Herbaceous Borders
December 2009

I have a love hate relationship with herbaceous borders. I love them in the summer in full flower and ignore them in the winter when it has a dead appearance. That is the problem.

Once you get to late autumn they die and you are left with decaying foliage and bits of stalks. As for leaving the debris to look good in the frost it is not on. Firstly we seldom get good frosts nowadays and, for my money, apart from agapanthus, dierama and a few others, most seed heads look awful in winter.

My solution is to have a mixed border with small shrubs, perennials and loads of bulbs to give a year round display.

The secret is to give each plant sufficient space to grow and make a show. Avoid planting plants that are aggressive eventually swamping less robust species. Those that readily seed such as verbascum and foxglove can be a curse quickly becoming weed-like.

Winter flowering heathers, Christmas box (Sarcococca confusa) and early flowering dwarf bulbs mixed with the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) will see the border in a good light right through the winter.

To prevent double planting and damage make sure to mark the position of bulbs that will have disappeaed by late spring. A layer of coarse sand or horticultural grit will warn you that the space is occupied.

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