The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Defining boundaries
John keeps his cool as he pushes the boundaries of summer gardening
A look at plants that will give your summer garden good borders – and a shady spot, too.
Shrubs are invaluable planted around garden perimeters to establish boundaries, give some privacy and – adjacent to patio areas – to shelter from winds.
However, this hot summer has seen us look for a shady and windy spot to keep cool away from the blistering sun – though this all changes when temperatures return to normal and we start to seek out a sunny sheltered spot.
Shrubs come in all sizes from ground cover Cistus to huge Philadelphus, Viburnums and Lilacs.
Some may be evergreen like the Ceanothus, smothered in blue blossom in early summer, and the Euonymus, which is grown for its colourful foliage in silver and gold rather than its flowers, but it is a great ground cover plant that stands out in a crowd.
Shrub roses were covered a few weeks ago, but must be included in a top selection of the best colourful shrubs.
For those gardening on dry soils or at a maritime location on sand Senecio, Cistus, Rosemary, Lavender, brooms (Cytisus), gorse (Genista) and many shrub roses will be happy to grow there.
Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias are late spring to early summer shrubs that prefer a more moist soil that retains moisture, but is still well drained and tends towards a more acidic nature.
Down at ground level the heathers (Erica and Calluna) are brilliant to cover
For those gardening on dry soils or at a maritime location on sand Senecio, Cistus, Rosemary, Lavender, brooms (Cytisus), gorse (Genista) and many shrub roses will be happy to grow there
ground and smother weeds, and are easy to maintain and most flower from early spring until autumn.
Hypericum calycinum is also great for ground cover, provided it keeps clear of rust.
A few good low-to-medium flowering shrubs will include the Potentilla, Senecio, Cistus purpureus and Silver Pink, Hypericum Hidcote, Hydrangea Charme and Helianthemums.
Where there is plenty of room try some of the larger shrubs like the white scented Philadelphus, Lilacs, Escallonia, Berberis darwinii and Buddleia.
Eucryphia, with a mass of white flowers in mid summer, is probably a small columnar tree, but can be a shrub size for many years.
Buddleia is another large shrub, but
is pruned to six inches from the ground every winter.
It can easily grow six to eight feet in one summer depending on the weather, and produces a large flower spike in a range of colours – though my favourite was always the dark purple Black Knight.
Fuchsia Mrs Popple normally grows up to five feet tall, but can get cut back to ground level in winter and nearly always recover, and put on good growth in spring.
By summer they are back to four feet tall and in flower.
Fences and walls are favourite places for climbing shrubs.
Solanum crispum has potato-like flowers and can be very vigorous.
It is very attractive in flower, but it produces berries that are highly poisonous.
Eccremocarpus scaber is an evergreen with orange tubular flowers.
It can be difficult to get established, but then becomes quite rampant.
Clematis and Honeysuckle need something to clamber up, and the honeysuckle has an outstanding perfume.
Clematis montana rubens puts on a fantastic show in early summer and just loves to scramble if space permits.