Blooming borders

Packed with colour, these 3 x 3m borders offered an opportunity for community groups and small businesses to show off effective small-scale planting designs

Dreamy Nostalgia

This charming border is a real taste of lazy summer days on the river. A central ribbon of blue lobelia – a river of flowers – divides the scheme in two and at one end is the bow of a boat. Planting on either side resembles a miniature landscape and includes tall purple millet, massed begonias and coleus with young bamboos and contrasting cannas.

Equality Rising

This beautiful border with its shimmering planting reminds us of an important social milestone: 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. A central triangle of pink gravel adds a sinister touch recreating the symbol worn by so many in Nazi prisoner of war camps, but this serious message is softened by massed pink echinaceas, rose-coloured achilleas, billowing coppery grasses and the purple heads of tall Allium sphaerocephalon.

Blue Italian

Inspired by the designs found on pieces of Spode pottery, this border has been designed for green space on a site next to the former Spode factory in Stoke on Trent. Italian-inspired planters punctuate a silver, blue and white planting scheme including grey Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’, white hydrangeas and blue agapanthus, while a white trellis screen inset with various ceramic tiles divides the planting in two.

A Veteran’s Refuge

This border is planted to provide a restful and peaceful place within a mass of colour. A central gravel path leads to a tall, aged wooden seat, while large boulders punctuate the diverse planting which includes bedding verbenas, several Japanese maples, dahlias, dianthus and geraniums.