hardy ferns and hybrid hellebores.

“The overhead canopy of branches will protect the ground from the worst of the weather,be it drought, frost or heavy rain.

“More importantly,woody plants provide awinter framework, just when many plants have retreated underground. Their presence adds another element to your garden –structure,” says Bourne, garden expert at Hopes Groves Nurseries (hopesgrovenurseries.co.uk)

Late performers

The upright Viburnum xbodnantense ‘Dawn’will provide flowers from late-autumn until March or April, she advises.

“The small clusters of pink flowers arehighly fragrant during November,whenthey bear astrong hyacinth scent. They continue to floweronce the leaves fall, whenever the weatheriswarm enough, ending in afinalspring flourish. This shrub doesn’t do arazzle-dazzle, sock-it-to-you display. It just drip feeds the flowers in, whenever the weatherallows.”

Winter honeysuckle (Lonicerafragrantissima), will always givesome January flowerinmilder winters. “The small, ivory-white flowers sustain early-flying honeybees, so this will need pruning in early spring, otherwise you’ll be cutting off latent flowerbuds,” she says.

“I’dalso add Abelia xgrandiflora, because it provides late-summer autumn flowers. There arevariegated forms, such as ‘Confetti’ and ‘Kaleidoscope’, but the plain-green leafed form sets off the clusters of pink buds and pale-peach flowers really well.

“If you do go for avariegated form, cut away any shoots that revert backtoplain green. Youcan’t fail to notice the cinnamon-brownstems too, afeature of this twiggy shrub in winter.”

Seasonal additions

“As summer days arrive, you could experience the lemon-scent of amock orange named Philadelphus ‘Belle Étoile’. This is my favourite philadelphus, because each single white flowerhas asoft-purple blotch framing aboss of pale-yellowstamens

“Thisarrangement stops the flowers from looking glacial and, as many a gardener will tell you, clear-white is the most difficult colour to deal with under the summer sun. If you do, add plenty of green foliage, or place it in dappled shade to soften it.”

Likeall mock oranges, ‘Belle Étoile’will tolerate poor,dry soil, so it’slikely to thriveinthe drier summers we’re tending to get now, she anticipates.

Flowers amid foliage

Trytoinclude some evergreen structure, although be awarethat evergreens tend to be less hardy than deciduous plants, Bourne advises, so may need some shelter

“Everyone, in my opinion, should havethe brilliantly architectural Mahonia xmedia ‘Winter Sun’for its November flowers. Each gently arching stem is topped by aradiating cluster of paleyellowfingers of fragrant flower, underpinned by prickly foliage.

“It can tolerate quite alot of shade and still flowerwell, although the architectural framework needs space to shine. When planting aboundary edge, position your plants ametreaway if that’s possible.”

You’ll also get asweet perfumefromthe ivory-white flowers of Osmanthus xburkwoodii, alarge evergreen shrub capable of flowering in relatively shady areas, she suggests.

“The privet-likegreen foliage and clusters of tubular white flowers, evenly spaced along cinnamon-brownstems, area compensation in early spring. It will flowerearlier in abrighter position, and many add some snowdrops at the base.”

If you havea sheltered side to your boundary and enough space for abillowing, flowering evergreen, Mexican orange blossom, or Choisya ternata, will produce most of its white flowers in spring, followedbyanautumnal flush, Bourne adds.