Hi,
I have been grappling with a problem in my front garden for a while now. I have a reasonably flat garden bed. The first row is Callistemon 'Little John' (bottle brush). I then have a row of Lomandra Tanika (grass-like). I have a row of 4 Magnolia Little Gem trees behind the Lomandras and then a row of Correa 'Dusky Bells' with Dianella 'Silver Streak' that I've just planted behind the trees. Behind these plants is a paved area with a feature pot and then a row of Phormium Maori Maiden with some Lomandra Tanika. I've tried to attach a plan but it didn't work, so here is a rough top-down text plan:
m m m m m LLLL m m m m m..............m= Phormium Maori Maiden (reddish looking, weeping nz flax) L=Lomandra Tanika
[][][][][][] .FP. [][][][][][] ..............[] = Pavers/stepping stones FP= Feature Pot
C C C C C DDDDD C C C C C..............C= Correa 'Dusky Bells' (leafy shrub), D= Dianella Silver Streak (upright flax lily)
...M......M......M.......M ..................M= Magnolia Little Gem (tree)
L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L..............L= Lomandra Tanika (grassy-like)
J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J ..............J= Callistemon Little John (bottle brush shrub)
The landscape designer designated Poa Eskdale (another grass) around the Magnolia trees, but I hate that plant and should have taken the advice of the landscape constructor and not put it in. I'll be ripping it all out, which is why it's not in the plan.
I'm trying to figure out what to put between and around the Magnolia trees. I want some contrast and colour. Some of the options I've come up with are mass plantings of either Dianella 'Border Gold', Phormium 'Maori Queen', Phormium 'Baby Bronze' or Dianella 'Cassa Blue'. These plants are all strappy leafed. I'm very open to other suggestions and also something to put in a feature pot (was thinking Bird of Paradise).
I have clay soil (but now contains a heap of humus, some blood and bone, gypsum, powerfeed, seasol and organic humate).
Any help appreciated.
Cheers,
Jamie