Plants for a pebble garden

Do you admire the all-year tidiness of pebble gardens? Are you considering a pebble garden makeover? Before replacing an area of grass with gravel or pebbles, decide which kind of pebbles will suit your space. Several sizes of pebbles are used in some garden designs – often in the same garden.

Pebble gardens tend to suit people who don’t have much time for gardening. They expect their plots – especially front gardens – to look attractive throughout the year without the necessity of constantly having to attend to weeding. But pebble gardens can be made more interesting by the addition of carefully chosen species and uncommon varieties of plants.

One of the main themes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year was the use of an amazing variety of pebbles, gravel and grey Welsh slate chippings in town gardens. This innovation is all very exciting in a show setting, but how does it work out in practice?

Are pebbles helping to sell houses?

Front gardens near large towns in recent decades have adopted stone paving, crazy paving, coloured paving, bricks, cobbles, lanterns, carriage lamps, raised beds, terraces and iron railing gates. Apart from the gates, which are being added daily in some districts, pebbles are the latest must-have. Could the modern trend of tidying up the garden with pebble surfaces be helping to sell houses? If not, why are pebbles appearing in so many gardens?

Pebbles are frequently used as a mulch on which to stand giant containers. Against a background, one or two spiky plants of strong architectural lines, or startling colour, often work better than a clutter of assorted containers and creeping plants. Plants can also be bedded directly into soil that has been top-dressed with pebbles or gravel: well-spaced, evergreen, or grey varieties can really be the making of a pebble garden in winter.

Real pebble gardens

The first garden, in a road that acts as a barometer of fashion, has a curved bed edged by a low brick wall, to one side of a drive. A cordyline planted in a large pot surrounded by giant grey pebbles is the main attraction in the flowerbed. And tiny, seedlike, pea-shingle pebbles are embedded in the surface of the driveway, giving it a honey-coloured finish.

Next a brown, herringbone-patterned brick drive forms a bold contrast to the drive of the next property, which sports a large-sized brick pattern in a deeper shade of earth red. Both gardens contain parallel beds of small pebbles along the borders.

One of these pebble gardens is dotted with hebes of numerous varieties, some of which are quite dwarf with bright green, grey, or variegated leaves. The other garden has Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’ alternating with Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ – a simple, but effective, arrangement - chosen for year-round interest of leaf colour, scented blossom on the Choisya, and flowers that attract bees and butterflies on the Sedum. The red-brown colour of the ‘Autumn Joy’ flowers contrasts with the bright yellow of the ‘Sundance’ foliage, and the inflorescence of the former lasts into winter.

In between the gardens with landscaped exteriors featuring pebbles, there are traditional gardens of lawns, flowerbeds and crazy paving. In one of these, the remains of delphiniums and lupins mingle with aubretia and snow-on-the-mountain. Next comes a Japanese style garden that the Japanese wouldn’t recognise. It has a rock feature, large stones and pebbles in patterns.

Further along the road there is a bungalow with a gravel garden. Planting here is limited to dwarf conifers under the window and a towering pampas grass that dominates the front garden. Another garden has the entire area top-dressed with small pebbles. Planting is more varied and includes Lavandula ‘Sawyers Variety’ for rich grey foliage in all seasons; L. ‘Walberton’s Silver Edge’ – a new lavender variety with a bold silver margin to the leaves; and a Russian sage, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’. The last mentioned is an aromatic plant, much visited by butterflies, also valued for its deep blue flowers that continue into autumn.

A house with a raised brick terrace under windows has a pebble bed in a half circle with a drive sweeping round to gates on each side. Moss is obviously a problem on the terrace. And weeds are sprouting up through the medium beach-sized pebbles of the shingle. Both are easy to deal with in hard surfaces where planting is confined to pots standing on pebbles.

A product like Armillatox will control the moss and also disinfect against Toxocara canis eggs – which can cause disablement. This product is claimed by its makers to be a NATURAL product and completely biodegradable. But do remember to read all precautions before use and take special care where there are children, pets, or a pool for fish and other water animals. Weeds in pebbles can easily be pulled out by hand or treated with a weedkiller.

More plants with impressive foliage or flowers

Agapanthus, Agave, Hosta or Pyyllostachys nigra can be grown in large pots and arranged individually, or in groups, on pebbles of various sizes and colours. Nerines, alliums or, for smaller containers, Cyclamen hederifolium are other possibilities. Over all, the effect to aim for in pebble gardens is simplicity of form and design.

A plant to look out for this month

A highly thought of plant, Iris unguicularis, is coming into flower now. It flourishes in a stony soil and is a treasure for winter gardens – beautiful flowers unfold every day from November to March.