Prairie Planting in South East London
Inspired by the open meadows of North America, prairie planting mixes tall flowering perennials with ornamental grasses so the whole border moves in the wind. It's colourful from early summer, the seedheads look great into winter, and it's one of the best styles for bees, butterflies and birds. Once settled, it needs less work than a traditional border.
Buy it as a planting pack, let us plant it for you, or have us design and build the whole garden around it.
Gallery photos show examples of the style for inspiration.
Key Plants
Verbena bonariensis for see-through purple height. Salvia and echinacea for long-lasting colour and pollinators. Rudbeckia for late-summer gold. Miscanthus, Calamagrostis or Panicum grasses for movement and winter structure. Achillea and sedum along the front.
Design Ideas
Plant in big drifts and repeat them along the border instead of single plants. Aim for roughly one grass in every three plants. In a larger bed, run a path through the middle so you can walk among the flowers. Keep the palette to three or four colours for a calm, modern look.
Hard Landscaping Features
Curved beds framed in steel edging, which makes loose planting look deliberate. A gravel or bark path winding through the border. An oak sleeper bench or seat wall where you can sit among the grasses. Corten steel planters to carry the look onto a patio.
We design and build all of this ourselves: see our landscaping and garden design services.
Setting It Up for Success
We dig peat-free compost or soil improver through the bed before planting, and add mycorrhizal root grow so the perennials and grasses root in fast. A bark or gravel mulch holds back weeds while the plants fill in, and grow-through supports keep taller perennials upright in exposed spots. Go easy on feed: leaner soil gives sturdier stems.
Add a success kit to any pack: we'll bring the right compost, root grow, stakes, mulch and feed, matched to your soil.
Where does it work best?
Open, sunny spots with at least half a day of sun. Larger borders and front gardens look best, but a smaller version works along a fence or in raised beds. Most prairie plants are happy in ordinary London clay.
How much looking after does it need?
Leave the stems and seedheads standing over winter for birds and frost, then cut everything back in one go in late February or March. Water through the first summer and divide big clumps every few years. That's about it.
How do I order a pack?
WhatsApp a few photos of the space, rough measurements and your postcode to 07490 103088. We'll size the pack to your garden and come back the same day with a price for the plants on their own, plants plus planting, or a full design and build.
"Matthew has done an outstanding job transforming our overgrown and messy borders into tidy, easy to maintain, pretty borders. His workmanship and work ethic cannot be faulted."
Helen G.
"Matt did an amazing job transforming our garden. It had become quite overgrown, with lots of trees and plants all tangled together, but he carefully worked through everything and refreshed the lawn so the whole space feels renewed."
Laura W.
"Matt and Lenny came over to strip out our overgrown and difficult to maintain garden. They removed and trimmed all the unsightly weeds while keeping the flowers, and Matt gave us really helpful maintenance advice."
Aaron L.
