Ideas please???

My good old standby would be euonymus 'Silver Queen' - evergreen variegated leaves and grows just about anywhere. When it has started to get established, plant a small clematis to clamber over it - I have one called 'Arabella' with purple flowers that has been flowering for months. Until then you could fill the front of the bed with primulas for spring colour and impatiens for the summer

I'm waiting to see what other plants GoYers tell you to put in as i've got a little tiny square thats always wet, so looking for some small bog plants.

Thanks for this Andrew, I need to try and dig it first. It is such a disaster zone really, my former partner who blocked part of my garden, filled it with rubble we couldn't find another space for, so as you might guess, it is a bit of a nightmare to get it anything like decent to plant in.......;o(

It's a pain when you have a bit of garden that is not very good isn't it Carol.

This made me think - a lot!

If this were me, I might try improving the drainage in that corner a bit, with some, but not too much, sharp sand. Then, I'd plant a few each of snowdrop and winter aconite, for early Spring colour. I would overplant with, say, a few small ferns and/or Vinca for ground cover/greenery/texture. In the centre of this corner I would have a planter with height, e'g. a chimney pot-style or vase-on-pedestal style. I would not palnt up this planter, but would grow brightly-coloured plants separately, in pots which will sit nicely in the proposed planter. Right now, the pink and white Cyclamens would look great here. Your "seasonal" pots for this planter could give you interest and colour for most of the year. Don't forget to have trailing plants round the edge of the planter - the above-mentioned ivy and Vinca could be on the list!

- Just my random ideas! :-)

Thanks David, all these ideas are great. I have to be careful as I do not have a lot to spend on it unfortunately........guess that's life!! It has always been a dreary little place, so I need to sort it out before the really bad weather turns up. It doesn't matter what you do with it, it moves and shifts and is never level due to the amount of water which runs down from the top of the garden when the weather is bad..............thanks again!

Hi Pam just a quick catch up , so I havent commented on all your pictures but Love Rosie and your Cockerel sculpture, I think David as made some good suggestions for your problem bed, I have just been planting Allium bulbs so a few of those could look good too!

Hi PP, I don't expect you to comment on them all LOL. I have just been given a Sambucus Nigra, never seen one and wondered what they are like, it sounds pretty. Wondered if that could go in there as it is a shrub and I am short of shrub space in the rest of my garden now, well, in fact, I don't really have space for any more :o( Wouldn't refuse it though!

I havent got Sambucus Nigra but from the I have seen it looks a lovely plant with very dark leaves and pretty pinkish flowers, the only thing is check on its size as I seem to remember they grow quite big.

I will, perhaps you are able to keep it at a reasonable size by pruning, I know nothing about it, better go and find out............LOL

Hi! The Sambucus nigra would swallow up and outgrow this area in a twinkling, so would not advise planting it here. If it is damp, bulbs, such as the Alliums, may just rot. :-((

Will keep my eyes open as I surf GOY

What is the plant in the pot at the back and the one in front ?
I would be tempted to put structure plant like a bamboo or tracky fortunia keeping them in there pots so you just dig the pot in

The plant in the pot is a Himalayan Honeysuckle, which I keep there in that pot. The shrub on its own is a Rhododendron and I have moved it now. I am just sorting out what to put in it. Thanks for your ideas. MB