Help! I need some ideas!

Karen just to get you thinking,
do you want evergreen or deciduous,
Flowering? If so when
All year round colour or specific
Bone hardy or not quite......

Just a few points that may help you disregard shrubs.........

It will be interesting to see what, other heads, think.....

mahonia comes to mind for your shady bit. You can keep it to a reasonable size if you prune it after it flowers. Escallonia comes in white, pink and red and is also an evergreen. It can be allowed to grow in to a large bush or kept clipped could go either side of the mahonia. Skimmia and peiris are shorter evergreens. I'm sure you will get lots of suggestions. I had just suggested you put it up as a question but you were there before me.

Mahonia charity is lovely as the flowers and the scent are very early,m viburnum dawn is another favorite because of the lovely scent.......there are so many nice shrubs......
Weigela josephs coat as well.....

Hi Pam - I don't really mind having deciduous as we're never around that side of the house in winter. There's a deciduous persimmon right down at the beginning of that border where it gets some sun.

It would be nice to have flowers, unless the foliage is particularly attractive...

...must be hardy, though...had enough of all that malarky, now! lol!

I'd love to hear your ideas! :))

I love the look of mahonia, Sg - but it may be too close to the path for comfort...if you know what I mean! I've already moved my pieris from the front garden to that border - just to the left of the choisya as you look up towards Apollo...

...but, escallonia is definitely worthy of consideration... Thanks! :))

I,ve ribes pink ones planted with spirea bridal wreath both bone hardy and easy to prune and look lovely growing together, for bone hardy winter colour I like the euonymus emerald'n gold / emerald gaiety they are always a splash of light and a backdrop for perennials

Many thanks! I'm writing all of this down!! :))

Keep going!!

And what about up in the sunny bit?? :))))

Wish I had enough knowledge to give to some ideas - moving Apollo centre so creates a 'vista' through the arch would be good I think. Maybe if you could plant something dark and evergreen behind him to make him stand out.

Most of the suggestions will grow happily in the sun, the eonymous will keep their variegation better in a sunny spot.

Bamboo ? Red robins

Apollo is standing on a gravel section up there, Scottish. Where I'm thinking of putting the azalea pot garden!
Wouldn't he look nice with a couple of camellias in pots either side of him, though?? (oh, but another day... lol!) :))

I'm a bit afraid of bamboo, Paul...I had some before and it tried to grow up through the kitchen wall...! lol

But red robins are nice! thanks, Paul :))

I'm thinking about that skimmia now, Sg, for the shady border...I can probably get that this morning...along with viburnum, Pam. Thank you both for those ideas :))

And well!! I have lots of food for thought now with the photinias and euonymus and that escallonia, J.

I really like the ribes and the spiraea too, Pam...

...but I'll have research them all to make a decision as they'll have to be a special order!

I must say, I think Apollo would look good with photinia (one of those new ones) beside him and the wisteria behind...

Many thanks again Pam, Sg, J and Paul...I think you've solved my dilemma! :))))

lol Karen - good roots then :D

Just hope that I can get some of them this morning!!! :D

laurels are another choice, pyracanthas, pittsosporums, Griselinia littoralis which is a lovely lime green hardy fast growing evergreen too

I've got aucuba in there now, Paul, and a half dead pittosporum...Griselinia looks interesting though! :)

Have to go see what I can get at the market this morning! Be back later and tell you! :)))

I just had a thought of something curling around apollo's feet and twining its way up and around the lower part of the statue......a strictly controlled vine?? Or a non invasive climber.......

Another thought for behind him could be Actinidia kolomikta, its a deciduous shrub grown for its leaves, its the one where the ends of the leaves look to have been dipped in paint

Its lovely and bright here this morning......hope it lasts

Aucuba are great - love spotted laurels very much!

Chaenomeles, flowering quince, come in many colours. Your idea of camellias in pots is a good idea but they do grow quite big so it would need to be big pots. Evergreen azaleas would do the same job but still let you see the wisteria.

Just back!

Did get a little bit side-tracked, though...lol!

