Harold Davis wrote:
I live in a rural area on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, and there's a
piece of land that while it doesn't belong to me is kind of my
responsibility to keep kempt - a wide verge between my fence and the
road. Although there's no pronounced slope from side to side, it's
not flat and I don't want the bother of having to strim or mow it.

What fast-growing bushes might I sow there? Ideally I would like
something like wild fuchsia. There isn't a lot of it on the island,
as there is in parts of rural Ireland, but there is some. Gorse would
also be nice.

I'd be grateful for advice or suggestions. I'm looking for something

* that doesn't require tending or pruning

* that grows fast, perhaps to a height of 3-5 feet (although a shorter
height would also be OK - wild fuchsia is lovely, as is gorse, but
what's most important is ground coverage), and

* that either grows on the island wild already or is similar to
plants that do, or at least fits in with those that do, and

* that I can buy a big bag of seeds for for scattering by hand, or
alternatively if it grows already on the island, that I can gather
seeds for from existing plants growing wild.

Many thanks for any help with this.

I personally wouldn't have 50m by 4m of the same thing, why not plant gorse
(or broom which has been suggested) in 3 or 4 metre patches and infil 3 or 4
metre patches with wild fuchsia. Cuttings would be better for fuchsias
although they're not very fast growing, I'd put 20 or 30 cuttings in each
patch as some are bound not to take / survive.
Never grown broom or gorse so have no ideas on this.