Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Barb wrote:
I have a patch of garden, 3m by 1.1m in front of my house.
Following
ruthless pruning back of rampant lavendar last autumn, it's gone
to
weeds this summer.

I'd like to dig it all out, put in some new compost and plant a
few
low-growing (1m or less) shrubs to fill it. The situation is
south-facing, i.e. sunny, dry and fairly exposed, and I would like
to get it reasonably maintenance-free.

Don't bother with new compost. Try rosemary, thyme, helianthemum
('rock rose') or, for larger plants, sage, cistus ('sun rose') etc.
They all like poor soil, excellent drainage and sun. Given that,
they are all very tough - and several are useful. All can be cut
back as necessary.

Oh, and you can add winter savory and hyssop, plus many others.

Nick's right about no new compost. If you don't fancy his herbs etc,
it sounds to me like a natch for ericas: long-lived, tough as old
boots, winter-flowering, no maintenance. I'd plant them in groups of
five or six of the same variety for best effect. They don't in my
opinion, mix very well with other plants in the same bed, though I've
grown them with old-fashioned pinks round the edge for summer flowers
and scent, and liked the result. You have to renew the pinks every
three years or so for best results: this is easy, but may seem more
of a task if you're not a big gardener.

--
Mike.