On 27/07/2011 18:59, kay wrote:
'Pete[_9_ Wrote:
;931266']We have had our pond filled in and intend to turn it into a
flower bed. It
is oval shaped, approx 20 feet long x 15 feet wide and am looking ideas
for
planting. My initial thought is to create a rose garden but wonder if I

should include other plants. It is the main focal point from the house
so I
am looking for lots of colour over an extended period.

The 20ft length runs North to South and is in an open position. We are
in
South Cheshire.

Would appreciate any ideas

Jeanne

Difficult to get "lots of colour over an extended period" with just
roses, even repeat flowering ones, so, yes, I would think you'd be
better including other things.

How high maintenance do you want this bed to be? That will feed in to
your overall approach.

A bed as large as this gives you space to go quite high, eg a small tree
and a couple of rambler roses grown up some support - this gives a
chance to extend the display by combining them with another climber to
give flowers in a different colour or at a different time.

My approach (and this is a personal thing) would be to go for
interesting foliage and let the flowers take care of themselves. And I
would be looking for colour particularly in winter, when you really will
be looking at this bed from the house rather than sitting out in the
garden. So I'd be thinking of, say, one of the really nice white barked
birch trees or a Prunus serrula with shiny red bark, a good Hamamelis to
be covered in yellow flower in early spring (not sure whether this likes
too sunny a position).

I'd have bulbs for early colour, while the ground is still relatively
bare and not shaded by trees and shrubs. And I'd make sure I had a good
berry display for autumn.

Once you've sorted out the miserable bits of the year, then it's a
matter of filling in for the summer display., even to the extent if
standing pots in any boring bits. The more of the ground you can cover,
the less weeding is needed, although I know this is a matter of taste -
a lot of people admire a garden of weed free earth dotted with brightly
flowered bedding plants.




I filled mine in last year, then sowed it with wild flowers, certainly
been a good show this year, don't know about next year yet.;-) worth
thinking about.

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire