Our tie-in theme is blue profusion. The dream was to have have bulbs and irises firing up from a low sea of plants with a long flowering season.
The ring of catmint defines the look as nothing says ‘froth and formality’ like catmint. The variety, Six Hills Giant bulks up incredibly quickly. We divided it into little more than sprigs and within a year it was providing six metres of edging.
Inside that we divided one Geranium Rozanne into four to deliver endless blue cups from May to September. 
The mainstays of the planting are all from seed or cuttings: four different Mexican salvia, eight variaties of Iris Sibirica, various Penstemons, and Sedums for late colour.
There’s no instant way to grow yew hedging but if you’re buying a lot (60 plus here) shop around. We bought 24-inch bare-rooted plants for 40% of the first quote. The six Annabelles came as spindly pale almost leafless stems. They expand by suckering and filled a 12m square with white globes by their second summer.