Newbie Help!!!

Hello,

Im an absolute newbie to gardening - i really dont have much of a clue. Plus with a toddler and a baby i dont have much time either to research things.

I would like to re-vamp the garden, particularly the side strip of grass we have which is pointless at the moment.

Can anyone suggest what sort of plants i should buy - i would like a mix of flowers & shrubs which are colourful & low maintenance.

As i stand out the back of my house im looking in a north-west direction (i have no idea what aspect this makes the border)

Any advice would be hugely appreciated - i went to a couple of garden centres in the spring and quite frankly they made me feel stupid for not knowing much about gardening

 

Hello

Low maintenance plants that i use are lavender, rosemary, sedum spectabile, you could grow honeysuckle up the fence

Asters, delphiniums, and then hebes would be good too


But it depends what soil you have. Do you know what ur soil is?

Oh and for minimal weeding i love using ajuga reptans as ground cover

 

Thank you :-)

I have no idea what soil im afraid - its a new build house so i imagine there is mainly rubbish under the turf lol!

 

Lol probably

It would be worth taking up a section and see what soil you are working with first

Then if it is poor quality or heavy clay you can come up with a plan to sort it and then work out what plants would be suitable

Just thought buddleia is always a good choice for low maintenance but good colour n flowers

I have buddleia flower power which produces multicoloured blooms its very stunning

 

Welcome @eve83
I agree with @Marley Farley , a border would look lovely there

 

Thank you so much everyone!!

Ive been busy looking up all your ideas and now im super keen!

However, im guessing im too late to start this year (probably for the best - lack of funds and a crawling baby in the way hehe!) - when is the best time to get started on this?

 

I agree with armandii get the grass out first and sort any soil problems

Then i would think about the fence do u want to leave it as it is or paint it or attach trellis or maybe some gutters to fill them with alpines or succulents that will trail that are easy to look after

Etc


I would think about these kind of things way before sourcing plants

 

Top of the agenda: -

~ move that potted conifer off the path (you'll trip over it ) and place it next to the door of your shed.

~ next - try and find a copy of Dr Hessayon's Easy Care Garden Expert - loads of advice! The link is purely so you can see what you are looking out for. I managed to get a copy from a local charity shop a couple of months ago for pennies! And yes, it would suggest moving that pot plant off the path

~ next: children are not a hindrance to gardening, but an asset! They love learning and they love, even more, learning about what their parents love learning about So, you can save yourself heartache/time/energy by involving your toddler right from the very beginning (we have a member @clueless1 who is actively involved with gardening with his lad from when his lad was a toddler: but, a heads-up .. his advice *will* include "nasturtiums" ; but, with good reason )

- next: you need to spend a bit of reflection time considering just *what* you want the garden to do for you and your family. For example, today, at this point in time, *you* would like a mix of flowers and shrubs which are easy-care. But: what about your children? Your husband/partner? What of their "wants/needs" - and not just today - what about in 2 years time? Five years time? Ten years time?
E.G. How long do you plan being in that property?
E.G. What gender are your children? Will they want a goal post? A trampoline? A play house?
E.G. Would you, as a couple/family want a space for entertaining? Would that involve putting in a decking/paved area for a table/chairs/BBQ?
E.G. Is this a temporary home or one you wish to "invest" in as your permanent abode? That can have an impact on how much work/time/money you plan on spending.
E.G. Your washing line is in shade: could/should it be moved to maximise daylight hours? (Bear in mind, during the shorter months, where it is now, it may not get any sun at all! So, how dependent on line-drying are you?).
E.G. Do you dream of keeping a hen or three (in an Eglu perhaps?) so you can a) have fresh eggs for 9 mnths of the year. in an Urban setting, and b) teach your lovely youngsters where food comes from at minimum cost/space but maximum impact?
E.G. Do you want any old shrub/flowers, or, do you want "productive" flowers/shrubs? I have a contorted hazel shrub which produces a handful of hazelnuts - if the squirrels don't get to them first It is glorious in the Spring - but a bit dull and lack lustre the rest of the year, yet, still gives us a golden chalice of a few home-grown nuts to have earned it's place in our garden today (and our much, much smaller garden, of tomorrow). Likewise, I will be taking our raspberry "bushes" (canes) with us - at least, initially.

Ok, so much of the above has nothing at all to do with soil/aspect/flowers/shrubs/lawns. But, they are very much fundamental to how you want *your* garden to function and what it really is you want it to do for *you*.

 

Wow thank you so much everyone - you all seem lovely

So much to think about 'M' but I *think* I have most things sorted (I say think co I have a memory like a goldfish hehe!)

Definitely a house for life, rest of the garden for play area (well rugby pitch ) I'm the only one who wants to make it look pretty but hubby is willing to graft

I have got thinking and like the idea of having a little stepping stone path running through it for the kids :-)

 

Ours has been in turn, a hunting ground where the toddlers have spent hours looking for insects to examine.
A playground with swings slides goal posts etc and a kitchen garden where the kids have learnt to grow fruit and veg.
I too had not a clue about soil types etc I just looked for plants that were perennial that wouldn't grow too big and that I liked the look of!
Never payed for or planted anything that I would be upset over if it got knocked by a ball!
Surprisingly although I have lost plants over this time quite a lot did really well -I think the happy noise of the kids playing brought the plants on!
There are cheats like, looking at gardens locally to see which plants are growing well as these will probably do well in your garden too and as others have said gardening books. You could even start with plants in pots on the patio until you have more time to get into the heavy duty digging .
Looks like you are in a lovely spot there to make a lovely garden!

 

Hello @eve83 and welcome

Our "M" is not fibbing here...

...Nasturtium - very easy to grow from seed, seeds big enough for clumsy kiddy fingers to handle with ease, the plant is very pretty, indestructible, and all parts are edible but taste peppery, which is great for allowing kids to do the inevitable taste test without worrying about them poisoning themselves. You see them looking at it and thinking about it, and you just sort of stay back and think 'go on then, I dare you'. They shove it in their chops, realise it is (to young taste buds) horrible, and they safely start to learn that not everything tastes nice

I could write an essay on the virtues of nasturtium, including how it grows in most soil conditions, isn't particularly fussy, attracts butterflies and bumblebees, is indestructible, cheap, easy, pretty etc, but I think there's already several of my lengthy essays on the subject kicking about on here

Apart from that, my advice goes like this.

Involve the kid(s) as much as you can. Kids have better imaginations than us, and they still remember fun.

Gardens get bigger and more exciting when you can't see them all in one go. My garden for example started off flat and empty, but over the past 4 years has acquired a willow den and tunnel network, mounds and ditches to provide cover during Nerf battles, a fort, a wobbly bridge, a tractor tyre 'tunnel', and is getting a bridge. Oh and the new bit (its own section again) has a wind chime xylophone in it and various bright windmills and such (mostly for the newest lad, now just about a year old).

Work a section at a time. I tried to get too much done too quickly, and it ground me down a bit. There has also been the odd mistake (like putting in a pond in the wrong place), but I guess we all have to remember Rome wasn't built in a day and I doubt if anyone gets everything right first time, so take it easy and enjoy it.

And have somewhere to sit. It can't be all work.