My garden is currently a rather muddy blank canvas. I have planted some bulbs so far but would like to have some bushes/ shrubs/a mini tree to attract birds as it’s basically bare fences. The neighbours had a tree but the council cut it down. The problem I have is that my soil seems to be very thin – only about 6 inches so I don’t think much will grow other than some flowers. So I was thinking I could have some plants in large pots and wondered if you could recommend anything. I’m a very new gardener and can’t do heavy digging due to chronic illness and pain. But I can manage to move empty pots and fill them ( slowly )with soil. The only thought I’ve had so far is a blueberry plant. It’s basically fenced on all sides. The right hand side fence is higher than the very low left hand fence. It’s not a very big garden and I hate how it looks at the moment so any advice welcomed.
by Blubell0422
3 Comments
Oh my gosh I meant bushes. Autocorrect got me and I can’t edit the title can I? Oops.
Blueberry plants will need a special type of soil called ericaceous so put them in a pot with that.
Amelanchier trees might cope with these conditions and they have year-round interest and are good for wildlife. A damson tree could probably manage it too.
If you have the resources to get raised beds in (maybe buying the ready made ones) then that would be a good solution for you and they need you to bend less to tend them.
I’d recommend you put at least one climber in. A climbing rose against the fence maybe. Or you could do annual climbers for seasonal variety.
I’d suggest you think about cutting away the turf in patches and planting something that will cope better than grass in these conditions. I wonder if butterfly weed, Bergenia, stonecrop, and viburnum would manage water logged shallow soil.
some ideas:
hebes, mahonia, rowan, salvias, silverberry, maybe gooseberries would do ok
some mahonia get quite big and tree like