Help Needed!

Hi Gemma, it sounds as if you need some winter interest? there are some things that flower in the winter, and others that are evergreen that will also give you a good background or base during the summer. one i could recommend for both would be Mahonia, it's a really interesting plant with evergreen holly like leaves and it is coming into flower now - the flowers are bright yellow and have a nice scent and it is easy to look after. i have just planted one in my garden so feel free to check out my latest photos to see what it looks like. another would be Skimmia again it is evergreen and it has bright red flower buds on this time of year which open into pink or cream flowers again well behaved and easy to care for. if you want something that will get a bit bigger than these two you could try Witch Hazel which has really interesting bright orange or yellow flowers in the winter and early spring, but it does drop its leaves in autumn but before it does they turn a brilliant orange, and the flowers are far more visable on bare stems anyway - the leaves are quite attractive in the summer so this plant does give all year round interest, and is easy to keep, but the one draw back is it can get big and resents too much pruning, so it is best to only opt for this one if you have the space for it! if your not too fussed about flowers Aucuba is a good evergreen plant and you can get some lovely varigated varieties such as 'Variegata' or 'Crotonifolia' and one last reccomend would be Photinia beautiful red foliege easy to grow but will need cutting back every so often. - just a few of my favorites i have pics of them all in my garden feel free to have a look. hope this info helps.

Hi Gemma, really all depends on the size of your garden, the plants majeekahead suggests are very good, but if you only have a postage stamp to play with they will soon outgrow their situation.

Hi Gemma, What would also help is the area of the country you live in. For planting purposes, there are numbered zones which allow growers to select plants suitable for their area. If you are in the States, the Zone system is different from Canada's.

Thanks very much for getting back to me.

I live in Derbyshire in England and my garden is not very big, so anything which is going to grow madly probably wouldn't be any good. We also don't have any grass (I know it's getting worse!) so plant suggestions for potting/hanging baskets or to grow up fences/in between stone would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Gemma

not all of the plants i recommended would out grow a small garden, the skimmia is slow growing and not a huge plant, and the photinia and skimmia can be cut back to the size you want, the mahonia can get medium to large size but again quite slow growing and can be pruned its only the witch hazel that could be a problem in a small garden. but to be honest most plants will need some maintenence in my opionion there is no such thing as a maintenence free garden, but the things i have recommended would be low maintenence - just a bit of pruning once or twice a year. and would make a good background for summer flowing plants perennials and bedding ect. but if you would prefer smaller things that are evergreen in the winter you could go with Lavender, although it only flowers in the summer it is evergreen and easy to grow and maintain, there is also euonymus there are some lovely evergreen low ground cover varieties - but check which ones you are buying because there are also some large ones too! or the other one i have which is lovely this time of year is winter heather, you can get all sorts, colours sizes and flowering times easy to grow. and there is also winter bedding eg; Pansies, Viola, Cyclamen - all of which are small and can be grown in pots as well as in you flower beds.

sorry i ment to say that the Photina and Aucuba can be cut back to the size you want. lol

I'd say go for mahonia 'Charity' for winter interest. As majeekahead says, tehy're evergreen with interesting leaves and fragrant yellow flowers. This one is an upright variety so it won't take up much space and every few years, chop it back just after the flowers fade (that what I do with mine) and it doesn't mind at all. I take it down from 8 feet to less than half, just above a pair of leaves, so don't be afraid to be brutal

Sorry, majeekahead I missed the Skimmia.

Clematis cirrhosa - there are several varieties, including 'Freckles', 'Balearica' and 'Wisley Cream', are evergreen and flower in the winter/very early spring. Obviously you could plant other Clematis for different seasons, but these cirrhosa ones do brighten up the winter months!

Hi All!

Well what can I say! Thank you so much for all your feedback, it's great to hear from people who actually know what they are talking about! Andrew and I could have spent hours wandering around the garden centre contemplating different plant varieties - so now atleast I have a starting point! Thanks Again! Now our mammoth task is deciding where the plants go in our garden! I think we are going to sit down at the weekend and have a bash - that is of course after we have bought a real Christmas tree - another venture first of its kind which I am really looking forward to!! - beats the artificial one we have had in the attic any day!

Cheers

Why don't you buy a living tree Gemma? Decorate it for Noël then plant it out after the New Year! Two birds, one stone!

hollies would be very pretty with the red berries