These plants help to stimulate the senses within a small space. While the Ribes provides edible berries, the Salvia, Artemesia and Thymus provide scent. The flowers on the Olearia and Salvia bring splashes of colour and the Stipa will move in the breeze, inviting you to the feel the foliage.

The Olearia, Ribes, Salvia and Thymus all have the additional benefit of attracting pollinators to the garden.

The proximity of the plants and the spreading habit of the Thymus help to cover the bare soil, helping to conserve moisture and making it more difficult for weed seeds to germinate.

Consider mulching the bare soil, preferably with homemade compost, to help this further while waiting for plants to spread. Avoid spreading bagged potting compost on beds and borders. Mulches should be spread when the soil is already moist to help trap some of that moisture before it dries out in summer.

1- Olearia macrodonta

2 - Ribes ‘Jonkheer van Tets’

3 - Stipa ‘Ichu’

4 - Salvia ‘Hot Lips’

5 - Artemisia arborescens

6 - Thymus vulgaris

2 - Ribes rubrum ‘Jonkheer van Tets’ has scented foliage and clusters of small green flowers, which develop into short strings of glossy, edible redcurrants in summer. 

3 - Stipa ichu is a grass with bright green, arching leaves, and white, feathery, plume-like flowers that stand all winter. 

4 - Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ is a semi-evergreen sub-shrub with scented green leaves and flowers that are initially red, then bicoloured red and white in summer, and finally all white by autumn. 

5 - Artemisia arborescens is an evergreen sub-shrub with finely divided silver-green leaves. It has small yellow flowers in summer. 

6 - Thymus vulgaris is a spreading, evergreen groundcover sub-shrub with fragrant leaves. In summer, it produces terminal spikes of small white or mauve-pink flowers.