If you want a garden border that’s as effortless as it is spectacular—resilient through heat, drought, and deluge—there are four key plant groups to focus on: base layer plants, boisterous blooms, billowing balloons, and bold bones. The secret lies in choosing the right plants for the right place, that will play well together. When planning your borders, move away from piece meal planting and adopt planting in droves, envisage a broader landscape. This method allows for tighter planting and provides more ground cover, reducing the demands of feeding, dividing, and watering.
At the heart of it all is your base layer; the essential foundation of tough, unfussy plants that quietly get on with the job. Think low-growing perennials, hardy grasses, and ferns that knit together over time, creating an ever-improving carpet of green and bloom. Here are our top 20 stalwarts, plants that spread, soften, and anchor your border with unbeatable colour and texture year after year.
If you want a garden border that’s as effortless as it is spectacular—resilient through heat, drought, and deluge—there are four key plant groups to focus on: base layer plants, boisterous blooms, billowing balloons, and bold bones. The secret lies in choosing the right plants for the right place, that will play well together. When planning your borders, move away from piece meal planting and adopt planting in droves, envisage a broader landscape. This method allows for tighter planting and provides more ground cover, reducing the demands of feeding, dividing, and watering.
At the heart of it all is your base layer; the essential foundation of tough, unfussy plants that quietly get on with the job. Think low-growing perennials, hardy grasses, and ferns that knit together over time, creating an ever-improving carpet of green and bloom. Here are our top 20 stalwarts, plants that spread, soften, and anchor your border with unbeatable colour and texture year after year.