Hi there!
I'm looking to plant a shrub/bush/small tree either side of our (north facing) front door. I'd prefer evergreen, and something with flowers/variegated leaves/fragrance so it keeps year round interest and doesn't look too depressing in the winter time! I was thinking of something that won't grow too fast or try and spread too wide - perhaps a Camellia or a dwarf Rhododendron...
And I was wondering if anyone else had any advice or experience? Many thanks in advance!
As I do not know where you live, look for shrubs with the darkest leaves. The darker the leaves, the less light they need to survive and thrive.
When I think of plants to go next to a north facing door, I would want something that can survive killer -9 degrees C frost in June and can survive in a desert when the +40 degrees C heat of late January arrives.
I'm only in Lancashire! About 500ft above sea leel albeit.
Your best bet is to talk to a local nursery that will have stock for your climate. You might also try a local garden club or society for advice.
Without seeing a photo of the space you have allocated for planting it's near impossible to suggest a particular plant, but if your space is small there are many dwarf evergreen shrubs/trees... often a rock garden of small conifers is suitable and low maintenence.
The newsgroup uk.rec.gardening is probably the best place for you to ask your question. Most of the posters to this group are from outside the UK. In fact I can't think of any regular poster here who is lives in the UK.
:o Oh! I wasn't expecting that as the website address is .co.uk! Oh well :P Thanks for your time!
You are accessing a worldwide usenet newsgroup via a UK web portal, hence your confusion.
More-or-less right, although even uk.rec.gardening has been pretty quiet recently! There are one or two UK posters here - I find it quite interesting to see the problems others have in parts of the world with different climates. I don't remember any other posters from outside the US, though, and most of those seem to be from the SW or NE states. Anyone ever seen a query posted from Alaska?
It's remarkable that someone from gardenbanter even replied. Usually they just take our advice and run.
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