On 26/04/2012 22:20, Jo wrote:
I am about to plant up a bare bed, around 10' x 3', against the front wall
of our house with some lavender. It's a fairly large bed and I'd like some
ideas as to what grow well with lavender in this west-facing bed. We have a
huge plinth on the front wall, around 18" high or more, so I'd like to plant
plants which grow high enought to cover this ugly black area!

Any ideas will be gratefull received.

You don't say what part of the country you are in, but assuming it's one
where lavender grows well, you could go for similar plants such as
rosemary and salvia. It depends on where you are as to which salvias
would be hardy enough to survive well all year round.
Other options include the lower-growing grevilleas and hebes. Most
berberis will be too vigorous (although there are some dwarf ones. Just
remember that there are no evergreen berberis which have non-green
leaves, if you want all-year round cover). Sarcococca might be clash a
bit with lavender, and are a bit on the slow side, but you would be able
to get a nicely-scented plant during winter, which is always a bonus.

--

Jeff