Phormium – Border

The Border™ Phormiums are a striking collection of compact, clump-forming evergreen perennials, selected for their distinctive foliage and outstanding landscape performance. Their bold, architectural form and colourful, strappy leaves provide year-round structure, texture and visual impact in gardens of every style.

Naturally compact and easy to maintain, Border Phormiums are equally at home in contemporary landscapes, traditional gardens and decorative containers. Their tidy growth habit makes them ideal for defining borders, edging pathways, creating bold mass plantings or adding height and contrast to mixed garden beds.

Favoured by professional landscapers for their versatility and reliability, these low-maintenance plants deliver lasting colour and strong architectural interest with very little ongoing care. Their dramatic foliage provides an excellent contrast to flowering plants, making them a valuable design element throughout the year.

Whether planted individually as eye-catching features or grouped together for maximum impact, Border Phormiums offer a simple yet effective way to introduce year-round colour, texture and structure to the garden.

FLOWERS & FOLIAGE

With the Phormium Border series it’s all about foliage. Border™ Black has narrow black leaves tinged with red and a silvery grey reverse while Border™ Red has equally narrow strappy chocolate leaves edged with vibrant cherry red margins.

PLANTING TIPS

These Border phormiums enjoy full where they achieve their full colour glory, though they tolerate part shade. They’re equally able to cope in most soils but are happiest in a well worked, free draining soil containing organic matter. Position them with enough space between to ensure a good airflow. Remove old foliage as necessary.

WAYS TO USE THEM

Being compact, Border phormiums are perfect to fill long, narrow beds. They won’t grow into monster plants so are ideal for large mixed container gardens where some pizzazz is needed.

SHAPE & SIZE

Border phormiums grow into compact clumps with upright, slightly arching foliage. Border Black matures to around a metre high and wide; Border Red is slightly smaller at 60 x 60 cm.

FOOD & WATER

While these Border phormiums are becoming established, water them regularly. Once mature they are remarkably drought resistant. And in spring they welcome a few handfuls of a controlled release fertiliser – pick one that is high in nitrogen to boost leaf production.

PESTS & DISEASE

These phormiums aren't susceptible to any major pests or diseases though they can be occasionally bothered by mealy bugs. Highly humid situations – ie where air flow is restricted - can lead to crown rot.

Phormium Border Black

Phormium Border Red

Landscaper tips

Being such graphically strong plants, they are ideal to create bold blocks of colour in large areas of massed planting
Team Phormium Border Black with white-flowering and silver-foliaged plants for a florist-quality planting scheme
Phormium Border Red is a natural partner to Canna Tropicanna to create a strikingly vibrant foreground to the canna’s kaleidoscope of colours
Plant the Phormium Border series along the outside of pool fencing to soften the barrier: children will stay safe as the phormium’s strappy foliage won’t offer a leg up and over