Higgs Boson wrote:
Brooklyn1 wrote:
dunchutch wrote:

I have decided to completely clear all plants from a very neglected
border and have got half way through pulling up what I can. I want to
plant some "easy care" plants in the spring and would like to know what
I should do now and over the intervening period in order to get the
border ready for planting. Please be aware I have very little cash so
please only give me cheap or free ideas!!

Also some advice on what to plant in the spring would be good (I live in
the north of england and my border is in semi shade).

How large a border, need measurements. *After clearing I would till in
lots of organic matter (compost) and then lay down a couple inches of
organic mulch (shredded pine bark). *Come spring rototill again and
add more organic matter, then plant. *What to plant really depends on
the physical size of the border.

It also HEAVILY depends on choosing plants that can handle .border in
"semi-shade".

We already know that, the OP indicated that he already knows that too,
see his last two words. DUH

There are plenty of plants that thrive in semi shade, that's the LEAST
important consideration. But first and foremost one needs to know the
size of the space so to chose plants with growing habits to match... a
border can be 6" wide, 50'+ wide, and everything inbetween. There is
no point to suggest planting understory trees in a 2' wide border,
especially if up against a structure. And most plants do well in
partial shade/partial sun regardless what the horticultural tag
indicates. I maintain a border between me and my neighbors that's a
40'-60' wide hedgerow that's more than 2,000' long, consists of
various size trees, many more than 60', 70', even 80' tall, many small
trees, shrubs of all sizes, grasses, vines, and whatever plants take
up residence, roses, ferns, mosses, lichens, more plants than I can
list here. And I do maintain it, section by section as time and
weather permit, mostly trimming with machete and loppers but I also
remove a lot of undesirable plants and put in a lot of new plants,
many are volunteer plants I find elsewhere about my property growing
where they don't belong, many are too valuable to pluck and toss so I
carefully move them to a better home, over this past summer I must
have moved about fifty conifer seedlings of various types from my
flower beds to my hedgerow. On a small property with a relatively
small border (which is what I suspect in this case) it's far more
important to know the precise size/placement of that border, or
substantial money can be wasted that the poster indicates he hasn't
much of.