Phormiums
Are great plants, originally from New Zealand they thrive here in the UK in many types of gardens. They are an architectural plant giving structure to a border, evergreen and are low maintenance. The flowers and seed pods are an interesting feature as well, rising high above the plant on rigid stems. The birds love them too.
Phormiums come in various sizes and colours. Some can grow quite large indeed I have a few in my garden which I planted 15 years ago and they are at least 2m tall and are still looking fantastic, this variety is the Phormium tenax. Don’t let the size put you off though from having these in your garden there are many others to suit all sizes of garden and also work well grown in containers. One particular favourite of mine is the Phormium ‘Bronze Baby’ with dark brown-black leaves and is around 60-75cm tall so a much more manageable size. I have planted many of these through the year in my own and my clients gardens. Some I’ve mixed in amongst other perennials and shrubs and others as more of an architectural feature along the edges of paving and walls.
Care and Propagation
Looking after these plants is very easy, remove dead leaves periodically and in the winter mulch around the base of the plant with some bark chips which will give them a little more protection during the colder months.
Propagation is easy to do as well, do this in the spring by division. Once you have taken a section of the plant away from the main plant carefully spilt these new shoots away making sure you have enough roots and plant them up in pots with some fresh compost.