That looks beautiful. I know nothing about plants - what are the ones pictured called?

How much room is available to plant? Looks like a pretty tight squeeze to me. And is it shady as well?

Where are you - that’s important, too.

Very thin strip - maybe 1ft max. Located in Toronto (4 seasons), the house is facing south so there’s sun in the mornings and shade in the afternoons.

Take a look at miniature hostas: https://www.nhhostas.com/miniature-hostas/

ETA: you may have to find a local seller or website but this is a good representation of what’s available.

Perhaps some carex? Or hakonechloa? They can take shade and moisture. Maybe a nice groundcover veronica, like Georgia Blue, although that may like some more sun.

:)

Dee

I love Georgia Blue - the color is very striking. but I lost most of it over the winter. I just checked, I bought it in 2007, so 16 years and this is the first time I had a problem with hardiness. Crazy winter. I have an inch of it left. Mine is facing West so it gets afternoon sun for a few hours.

Another vote here for carex of some sort.

Could you extend & bury the pipe first?

you may have a hard time digging under those rather mature shrubs.. and you may in fact.. harm said shrubs if you do any significant digging in those roots ...

and the converse.. you may have a hard time watering transplants under super aggressive well established shrubs ...

im rather surprised its code in canada to just blow the water out your front stoop ... hmmmm..

ken

I agree with Ken, that trying to grow additional plants at the base of that hedge is going to be a challendge. I had a hedge like that and I can't imagine trying to grow something else there at the base of them. I would just weed, clean it up well and mulch it. It will look very neat and easy care.

It also looks like you might have weed trees/shrubs coming up through them that need to be removed. It's hard to tell from a photo. Looks like the hedge is either privet or boxwood? And I see leaves that are definitely not either of those.

Since you say you don't know plants, you might want to get a professional to look at the hedge or a friend who is a gardener and identify what is supposed to be there and what isn't.

The best thing you can do, is learn about which plants the hedge is made of, find out what care they need and provide that. A well cared for, well pruned, mulched hedge is very attractive.

I just went back and read your original post again and see you mention pipes discharging water there. That complicates things. Mulch may just wash out of there.

To get the hedge plants identified quickly you can post pictures on the Name That Plant Forum. Name That Plant! - GardenWeb

In that position I'd be inclined to try ferns and Welsh Poppy.

Maybe an evergreen ground cover, such as wintergreen or bunchberry dogwood, or even salal? Moss or Corsican mint? More shallow rooted than perennials.

Or alpine strawberries. or even vinca minor - Gertrude Jekyll is a mannerly, floriferous white. Or gallium or saxifrage fortunei. There are some lovely small ferns - the aspleniums are especially tough and amenable.

Vinca minor I have around a Maple and we enjoy it. It flower in the spring. Also has purple flowers. That might be better than mulch since you have water running.

BTW - here is an article from This Old House on Hedges

Quick Guide to Planting and Pruning

Floral_uk, I don’t think I’ve heard of Welsh poppies, thanks for adding to my plant vocabulary!