Planting shrubs in September - which is best?

[summercat]

Hi guys,

Long story short I have been sorting out a garden for an elderly friend and there is a watch of soil which I weeded yesterday. I was just wondering if anyone could recommend what's the best shrubs I could plant there that will grow well this time of year? Ideally they will:

- Stop more weeds growing

- Be easy/low maintenance to look after

- Ideally be cheap too!

Any recommendations would be great. Also, what's the best place to get them from?

[David Hare-Scott]

need more clues.....

Where? Climate? Soil?

D

[echinosum]

September is a good time for planting most kinds of shrubs. However the point of doing so is to get them to establish their roots well now, before they grow properly in the following growing season. So unfortunately whilst it is a very good planting time, shrubs is not going to give you instant ground cover by planting this time of year.

If you want to prevent weeds growing over the winter until you get things going in the spring, the best thing would be black plastic or other weed-excluding fabric.

There are two kinds of ground covers really. There are low things, which you plant between your higher shrubs, and then there are taller blob-shaped evergreens, and which form a sufficient blob shape to stop other things growing underneath. For the lower ground covers, I have found things like vincas, epimediums very good, but they take a while to become established. Heathers are sort of intermediate, but also need time, perhaps even longer. For slightly higher things, many blob-shaped and prostrate evergreens such as christmas box, olearias, junipers and other "prostrate" conifers, fabiana prostrata, choisya, eleagnus, ligustrum, griselinia, evergreen viburnums, holly, etc, are very good at excluding things from growing under them. You can include some taller things in between, eg, phormiums, standard small trees. But remember when planting them initially you need to spread them sufficiently to allow for growth. To control weeds it may be best to grow them through small holes in weed-excluding fabric, which will eventually be concealed by the expanding plants.