I got an unusual weigela (not sure for where yet!) and a new variety of hydrangea for the shady border (they seem to do quite well in this garden), who's name I don't know - just purpre/blanche was all she could tell me.

I'm just waiting for a delivery of a very nice viburnum for the shady area and two spectacular climbing roses (I know-not part of todays plan!).

Then, I'm back off out to collect a skimmia and order up one (or maybe two) pink marble photinias!

Now thinking about that curling up around Apollo...maybe a mandevilla or plumbago, which could be sunk in a pot and taken in in the winter?

It all sounds wonderful Karen

Unfortunately the bright start...went.....and now we,re back to grey and wet or very grey and very wet......

Ah...we're due it tomorrow, Pam... :(

Think you're right about those azaleas, Sg...just need to wait a week or two!

Can't wait to see this develop.

I did buy a slightly expensive archway this afternoon too...must to get it in the ground with the roses on it before OH gets home on Friday...!

Are you going to try and persuade him that you have fairies at the bottom of the garden. You won't just be on a budget you'll be getting stripped of all cards, cheque books and access to bank accounts too. I was lucky when I was building the garden because OH was too busy to notice how much I spent. Now he comes round garden centres and nurseries spluttering at the prices. I try and steer him along the road of how much added value we have, considering everything is so much more expensive nowadays. I'll be praying for dry days so you can get on with it.

Lol! I'm just going to show him the photos of what it was like when I got home...and get him to barrow all the dead cordylines and traccycarpus to the tip! I can't even lift them. And whilst he's about it he can fill all the big holes that they came out of...

...So if it's all looking pretty good when he gets here, that should keep things reasonably quiet on the budget front...for now anyway...!

Just catching up K...you've had a good day's shopping! Getting OH to do all the hard graft will give him something else to moan about rather than focusing on your much needed, gorgeous, spectacular additions to your garden.
Everything you have decided sounds great - I hope you are not blaming me for the azaleas :))))
I went along to the GC yesterday to buy a tree protector for the Kilmarnock Willow - Chip was using it as his new scratch pole!! - ended up buying a little preformed pond - what the hell I'm going to do with it - goodness only knows but watch this space!

Aha! Scottish...a spot of impulse buying yourself, eh?!!
I'm sure it won't take you long to decide where to put it!

Then you'll probably like the most expensive water lily in the garden centre, and some really nice things to grow around the pond...you'll have to have a couple of really pretty fish, then a lovely wee fountain feature will catch your eye...then you'll have to have something to sit on so that you can just sit and look...lol! That's what you're going to do with it! I will enjoy watching this space - have fun! ;))))

Lol! I'm not blaming you for the azaleas...I think it was a conspiracy...! ;)))

ENOUGH!!!!! I'm already trawling through garden pond sites!!!! Can't make my mind up where I want to put it - or where best to put it!! Do not want fish - it's not deep enough for them - that's a bonus :)

Not too sunny or it goes green. Or under trees.......or in the autumn you're forever fishing them out.......,
Just been watching the fish leaping across the pond....hope the heron isn,t watching......

Too sunny has been my big problem, Pam...hence the entire garden make-over, lol!!

I think you might, in the end, be seduced by fish, Scottish...they're so relaxing to watch...
...but don't get koi (however a bargain they might seem to be...like two for a fiver)...they eat everything!!!

...and, if you find a nice little stone seat - pass on the info! lol! ;)))))))))))

We,ve ghost koi in a pond on their own.....no plants...when its still you can here them sucking the weed off the sides of the pond.....
The,re quite intelligent in their own way and follow you as you walk past or come to the top splashing if they hear the kitchen door

I should have just came and asked you Pamg....you've just made my mind up - the shadier area it will be - thank you :)
K....I will not be tempted to get fish - trust me - she says!!!!!

