Planting in summer for a year-round border

Have you got a border that just doesn’t work or needs planting so it hides an eyesore all year round? Well look no further!

Michelle, one of our outdoor team at Birchencliffe, has designed a border with 10 winning plants which are all available throughout summer.

Follow her easy layout guidelines and you can achieve a full, interesting and colourful display all year round!

Backdrop shrubs for fence or walls

1. Pyracantha (Firethorn) varieties are vigorous thorny evergreen shrubs with masses of creamy white flowers in the spring and coloured berries in the autumn

2. Jasmine Officinale (Common White Jasmine) has masses of sweetly scented white flowers during the summer months and is a strong growing twinning climber

Middle ground shrubs

3. Choisya ternata (Mexican Orange Blossom) Rounded habit evergreen shrub with sweetly scented white flowers in late spring early summer

4. Cotinus coggygria Grace (Smoke Tree) with its striking purple foliage and unusual smoke like flowers makes it a great plant for middle ground planting. Enjoy bright autumn colours to this deciduous shrub

Mid to foreground shrubs

5. Spiraea varieties like Little Princess with golden yellow foliage, turns orange prior to falling in the autumn

6. Potentilla varieties with masses of small individual flowers in a variety of colours will flower over many months during the summer

7. Lavender varieties (English lavender) are all scented and produce masses of spike like stems with flower clusters at the tips. Favourite colour deep blue or purple, scented foliage

8. Euonymus Emerald & Gold is a compact rounded, evergreen variegated shrub with golden yellow, green splashed foliage 

Foreground shrubs

9. Unicia rubra with deep purple evergreen mound forming grass makes a perfect foil to yellow or silver foliage plants

10. Calluna vulgaris (Heaths) are all acid loving plants so need lots of peat but are available in a huge variety of foliage colours and create mound forming evergreen mats, all have attractive flower spikes produced in the spring through to the autumn