Greedo wrote:
'David Hare-Scott[_2_ Wrote:
;961730']Greedo wrote:-
Hi all, I've just moved into my first house and har a east facing
garden. On
The left of it I've built a raised bed, but having never owned a
garden before I'm unsure what to plant in my south facing bed, that
has sunlight from around 8am-midday.

Any tips?

Thanks a lot-

What is your climate and soil? It matters.

What do you want out of your garden and what are you prepared to put
into
it? Nobody can guess that from half a world away. You might want to
eat,
to play , to admire or just to sit, or some combination. You might
be prepare to work 4 hours a day or 4 hours a month. It matters.

David

I'm afraid this is all new to me, so you'll have to bear with. The
garden is east facing, and I have a raised bed that faces the south.
The sun shines onto the bed from (I've re-adjusted my times here) 8am
- 2pm.

I'm not looking to grow veg or fruit (I have a different bed for
that), nor am I interested in bedding plants (dislike having to
replace them every year). I'm after plants that I can plant, and will
last a long time.


You want perennial shrubs and ground covers then. Go to the local library
where you are likely to find several books that catalog common garden plants
describing their requirements, size, habit etc, often with pictures. The
same library may have other useful stuff, eg garden design and layout.

Along the back of the bed, I have planted some sweet peas, to grow up
Trellis' on my fence. I planted these mainly because I read they
attract bee's to pollinate my runner beans.

I live in Nottingham (midlands), UK. I'm afraid I have no idea about
what type of soil I have, although I have dug in 2 bags of compost
into the top foot of the raised bed. (the bed itself is about 2feet
tall)

I don't know what the climate is like in Nottingham so knowing you live
there isn't a great help and since you don't know about the soil it is hard
to make specific recommendations. You need to get some local knowledge from
a neighbour, gardening club or competent nursery. Look around the district
and see what does well. If you just gamble or take the word of the teenager
at the local retail outlet (same thing really) you may waste your time and
money as often the wrong plant will do very poorly or die.

D