I would not alternate the roses and lavender. They want very different growing conditions and keeping one happy will make the other very unhappy. In place of the lavender, consider using nepeta (cat mint) or a hardy geranium, as they share growing conditions much more similar to the roses.

I would also avoid any sort of alternating planting arrangement. Aesthetically, it reads very regimented, unnatural and to be blunt....lame.

Ok point taken. But what about the poll? Or would you recommend something entirely different?

avoid planting privet against Roses. it will reduce air flow promoting fungal growth and privet creates a space seeds luv so you will be spending a lot of time weeding it. David Austin Rose's tend to need a lot of growing space so unless the planting bed is at least 6 ft deep consider a different companion plant

I agree with ditching the Ligustrum hedge. Consider a double staggered row of roses only, and an underplanting that is low height and reads as an overall groundcover (vs. "alternating.") Also, consider making the planting arrangement symmetrical relative to the walk, i.e., not having a tall plant next to the walk. By simplifying the scheme, what remains will read stronger overall.

And a charming painted fence sounds lovely. Not prefab lattice one, but a custom lattice that has larger opening and beefier wood and details that suit your overall yard.

I personally haven’t had a problem with lavender and roses. Although if you have cats you might have a problem with catmint. I currently have six plants of it and my cats absolutely attack it constantly! On the other hand the area surrounding the catmint is completely weed free; with all the cat disturbances nothing can grow :)

Hardy geraniums also look really pretty with roses.

Absolutely ditch the ligustrum. Not only will it kill your air flow, but the root system will quickly choke out the roses and prevent you from planting ANYTHING. Add any of its berries you permit to mature will then become new ligustrum plants all over the neighborhood. Birds ADORE them and happily "plant" them everywhere and each one germinates...quickly.

Lavender is a classic match with roses as long as you use English lavender, it has similar water requirements to the roses, Look in any good rose books and you'll see lots of roses planted with lavender.

" use English lavender, it has similar water requirements to the roses, "

Sorry, but that is a complete fallacy!! Lavandula angustifolia is no different from any other type of lavender and does NOT share a similar water requirement to roses! Once established, lavender needs NO supplemental watering and in fact, routine irrigation can be detrimental to its health. It also prefers very fast draining, lean, un-enriched soil and NO fertilization. None of these are the preferred growing conditions for roses.

You can plant lavender close to roses but I would strongly advise against intermingling them. At least keep the lavender at a sufficient distance from the roses to avoid any excess irrigation. Also. lavenders tend to have a rather short lifespan compared to roses and need replacement every few years to remain looking good. So keep in mind the ease of replacing whatever companion plants you might use when you site your plantings.

Hey all thanks for the comments. It’s a great idea, but No fences permitted in my city (seriously). Arbor probably wouldn’t work either. So it’s either the original choice reflected in the poll, or I get rid of the companion plants and just use roses...

Yaardvark, I’m not sure what you mean about (not having a tall plant next to the walk)

Unless you are looking for privacy while in your garden, I’d put the hedge inside with the roses and companion plant closer to the sidewalk. I wouldn’t do lavender, try walkers low instead. I have it lining my sidewalk, and the way it spills out is lovely. I also have various types of lavender in my garden, but it begins to get woody and not so great looking. The catmint on the other hand looks fresh and just needs a trim or two during the growing season to look good.

I love a good hedge and think they are underrated in this country. I can’t speak to the plant you plan to use, but something evergreen would be nice. When I lived in Texas we had a shrub, perhaps privet, that had reddish new growth. That might look nice with the roses you have photographed.

Doodieshmood, take a look at your plan and you'll see that at the left of the walk, both a rose and Ligustrum, abut the walk. Both are tall enough that they need to be set back from it, the same way that the rose at the right of walk is set back. (I, too, would do away with the Ligustrum altogether.) It would also be good to set the roses back some from the city walk. Taller than 12" plants, too close to a walk, especially if they have thorns, are a pain.

Yaardvark- so, your suggestion is: leave space between roses and sidewalk to prevent getting snagged. Also leave space between roses and pathway. Lose privet. Stagger roses. Is that right?

Garden gal- you’re suggesting 2 things- replace lavender with cat mint. Also, don’t alternate. So, then how do I use the roses and catmint?

Cluster them. A grouping of the catmint (or whatever) closest to the entry walkway, then a grouping of roses. And repeat, using 3-5 plants in each cluster. Or alternately, you could do an informal hedge of the roses, closest to the house/lawn area and then front that with the catmint along the sidewalk. That would be my second choice, however :-) I dislike things lined up too formally and it is seldom a design recommendation.

If I were you I'd put up a white picket fence with roses and lavender on whichever side gets more sun, and something else planted on the shadier side. Yes to the comment about keeping the roses a good distance from the sidewalk -- it is something I'm constantly battling myself. Whether you choose lavender, catmint, geraniums, etc will depend on your climate and the exposure (south-facing bed in TX will work better for lavender than geraniums, for example). The good thing about gardens is if the plants don't work out like you wanted them to, you can change them out for something else, so don't worry too much about making a "wrong" decision. :)

thank you, KS, but i can't do a picket fence, otherwise i would!

thank you, gardengal. i like that idea. do you by any chance have an example of what that might look like? (clusters, but still in rows) hard to visualize for me...I understand the second idea a little better and like that idea a lot too!

