Hi,
Since we moved into our new house its been non stop and all that is left to do now is the back garden. We had planned to leave it until next spring but after painting the fencing, I cant wait to make a border and plant something - it looks really miserable out there. I've decided to keep it simple, just putting in a few dwarf conifers, cordyline's and buxus whatever they call them - you know the little topiary's then covering with slate peices. What I want to know is, am I too late to be planting with winter frosts coming soon or will it be ok? Do you think this will look ok? I want it to look quite contempory and I don't really want to start planting flowers because pooch can't be trusted:rolleyes: I will put some nice colourful annuals around in pots and baskets out of his reach.

Hayley

Autumn is natures time for planting so I was quoted  by a gardening ex :rolleyes: eg. all the fruit & seeds are usually ripe in the autumn and plants will tend to self seed at this time too.

The slate chips will protect the roots from frosts anyway, so I can't see there being a problem. 

Autumn is the best time to plant as the plants roots get established before the hot weather comes so the need for watering in the summer is grately reduced.
you can plant even when it is frosty, as long as the gound isnt frozen past the top few milimeters, and the plants havnt been kept sheltered.
We get bare rooted trees in december and have been known to plant in the frosts!!!!!
We do try to leave planting untill this time of year.
So GO FOR IT :D
SOmething I will say, Dwarf conifers do not stay dwarf. You really do need to keep them trimmed.
TYhe amount of gardens where we go and the customer says they were bought as dwarf 10 years ago as we are looking at a 15' tree!!!!!!!
So keep that in mind!!!!!
And Buxus common name Box, needs trimming several times a year to keep them looking the same as when you bought them.
Oh and cordelines, IF there is a really bad winter, the type we havnt seen in this country for about 15 years, it can kill the cordelines.
Sorry you may already know all of this ;)
Cant say wether it will look ok though as dont know what your garden looks like, but cordelines and slate look good together (Done that a few times in gardens) and as long as they are not all packed together it should look fin :D
Have fun :)
Lea :)

My cordyline seems to be very hardy - it's been outside in a pot for 3 years and it's doing fine summer or winter.  My neighbour has one in the ground and it's massive, keeping it in a big pot seems to stop it growing too big.

CG

Thanks for the advice. Hmmmm, still undecided as to what to plant. I have a large cordyline that is in a pot - I've had it about 5 years. Will I be able to transfer this into the ground? I might ditch the conifers and get some ornimental grasses instead. The garden is a typical new build house garden - turfed with a pathetic excuse for a patio - about 5 horrid flags.

Hayley