Starting a mixed border

Christopher Lloyd looks at planning and planting a mixed border

- Christopher Lloyd

RATHER than devote one border to shrubs, another to herbaceous plants and a third to annuals, I can strongly recommend those who are starting from scratch to combine the three in one by making a mixed border. By this condensing process there will be the greater likelihood of the one border being a good size, and I am not thinking of length so much as width from front to back. This, if a longish season of interest – say, three months – is going to be maintained without a ‘thin effect’ developing, should be 10ft (3m), while 15ft (4.5m) is not too much.

Narrow border, short season

If the border must be narrow, say, 6ft (1.8m), then one should aim for it to look really good for a short season of six weeks or so, and not worry too much about before and after. Annuals and herbaceous plants mainly contribute colour, while the bold and individual shapes of shrubs are the backbone to the scene. They will look pleasing even in midwinter.

The siting of the border should allow it to get a fair share of sunshine, but if part is shaded there are plenty of good plants that will welcome this condition, as long as ample moisture goes with it. Shelter is absolutely necessary; so is a dark background to show the flowers up and the two can often be combined. Evergreen shrubs such as yew or the quicker-growing Lawson’s cypress fulfil these functions best and they both respond well to clipping. There is, of course, no need for the border to be straight. Curves spell informality and the background will then most probably consist of a mixture of unclipped evergreen shrubs.