Many months ago I ordered a load of books including The Modern Garden by Jane Brown, of which I accidentally ordered 2 copies. Sending it back is pointless, as you lose out twice on shipping and by the end recoup only little.
So I had an idea. RB and I decided to dig up a large bed that was filled with old-fashioned shrubs and plants, and generally looked tired. Much of it was tall as well, which blocked the view of the garden below from the house.
We are now debating what to plant in the bed. We want to limit the plants to 1-metre in height, and we would ideally like to have 3 to 4 varieties that are multiplied across in quantities of 10 to 20. The soil is fairly heavy, a bit on the acid side, well drained and gets full sun all day. We are in South East England.
Some plants we like include: gaura, masterwort/astrantia, japanese anemones, bugbane (although perhaps not suitable for site/soil we like the effect), culver’s root, spurge/euphorbias, and groundcover like pachysandra, all of which don’t really marry very well. It wants to be contemporary. We loved the Laurent-Perrier 2008 show garden at Chelsea Flower Show for example.
So here’s the deal: we need some ideas! Preferably ideas with links or photos. You can post your ideas in the comments section and if you want to follow up with photos send them to mail at themoderngardener.com (replacing at with @).
The person sending the best advice will be sent the book as a prize, and as a thank you. The advice will also be featured in a follow-up post on this website.
Good luck!
