Planting a new border is an exciting way to bring colour, texture, and structure into your garden. Whether you’re starting from scratch or redoing an existing area, a plan beforehand can help you create a border that looks beautiful throughout the seasons.

You need to consider the size of the border. Have a rough measurement of the area to give yourself an indication of how many plants you may need. It can also help you set a budget and avoid overcrowding areas or leaving large empty spaces. If space allows, you may want to think about adding a focal point such as an ornamental tree. If so, it is best to decide this early on and work out the best position in the border so you know what space you are left with. Trees can create nice shaded areas for plants below, so this gives you the opportunity to choose plants that love the shade underneath. Some great options include Hostas, Ferns, Heuchera and Dicentra.

Are you sticking to a certain theme or colour scheme for your garden? Think about this in your plan. Consider how different foliage and flower colours will work together. Do you want soft pastel colours or bright bold mixed colours?
When researching or selecting plants, always have a look at the height and spread information on the labels. These sizes are usually the averages when the plants are fully mature, but they’re a great guide to help you understand how plants will eventually fill your border. Remember that it may time take for the plants to reach their full size and spread so borders may look sparse at first while the plants are young. Consider filling these gaps with annual bedding plants to give the border instant colour. Annuals will only last a year so will fill the gap nicely until your shrubs and perennials are matured..
It is great to have staggered heights in your borders so think about placings of plants carefully. Taller plants such as Delphiniums and Verbena would be best at the back of the border. While Geranium, Ajuga & Sedum are lower growing so would work best near the front.

While perennials are the main focus in summer, consider adding some shrubs, heathers or or ornamental conifers into the borders. Although these won’t have that wow factor that most perennials have, they will give you colour, foliage and structure in your border over the winter months while many perennials die back.

Don’t forget that plants will establish over time, they will spread and settle over the seasons and will grow over the years. So don’t worry if your border doesn’t look complete to begin with, give it time to develop and grow.