Some gardening advice please!
 

I wonder if any of you guys have some good ideas.

I have an "arriate" in my garden....not sure how you say that in English, it's like a long thin flowerbed that runs along the length of a wall. I have plenty of tall creeper type plants but it is very bare at ground level.

So, I'm looking for some plants to cover the ground level of my arriate. Let's say no more than 50cm high, nice and leafy all year round. It doesn't have to be flowering but if it is then the flowers MUST be red (this is my red wall!) or at a push I'd accept white.

Inspirational ideas anybody?

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

How about using IVY, either variagated or not - makes great ground cover. You would just have to keep it cut back though.

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

Red geraniums - flower all the year round.

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

I thought they didn`t grow here, although something similar does ?

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

What are commonly called geraniums are actually pelagoniums but most people still refer to them as geraniums.

True geraniums (cranesbill) are also very common in Spain but the big red round blooms of a "geranium" are a very common sight - these are "Zonal" pelargoniums.

The trailing varieties (an "ivy" geranium) grow really well, again almost all year round.

The plants that tend to be (correctly) called pelargoniums are the ones with azalea like flowers and with very different leaves from the other varieties. These are "Regal" pelargoniums.

These look fabulous in the spring and early summer but tend to fade away when it gets hot and reappear somewhat in the autumn.

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

I guess you know a think or two about gardening then, huh???

I'm quite liking the idea of geraniums (or pelargoniums!). I've only ever had them in macetas before, never planted into the ground. The ones I've had in the macetas haven't been a huge success.....the flowers seem to die back after a while and look a bit messy so I've chucked them out and bought new ones the next year.

How do you think they would perform as ground coverage? Would they get that "messy" look for several months of the year? Would I be better sticking to something non-flowering?

Ivy wasn´t a bad suggestion, but there has always been something about ivy that I just don't really like. Can't quite put my finger on it though.!

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

What look do you want?

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

I wrote a long explanation about the difference some time last year if I remember rightly.

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

I have no particular "look" in mind, per sé. I just want something that will cover the earth in the arriate and reach to about 50cm where the "trunks" of my taller plants are quite bare, thereby creating a nice lush green looking wall from top to bottom.

As I said before, all flowering plants along this wall are red and I don't want to deviate from that, but the ground coverage doesn't need to be flowering at all. But I would like it to be leafy all year round.

What about myrtle?

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

Hold on, more info needed. What is growing there now, what aspect is it, is water readily available, do you want colour, smell, all year round cover?

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

Ufff, I knew sooner or later someone would ask what I already have planted there. I'm hopeless with the names. Well, there is a Dama de Noche (something like Lady of the Night, or Dame of the Night in English??). Tall, leafy, but bare at the lower/ground level. I have some rose bushes at mid level (velvet red blooms). Another leafy green "trepadora" with deep red flowers (no idea what it is called), but again fairly bare at the lower level. I have the upper and mid level covered, but need more at the lower level.

Aspect is North.

I water daily/every two days and all existing plants grow very well.

I don't need colour as I have that in the taller plants. However, I wouldn't rule out a flowering plant as long as it is deep red (or white at a push).

I don't need aroma as I have that in the Dama de Noche and rose bushes.

I do want all year round cover - this is my primary goal.

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

Well from what you say I go back to my suggestion of geraniums, particularly the red ivy ones. They bloom all year round and are low maintenance apart from trimming the dead blooms. You already have roses as they are an obvious choice.

Another red plant I recently planted was a Jatropha which has small red blooms and flowers most of the year.

We have a 2.5m high wall on top of a 50cm raised bed. The wall is now covered with various climbers/shrubs and the lower level cascades down to the ground. In between we have a variety of mid sized shubs including geraniums.

I will put together some pictures on the web soon so you can see the results.

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

I found this picture of the jatropha. I like it a lot, but from the picture it looks like it doesn't cover the ground?? It looks more like a mid-level plant???

Don't worry, I haven't ruled out the geranios. I'm a little bit concerned about the messy appearance of my previous ones (planted in flowerpots) at some times during the year so that's why I'm still investigating my options. Mind you, geraniums are so cheap that even I planted them and then decided to pull them up a few months later it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

Yes it is more of a shrub. The one in your picture is a more sturdy variety.

If you want ground cover and all year round flowers the ivy geraniums are suitable. Another option, but not red, are the "Cape Daisies" - Dimorphetica. They can make a fantastic display - the best ones are purple.

I will have to get working on the pictures!

Re: Some gardening advice please!
 

Fred, the Jatropha would look great in my "red" flowerbed even though it probably wouldn't quite solve my ground coverage issue...right shade of red, and the leaves are even the "right" shade of green too. I'm thinking about trying to hunt one down......do you know the name in Spanish? Wordreference.com has never heard of it.

It doesn't drop its leaves in winter does it?