Suitable Plants for Back Garden

Looking for help from anyone green fingered.

I am going to get my garden planted in a couple of weeks. Instead of getting landscaper to do it, am going to just get two people to dig the flower beds and do the manual work, whilst I have to organise the plants/skips/soil/etc.

I am looking to plant maybe more kind of evergreentype plants like phormiums/yuccas/etc. Anyone know anywhere that would stock these type of plants at a good price. A lot of landscape suppliers just give you the basic type of shrubs you get, say, in an industrial park and I dont want to get these. I also keep going for spiky looking plants and dont want to overload on these also.

Anyone any ideas of which type of plants look well in such a planting scheme? Has anyone planted a Tree Fern, am also thinking of getting one of these.

Types of plants I am looking at include, Yuccas/Phoenix/Silver Spear/Phormium/cordyline/Banana Tree. Any pro's or cons or any of these. Any recommendations for shrubs which would match in.

Also, anyone any experience of using Bamboo for screening (am thinking of getting clumping Bamboo as a screen at the end of my garden)

base your planting on the location of the garden, place sun loving plants in the sunniest parts of the garden and use shade loving plants in northern facing areas...check the labels of the plants for this information.
Azaleas are loveley but check if your soil is suitable.
Also remember to leave enough space between your plants, it might look bare at the start but give it a year and it matures quite quickly especially if you are planting phormiums.
Mix evergreen and decidious plants so that you have even colour through out the garden.
I find add stones (10-15mm) as a border with grasses and silver spears looks quite nice, a coloured stone like yellow sandstone is nice and bright to look at the winter rather than the traditional dull drive pebble stones and also adds contrast against the coloured spiked leaves of the phormium (go with as many varieties as possible to give different colours and shape).
Not a fan of the tree fern, always looks lovely in garden centres but it never does well usually in gardens.
Other shrubs which are nice and durable are dwarf cherry blossoms, fuschias (different perenial types are best), conifers of different shapes and colours for all year round colour.
Our neighbour has banna trees and there leaves get torn very easily and don't look nice so plant in a shaded area is best, nice for colour though but they get big so leave enough space.
If spending alot of money i wouldn't go to the big garden certrers (B&Q, Home base, Woodies etc)as you'll be ripped off, go to these first to get an idea of what they charge and then go to a local garden shop, I have noticed from my travels that plants a very expensive in lenster compared to munster, i visited one shop in kildare and they were charging 21 euros for a tiny phornium, where in cork i can get a plant 3 times the size for 8 euro's, i have heard of a place in tipperary that is supposed to be very good for price and plant variety and will travel, will get the name if interested.
Best of luck, but remember to make sure that you have the ground work done correctly first.

Thanks for that Johnny. Will bear that in mind when putting down the shrubs, etc.

Interesting about the Tree Fern, would go mad if it did not "take" in the garden, as very expensive.

Am buying all the plants from a wholesalers, so am saving a lot on the B&Q/Garden Centre prices. I know where you are talking about in Kildare (probably Johnstown) which is just across the road from me so the prices are stiff.

I have about €1-€1.5K to spend on plants so am hoping to get a fair bit for that.

If I were you, before buying anything, look at your garden at various times of day to see where exactly and when it is sunny or dark. Where is it dry and where is it damp and in shade?
Ask neighbour if possible about the type of soil or else buy a soil testing kit and test in several areas to find out if it is acid or alkaline soil.
Go to your local library and get some books on gardening. You will see photos and see where to plant and the care involved.
You have to think of the site( sunny or shade), the soil( acid, alkaline or neutral, chalky, loam, sandy or clay), type of plant( annual, perennial, shrub, tree) , the level of gardening and care that you want to do, and if you make the right choices then you will save money and have the garden you want for years to come.
Take your time, with Ireland's climate, you can plant almost all year round and best to know what you want and know that it suits your situation and lifestyle than rush headlong into planting.

You don't say what size garden you're talking about, but unless you have 1/4 acre plus I would definitely leave phormiums off the shopping list. Also it would help to know what aspect your garden has.

If it were me, I would pop off to the local library or book shop and pick up a few books with lots of pictures and hopefully get a few ideas. I enjoy gardening but sometimes forget about regular maintenance tasks like pruning and then get grief about the triffids growing in our suburban garden. Honestly, I get amazed how big plants can grow in a short time period (provided you don't want them to!), and how small some plants can stay when they are supposed to be (expensive) highly visible specimens!

Thanks all. There is not that much to dig out, I am only putting plants in the beds around the edge of the garden and the beds go around in a circle widest point about 3-5 ft.

Garden has a south easterly aspect, so good sun. Very small suburban garden, probably about 40 ft long x about 45ft wide.

Have done a fair bit of research already in two ways, got the plants listing from the wholesaler then went to one of the bigger garden centres to see what some of the plants were. Also googled some more on the net, to see if they would be suitable for the aspect.

A friend who knows I am getting the garden done has bought me a Wollemi Pine, I was going to plant it as a specimen tree, but when I researched it, they can grow huge and are not suitable for a small garden, so I am going to put it in a container on the Patio.

Thanks for all the advice, will let you know how I get on.

Just one comment on the phormiums. I love them and have at least half a dozen in my garden which is normal sized town garden. The ordinary green ones grown huge but the ones I have are all varigated, yellows stripes, reddish colours etc, there is a huge choice of coloured ones, these dont grow that big at all. Some of them are planted up to 15 yrs and are no more than 3ft high maybe. So I wouldnt rule them out, they are very striking plants and some beautiful colours.

MandaC said:

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A friend who knows I am getting the garden done has bought me a Wollemi Pine, I was going to plant it as a specimen tree, but when I researched it, they can grow huge and are not suitable for a small garden, so I am going to put it in a container on the Patio.

Click to expand...

Yikes, that's a bit of a waste of a Wollemi pine isn't it? Aren't these rare and expensive trees? Is it better to give to someone who can allow it to grow to full capacity?

My other suggestions:
Plant a fruit tree such as an apple tree.
Use plants or shrubs which can thrive - some of the more exotic plants, may not die but simply don't thrive in our climate.
Plant some vegetables or herbs

I hope your garden grows and gives you lots of pleasure!

Yes, Wollemi Pine are very rare and expensive. Plant came with its own certificate, etc, so had an idea it was expensive. It was a Gift, so am happy to keep it as it is a lovely little tree. I looked up the website for them and apparently they are quite happy in pots.

Am going off some of the exotic plants now, because they need coverage from frost, etc
Went to the garden place at lunch time to start my list, but just my luck it lashed and I had to come back!

Here are some suggestions that worked for me. Fatsia Japonica has big tropical leaves and is growing very well under cypress trees in its south west facing position. Abutilon has varieagated leaves and an orange bell flower. Thrives in its very sheltered west facing spot. This is a delicate shrub, I think. Cordyline grows into a nice fairly tall tree and can be underplanted and provides a nice contrast to other shapes. I have a beautiful camellia in a pot in a north facing position. Great to see flowers in winter. That needs an ericaceous compost. If your garden is not suitable for camellias you could dig a large hole and put in a large black sack (punctured with drainage holes) and fill that with ericaceous compost and put a camellia or azalea in it. My sister and her husband got a load of fruit trees from Lidl last year. They've the space for them and they're thriving.