Ivydene Gardens Plants: Introduction

When selecting plants, if you have a major pest eating your plants like a rabbit, then you may like to know which plants a rabbit is not too fond of, so the Rabbit-Resistant plants list may assist.

If a plant is polinated by a bee, then it is not wind-pollinated. This means that the plants mentioned in the Bee-Pollinated Plants List will be suitable for people who suffer from hay fever.

If neither of the above is required then for an easy maintenance garden, one could choose all your plants from the Groundcover List. A groundcover plant is defined as one that the ground is covered over the full area of the plant's width, to reduce the likelihood of weeds growing under it's canopy. This reduces maintenance on that area, especially if the area has a 4 inch(") deep organic mulch over it after planting (Spent Mushroom Compost and Uncomposted Bark last the longest; your Council Recycled Green Waste, Composted Bark and Cow Manure will provide excellent Soil Conditioner but a very short longevity as a mulch - 2 months). If a Landscaping Fabric is laid on the prepared ground, cross-shaped cuts made where plants are required, plants planted through those holes, and pea-shingle put on the Fabric afterwards, then this leads to the least maintenance, but this then excludes bulbs from your planting scheme.

It is advisable to try and keep as much of the mature tree/shrubs that you already have in your garden as a framework to start with. This framework also makes the garden look mature in a shorter time after all the rest of the soft landscaping has been done.

It is then usefull to have your choice of tree/shrubs which are from 2 to 6 feet in height in a small garden with perhaps 2 or 3 above that height in a larger garden as your main framework structure. So according to the Garden Style that you have chosen, you can select from the lists in the Top Fruit Tree/ Evergreen Tree/ Evergreen Shrub/ Conifer/ Deciduous Tree/ Deciduous Shrub pages.

• It is usefull not to have all evergreen or all deciduous plants in your garden, perhaps 1/3 evergreen to 2/3 deciduous.
• Most leaves are green. Up to 10% of either yellow-variegated green or white variegated green foliage plants can be part of this mix to provide contrasting colours with perhaps 2 or 3 purple foliaged shrubs. See Non-Green Foliage list.
• It is not wise to have multicolours of foliage, which would tend to make the garden look like it was christmas tree decorations!!!
• You may find it usefull to make separate beds into winter, spring, summer or autumn interest in foliage change and/or flower colour and/or fruit-berry production.
• It is good to have 3 or a greater odd number of each groundcover plant to prevent a dotted plant effect.
• Put primary colours near the house and pale pastels away from the house in terms of foliage or flower colour to improve the apparent length of the garden.
• It is usefull to have scented flowers and aromatic foliage close to the house and paths.

Having chosen the main framework of shrubs/trees/top fruit trees, then one can use the groundcover plants to plant between them or a selection from the following to fill the space between:-

• Soft Fruit Shrubs/Climbers
• Evergreen Ferns and Deciduous Ferns,
• Evergreen Perennials and Herbaceous Perennials,
• Evergreen Shrubs and Deciduous Shrubs,
• Herbs,
• Fruit Plants,
• Vegetables,
• Sub-shrubs,
• Alpines,
• Annuals,
• Biennials,
• Grasses,
• Bamboos,
• Conifers
• or put in Bedding Plants

and follow this with the:-

• Bulb,
• Rhizome
• Tuber

layers to fill in the blank colour seasons not fulfilled by the groundcover plants or main framework plants, before covering the house walls, garden walls and fences with:-

• Evergreen Climbers, Deciduous Climbers and Soft Fruit

Then, use the following diagram to create a suitable list of plants for that one section of your garden:-

Now, it is up to you which ones from the list - you have created - to choose for the final planting plan.

The plants in the list pages are further detailed in the Plant Name - A-XYZ pages and their garden maintenance requirements in the Pruning page.

The Plant Galleries, including Wild Flowers, show colour photos of some of the plants detailed in this Plants Section and others which are not.

Have Fun!