Hello all

Hi everyone.

We moved to our new home last October. The garden here is a tiny fraction of the size of our old garden, a much more manageable size for us now that we have creaking bones and assorted maladies.

The back garden is a frustrating shape, a basic triangle with a square on one side and varying degrees of slope. One fence is south facing, one is north east and the third north.

The house is 25 years old with one previous owner. The garden consisted of very weedy grass and a brick barbecue. The whole area has been heavily compacted and waterlogging is evident.

The soil is thick clay in one area and sandier clay in the rest of the ground. We have added vast amounts of manure and compost (wish we had managed this last autumn but too wet I'm afraid) and I am praying for more worms (only found two when I double dug a few weeks ago, heartbreaking!)

I have started making two beds. On the south facing side I have the young fruit trees that we took from our last garden - some will be moving out of there when other areas have been improved.

On the north east side I've got all the perennials we brought from the last garden.

I don't like the triangular shape so I've tried to round it off with my parotia and stone bench. I fear the parrotia had not survived the move from the last garden. I could not bear to leave it but I believe I will find it's death harder to bear. Hubby assures me it is early yet here in Central Scotland and that it may yet spring to life.

I have demolished most of the barbecue, a few bricks remain in the ground and I really must get them out but I'm looking at that as part of the lawn project.

I have a collection of perennials, a couple of conifers and a dozen clematis waiting to be planted. We are cottage garden people.

So, a long first post. If you persisted, thanks

Tried to add photos but they are too big for the server.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

We've got a free photo editor to resize your pics here

 

Hello and welcome

Sounds an interesting project, but a bit tricky to visualise. A few pics would be excellent (also we are nosey!) and I'm sure help will be at hand.

Enjoy your new garden.
GG

 

Thanks Zigs and GG.

Here's some photos, hope they turn out OK.

 

Welcome to GC Everhopeful.

 

Hi Everhopeful,



Welcome to Gardeners Corner

 

Welcome to GC Everhopeful. Your garden is an interesting shape and I'm sure you've got ideas to work with. Have you considered reducing the width of the steps to give you a little more ground to work with?

 

Thanks for the welcomes.

Sheal, we have looked at the steps and wondered about removing a slab width. In the end we decided to keep it as it is at 3 slabs wide (270cm) so that we can have a seating area on the lower level. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

Hi...welcome to GC Enjoy!

 

to GC @Everhopeful

Lovely of you to join us.

Ok, so why not square it off? You have two borders now running up to that area so squaring it off from the edge of one border to the other and you can then use that (much smaller) remaining triangle to plant whatever. Maybe a nice tall, evergreen, shrub which would also give the illusion of privacy from the housing behind that fence?
It's an interesting shaped garden and you say you err on the side of a "cottage garden" style, so the sky's your limit really.
Looking forward to getting to know you around the forums and seeing how you rise to the challenges of the garden you are now custodian of

 

Mmm, squaring it off had not occurred to me, I'll need to have a think about that, "M".
I planted a young Rowan in the corner of the triangle and I'm thinking about making that area a wildlife hotel and bar, maybe running some Lythrum, Liatris and the like, out of that area and into the beds so it all looks united.

 

Why not add a yew and elder to the rowan? Here, those three together are considered a kind of "Holy Trinity" that protect from evil spirits and ensure a long life.

 

Oops I missed your intro.. Hiya

Think M's idea is a good un, squaring it off and having a small triangle at the back. Get the purple clematis, yellow roses and those hydrangeas you liked, will look lovely in a year or 2! I like the sound of the wildlife hotel and bar too, all the best