Garden and Patio
Plant beneath Cornus canadensis is a herbaceous creeping dogwood that forms a dense mat of foliage and blooms beneath trees and shrubs, which can often be problem areas when it comes to what to plant. In the late spring, snowy white petal flowers form, surrounded by rich green leaves, and in the autumn, once the flowers have faded, these are followed by clusters of bright red berries. Galium odoratum, or sweet woodruff, is a valuable plant for a woodland setting and spreads quite rapidly with its underground rhizomes. Its sweetly scented clusters of star-shaped flowers in the spring are great for attracting bees.
Plant beneath Cornus canadensis is a herbaceous creeping dogwood that forms a dense mat of foliage and blooms beneath trees and shrubs, which can often be problem areas when it comes to what to plant. In the late spring, snowy white petal flowers form, surrounded by rich green leaves, and in the autumn, once the flowers have faded, these are followed by clusters of bright red berries. Galium odoratum, or sweet woodruff, is a valuable plant for a woodland setting and spreads quite rapidly with its underground rhizomes. Its sweetly scented clusters of star-shaped flowers in the spring are great for attracting bees.
Try a trailer Vinca minor (lesser periwinkle) will brighten up a shady spot and often flower – from spring well into autumn – where other plants won’t. Choose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ for a pure white form and, for a variegated leaf with violet-blue flowers, try Vinca minor ‘Ralph Shugert’. For a lovely deep-purple flower, opt for Vinca minor ‘Atropurpurea’. For a very vigorous, larger variety, choose Vinca major ‘Variegata’, which has big blue-violet flowers and ovate leaves margined with cream. For damp areas, choose creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’), a bright-green trailing foliage plant that has cup-shaped yellow flowers from June to August. This is a good plant for softening the edges of a pond and, as it grows rapidly, it will soon hide unsightly features, too.
Ajuga reptans is a great plant for shady areas of the garden and is usually grown for its evergreen foliage rather than the flower. However, in late spring/early summer, you’ll be delighted by the short spikes of deep blue-violet flowers. This plant makes a lovely low-maintenance ground cover and a nice choice would be Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’, which can also tolerate sunlight. Brunnera, the perennial forget-me-not, is another good plant for shady areas of the garden, flowering from April to June. Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ has a nice silvery mottled foliage with bright-blue dainty flowers. The mat-forming and evergreen Pachysandra Terminalis is also a great plant for shady areas. The plant, often also called Japanese spurge, flowers in the summer, producing upright clusters of tiny white flowers, but most of the year you are blessed with rosettes of dark-green leaves serrated at the edges. This plant does very well in areas of bare ground between deciduous shrubs and trees.
Using sweet-smelling, creeping thyme as a ground cover will help to attract bees, as well as create scented mounds to brush past. For a white form, opt for Thymus serpyllum ‘Snowdrift’. For a good bushy thyme often used in cooking, look for Thymus ‘Silver Posie’, which has white-margined leaves and pale-pink flowers. Thyme thrives in well-drained, dry, sunny positions, so make sure it doesn’t become waterlogged. Another good scented creeping plant often used in the place of a lawn is the herbaceous chamomile. The aromatic leaves form a dense mat, and daisy-like white flowers are produced in the summer. If planted in shady areas, the lawn will become patchy, so choose open, sunnier sites. Only trim the flowers in the late summer to prevent dead patches, and don’t walk on newly planted chamomile lawns for at least 12 weeks.
Let nature in Want a patio and a garden but don’t have enough room for both? A simple solution is to encourage the plants in your patio area to overgrow. Additionally, by allowing space for plants to creep between the crevices, you can create a beautiful space that’s surrounded by nature. Just ensure when laying the paving slabs that the stone is evenly placed to accommodate some patio furniture.
Nice wood floor tiles
Stone Walls framed looks nice
Built in seating
Natural looking stream
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