The Pittosporum, Escallonia and Abelia provide year-round evergreen structure. The Gypsophila and the dense Miscanthus provide some ground cover, so will help to reduce soil erosion, suppress weed growth and minimise water loss from the soil surface. Some of these plants will also attract vital pollinators to the garden.
Additional organic mulching, preferably with homemade compost, can further improve soil moisture retention and weed suppression. It will also help with your grainy soil structure, helping to bind it. Mulches should be spread when the soil is already moist, to help trap some of that moisture before it dries out in summer.
1 - Pittosporum ‘Arundel Green’ is an evergreen shrub with glossy green leaves with undulating margins. Older branches are smooth and dark grey, while younger stems are dark purple-red. Small, scented, near-black flowers may be seen in late spring and summer.
2 - Abelia ‘Edward Goucher’ is a semi-evergreen shrub with young foliage tinged red-bronze. The arching stems bear abundant lilac-pink flowers, each sheathed in a persistent red-pink calyx, givng it an exceptionally long season of interest.
3 - Verbascum ‘Pink Domino’, a herbaceus perennial, makes drifts through the border with erect spikes of dark-eyed pink flowers in summer.
4 - Gypsophila ‘Rosenschleier’ makes up the foreground of the design. This compact, semi-evergreen perennial forms a low mound of slender stems with narrow grey-green leaves and large clouds of small pale pink flowers in summer.
5 - Miscanthus sinensis ‘Graziella’, a deciduous grass, forms a compact clump of arching narrow leaves with white midribs and feathery, reddish flowers in late summer. These turn pale brown and last well into winter.
6 - Escallonia ‘Peach Blossom’ is an evergreen bushy shrub with small, glossy leaves and clusters of small, rosy pink flowers from early summer.