Help appreciated :)

Hello everyone. I’ve very recently just joined the site. I’m new to this
A bit about myself..


My name is Jo. I’m 29. I love reading and cooking and I’m hoping to finish my nursing degree by the end of this year. I very recently came out of a 10 year abusive relationship and for the first time in my life, finally have a place to call home. I have recently moved to a property with my two children and the garden is in a bad state. I’m looking to plant things that are easy to maintain. Could anyone give me any tips please?

 

Welcome Jo,
As it's a bit late in the season I'd be looking to plant up a few items in tubs whilst the main garden can be tackled at a pleasant pace.
I'd put in some french breakfast radishes, spring onions, and pak choi.
They will give you a crop later this year, and the kids can help sow the seeds!
Whilst in homebase last week i found some great perennial flowers being offered at low late season prices, and if you put those in larger pots, you'll have some great flowering plants to put in your prepared garden as you cultivate it.
Bless you girl, and i sincerely hope you and yours have a happy garden and future.

 

Thank you so much x

 

Welcome Jo,you've come to the right place,you sound like a very busy lady so take it slow and when you get the chance have a moment or two to yourself and think of what you would like out of your garden and what will be kiddie friendly too..we're all here to help..ask away we're a good bunch of folk here..well most of us...we'll have a giggle on the way.

 

Welcome to GC Jo, take your time with the garden, but, you can still plant, a few plants now, to get their roots down, so you get a better performance from them next year, low maintainance shrubs like Choysia or Hypericum, Phontinia, also we are moving into hedging and fruit planting season (late August early sept), hedging is great for privacy or screening off, an easy plant for this is laurel hedging ( prunus rotundifolia), everygreen and looks after itself. Plant a few fruit canes for next year, Raspberries, blackcurrents should keep the kids happy, and spring bulbs will be available in the next week or two, you could plant up some Hyacinths, Daffodils, Tulips etc. Sorry told you to take it easy, and just given you a month of ideas

 

Thanks so much for your advice. X

 

Thank you for your advice. That’s exactly what I need. Both my children 6 and 10 adore being outside so I’m getting them on board too. Thanks ! X

 

Thank you for your advice, i really appreciate it x

 

Welcome to the forum! My experience so far with children is that kids love things with pleasant smells. Herbs always are a winner. And you can do those in pots right away

Perhaps you can enlist your kids to look for pictures of plants they like. Get them involved in seeing which plants are safe and how big they are supposed to get, etc. Maybe even place pictures of their favourites around the garden to see how the colours work. Good activities for those days when it is not all that pleasant and when it is

 

That’s a brilliant idea, thank you x

 

All good advise.. Shrubs give an instant upgrade to a rough garden. Best to plant carefully to allow them the space they'll need.
Much as i love my Hypericum I'd try and plant that in a corner because as we all know they like to send out runners and can get a bit invasive.
I like Spiraea gold flame for a nice contained metre high shrub with good looks all summer albeit deciduous.
I also like Aucuba japonica varigata for a dull area..(the female one with red berries if there's a male one in your area) That's a cheerful evergreen shrub all year round.
And who wouldn't like a nice mophead hydrangea.. They can be pricey, but you can pick one up in B&Q or Homebase at reasonable cost.