Zones 10a and 9b Santa Clarita Valley and San Fernando Valley, California pretty much all lavenders mixed with roses just fine. No watering issues with any of them. Cat mint also worked well. The trick was to space them sufficiently so that none of them smothered the other. In all of those gardens, everything was watered with overhead sprinklers. Drainage ranged from slow (engineered soil with just inches of "top soil" above it) to very good. Unless you are drowning the beds or receive inches of rain a week, I doubt you have much to worry about mixing the two.

I agree, roseseek. The trouble i'm having is one of layout and design, not so much companion planting. in the backyard, i have a privet right next to lavender an a redbud tree. everything doing great. Only question is the poll or an alternative to symmetrical rows.

I have never seen Lavender look good for more than say 2 or 3 years. It gets leggy and ugly and doesn’t respond to rejuvenation pruning. I’d be interested if others keep lavender decent looking year after year. For me, Sage and Catnip can offer much more long lived beauty in similar colors.

Doodieshmoodie, it sounds as though your heart is set on lavender with your roses. To me, that is a classic pairing. I've never had any problem with their differing water needs. I water the roses and the lavender roots get what they need in the moist soil in the ground. It is true lavender plants need replacing every few years, but that is not difficult. You can get almost the same effect with nepeta, salvias and perovskia, all beautiful with roses.

While browsing the internet, I came across these pics and thought of this post. I thought they might serve as inspiration. The first one could be angelonia, an annual everywhere but in z8 and above.

I grow lavender with roses and it works very well! I do have very well drained soil naturally, so that helps keep the lavender happy when I irrigate the roses. My lavenders last for quite a few years! I trim them back twice a year (in late summer and again in early spring) and they stay very bushy and compact.

Personally, I like alternating plantings if it fits into the overall scheme of the garden. I especially like them next to straight lines, such as paths and hedges.

I agree that having a hedge to close to roses is not a good idea...but I'm sure if you wanted that evergreen backdrop for your roses you could find one that worked better. As far as the placement of the roses, I like having the roses on the street side of the hedge. I think it would add to the curb appeal and be very welcoming.

Leave space between a rose (or most any shrub) and a walk so as not to get snagged and because not leaving space makes the walk seem narrower. People don't like to brush against plants, which could be wet, dusty or prickly, as they walk. Also, 9 times out of 10, walks aren't wide enough and the plants along their sides help drive home the point.

hey all, thanks for the comments. I'm looking for advice mostly on the arrangement/structure, not whether I'd use lavender or how it grows with roses. I'd be fine replacing lavender with sage/catmint/geraniums etc. I'd love to have a white picket fence, but that doesn't work in our neighborhood. A lot of the plants from the design died in the heat so I had to rethink the whole thing. The pittosporum bushes mostly died, begonias, fuschia, etc. all gone.

So we changed course a bit on our own and added The blue sage (i think it works great) with the strawberry tree and the climbing rose behind it is a nice vibe. Was thinking about repeating that sage on the left side of the house...maybe taking out the camelia in front of the bay window and doing roses and catmint/sage etc. The front border per the first post is unfortunately only one moving part.....thanks all for your advice!!!! please keep it coming!

Gardengal 48, My lavender plant is 12yrs. old it"s huge and just keeps growing have not jas to replant! So far so good! It"s English lavender! It"s what you see in fields! My roses never make it, now lets be truthful they have alot of competition with all the other plants planted with them! My garden would give you all heart palpitations, to many plants that take over in the same bed! Must try and fix this! So good luck the lavender I have will be bigger than the roses! Maybe it"s field lavender, I really don"t know!

@Yardvaark I planted three Bobo hydrangeas by our front path and spaced them 4 feet to 4 1/2 to one another and the path. I've been seriously considering moving them close until I saw your comments on this thread. You made a good point. I think I'll keep them where they are and plant something to fill the space. If you could take a look at my post, that would be great! (I hope the thread host doesn't mind.) https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5972111/hydrangea-and-rose-slope-front-yard-landscaping-help 

"Gardengal 48, My lavender plant is 12yrs. old it"s huge and just keeps growing have not jas to replant! "

I'd love to see a photo of this 12 y.o. lavender. Unless one is extremely diligent about twice yearly pruning, they seldom look good for more than 5-7 years. They rapidly develop a very woody, gnarly interior and then start to flop or splay. Even commercial lavender growers replace their plants on a pretty short schedule.

Nepeta or lavender are lovely with roses. This is the garden of millieandgreen on Instagram, she has the most lovely garden

Hi all. I updated the front!!! Quarantine project!!! Follow me @wizebag on Instagram to see what I did.

Still haven’t done the front hedge but will probably pull from border.

@Doodieshmoodie McGroodie Beautiful! Nice work and thanks for sharing the updates!

Oh and if anyone lives in the LA area, I can design for you!

Most of the companion plants in those last shots are all going to be growing into one another in short order.

As someone who has spent the summer hacking out overgrown shrub, I strongly suggest no pivet or red tipped photinias. They grow into huge trees. Even traditional boxwood borders around roses will take lots of trimming. if you can't have a fence, a short boxwood hedge by the sidewalk could sheild roses.

boxwood is a good hedge with roses. it doesnt get tall but does give good structure if thats what you are looking for.