Please can you give me some advice

[yawningmonster]

Part of my overhaul of the house includes our poor garden.
I AM NOT A GARDENER I know absolutely nothing about the whole thing.

We have spent the last few evenings digging over a patch to be used for a garden. It is in a under the eaves on east facing side of the house which tends to get quite dry. DH has a beloved (blasted hated horrible nasty) san pedro cactus that apparently has to go there as it is the dryest place but will still get some sun and a sprinkling now and then. What do I plant with a blasted hated horrible nasty cactus. I could possibly do a succulent type theme but not really keen tbh. We have suffered out the front from our lack of expertise and over planted so want to avoid that. The garden is about a meter and a half by half a meter. I want very easy care, would have liked something pretty (I was busily googling about geraniums before DH stuck his blasted hated horrible nasty cactus oar in. Would geraniums in the rest of the garden work or would it just look completely out of order.....oh help oh help, I want to get it right and it to look nice but not require much attention....most plants take one look at me and lose the will to live unless of course they are blasted hated horrible nasty san pedros and weeds.
If it is not clear I do not like the cactus, it is ugly, all covered in spider webs, ugly and badly cared for so all lobsided and ugly....

[quoteunquote]

the easiest way to go about it is,

draw out each space, from above, and a side view,

for each space you need plants that will create, structure, colour and foliage,

you need for those categories to be represented each season, in each space,

do lots of drawing, just put in shapes and colours, when you have something that pleases you, find plants that match design,

walk around your immediate neighbourhood, every couple of weeks, note what looks good in other peoples gardens, it will properly do well in yours,

plant in odd numbers 1,3,5,7 and repeat plants in groups around the garden it takes the eye around,

and think of the cactus as structure for that particular space.

there are lots of brilliant gardening forums around so ask about individual plants on there just one of many

[tougholdbird]

This made me laugh - I almost feel sorry for the blasted hated horrible nasty cactus. I would prob go for an attractive coloured gravel and plant up with herbs and lavender, depending on how much sun you get.

[quoteunquote]

can we have a picture of the hateful cactus please,

Just so we know what we are dealing with.

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

I've just been Googling San Pedro cactus and come across some, ahem, interesting websites.

It sounds as if this bed is quite shady and might not suit things like lavender. How about phormium, which is tough as old boots and will echo the spiky look? You could use low-growing sedums as ground cover around them.

[funnyperson]

This reminded me of the Mexican desert section in the Eden project and I seem to remember they had aloe vera planted with the cactus and other things which liked dry gravelly soil. Here is a link to drought loving plants on the Beth Chatto website. I have no experience of dry sunny spots except to say that if truly dry and sunny Bougainvillea might grow there.
Do you think it will be dry and sunny enough for the cactus to survive outside?
How tall is the cactus?

[funnyperson]

www.bethchatto.co.uk/dlp.html

[funnyperson]

I quite like the thought of irises and thymes from that list