OKAY!! I get it! lol!! :)))))))

Just read this and bet you have made your mind up/paid for the plants by now! Lol x

Done and dusted, Annie!! :)))

But, will be back for the 'fillers'! lol! :) x

3 days, not bad going hun :o))

I'm kn*****ed though...! :)
...but it had to be done before OH gets home on Friday, because he would have wanted 'input' and we all know what that means...quite apart from the 'budget' point of view! lol! ;))))

Sometimes a mans point of view is just too logical....

I've found that that depends upon what they're thinking about, Pam...

...sometimes...there's just no logic to it at all!!! :s

Scottish what would be nice is to encourage dasmsel flies they are so pretty, an electric blue, they need reeds or something tall and skinny to crawl down to lay their eggs......and next spring some frogspawn, Sanbaz has had a lot of troubles with her pond and I,m sure she,d love to share some tips with you

and....sometimes a man's point of view is just not what we need to hear :)))))

Lol! Wrong box, Pam! :))))

Thanks Pam - I will have a good hunt around here on GOY before I make any 'final' decision - it's not like it's going to be easy to move - so need to get best position first!! I'll pm Sanbaz to ask her to share her tips.
It's not big at all in fact the tiniest of ponds - so will need to be really vigilant in choosing the correct plants.

Sorry K...my pond is taking over your blog!

It's that, 'for logical, read blinkered' thing that gets to me!!!

I find the best thing to do...is to do what you do. Being an absent OH, he likes to have 'input', but he always loves whatever it might be, if it's presented as a 'fait accompli'! lol! :)))

I know!!! And I haven't even got to your pond yet! lol! :)))

Mines an engineer thinks cooking is a science... I think its an art......

Is he back at the minute Karen....or expected?

Mine's a 'sub-sea installations engineer', Pam, aka 'Ex-Deep Sea Diver'...and for that, read, 'Oily Dinosaur'...and think, 'Red Adair', (figuratively speaking)...need I say more??

These men hang onto the idea of home and want to have some place in it when they get back, occasionally...

He's coming home on Friday, Annie...for a few days...

Oooh, that sounds awful, now that I've read it back!!

Everything was fine...before...Nigeria!!!!

Just keep getting the budget every month Karen, there are always photos to remind you of him! .....lol only joking (sounds like maintenance to me but I'm happy with that one x)

Lol! Wheesht!...as they would say in Scotland!!! ;) x

You can always skype as long as he can get decent reception in Nigeria. It must be very hard but as long as he keeps coming back and you can visit the five years will so be a memory.

We do skype, Sg...but the reception is terrible at his end. It makes him look like something out of a horror film! lol!

He's in Aberdeen at the moment doing his survival course refresher and attending meetings...so, getting home for a few days is a 'freebie' on the company...doesn't use up leave or flight allowances.

Not long to wait to see him now. Hope you told him to bring you some bridies and butteries or are you not allowed to import food from uk.

Lol! The only foodstuffs Air France limit are French cheeses...and that's because of the smell in the cabin! :)

I took my little granddaughter to a French Market in Wiltshire and her eyes were like saucers. She loves cheese and she would have tasted every last one if I'd allowed it. My dad was in France during the war and exasperated my mother by insisting on adding jam or marmalade to every cheese sandwich he ate. I picked up the habit from him and still do it.

Gosh - that must be an old Scottish thing, Sg...my Grandad put jam on his cheese sandwiches too!

Fine dining at its best.

Am I too late to suggest a circle of lavendar around Apollo!

I have actually planted something not unlike lavender in appearance (silver and mauve), Grandmage - Teucrium fruticans...just waiting for it to settle and start spreading now! :)

I am also toying with the idea of patio roses in front of that...but not sure...

Knautia is lovely, Coreopsis is too! or hardy fuschias? Gaura is fab and lasts all summer. Roses are always a safe bet though!

Lol! Have got the coreopsis, fuchsias and gaura (another new one yesterday - beautiful)!

Will go and look at Knautia now...! :))

Sounds as if you are sorted! Lol

Never sorted, Grandmage..... LOL! ;)

I'm waiting until everything settles in a bit...then I'll post a pic of how everyone's ideas came together...I'm really pleased! :)

Lovely, look forward to it.

:)))