Beckenham, London

My retired client approached me as, having had the front drive hard landscaped, she wanted advice on how to plant the narrow borders around it to provide a low maintenance but flower filled design. Shade tolerant plants have been provided to provide year round interest, starting with soft purple and pink Hellebores, moving on to scented Viburnum in spring, along with pink and white Tiarella, then Acanathus mollis providing spikes of colour in summer, followed by purple Liriope and Anemone in autumn complementing the pink berries on the young Rowan tree. Finally red berries on the summer flowering Viburnum are picked up by the red berries on the Skimmia before the whole year starts again.