ideas for my garden.

Hi guys, so spring has finally shown its face and its got me in the mood for getting my arse in gear and getting the garden to a sorted,

So my theme I'd like to go with would be and old english beer garden, reason being is in my line of work its very hard and pysical and I love nothin more than after work on a lovely summers day and sitting in my garden and enjoying a few cold beers ... Who wouldn't rite !

Here's a pic of my garden as it stands now,
As you can see its pretty run down it was lovely when I first done it re turfed and was looking well, but sadley the dog made short work of it, so I'm wanting to move away from turf and go with like I mentioned before an Old english beer garden,

You can seen in the pic that where the sun shines and that's pretty much it from 9 am til 6pm and later in the summer to the right of the pic is my veg plot and it has sun all day long.



I'm happy with the veg plot, just need to work on the main garden with the theme I'd like to go with, so that's why I'd like to ask you guys what would be the best route to go with, I'm thinking some sort of stone path leading from the decking to the shed and maybe a couple of raised beds for floweres suich as sweetpeas, marriy golds and maybe some other flowers, as u scan see in the pic where the shade lies I have no idea what to plant there or what to do ideas ideas ideas.

Any advice would be much appreciated, again I'd like to do away with the turf and go with something else, dog just rips up the turf anyway.

Thanks.

 

My first thought is: dog! So, anything you plant, you know your dog will snuffle in, dig in, pee in

To combat that, you need a dog-eye-level barrier; so, depending on the size of your dog, that may mean a small raised bed for plants, or a taller raised bed for plants.

Regarding a "beer garden": hmm, interesting concept! So far, the sweetpeas and marigolds you mention are annuals and wouldn't give you year round interest. Some backbone planting is needed and then you can fill in with the sweetpeas and marigolds.

I think I might be tempted to go for an evergreen shrub (or two) preferably with scent - a mexican (tequila!) orange blossom would be lovely and give all year round scent. For a climber, maybe you could go for a hop? Definately beer related and it is seasonal (so no winter green) and could, if that way inclined, be harvested to make hop pillows (to induce sleep).

I think, because my humour leans that way, I'd be tempted to plant a nicotiana too (scented and lovely), since traditionally (but no longer lawful) drinking and smoking went hand in hand

How about a herb or three? Because, from my experience, drinking and eating also go hand in hand and I'm sure you could squeeze in a BBQ somewhere? So, rosemary would be great (cut stalks, throw on hot coals, adds a fab scent to BBQ'd meats! Or, cut stalks, strip of leaves and use as a skewer for tomatoes then BBQ) and has a lovely scent, is evergreen and has pretty little blue flowers at this time of year. Mint, so you can make mint julep (for those who don't like beer per se)?

 

Boy dog or girl dog? My boys will cock legs on everything I plant hence why most of my stuff is in planters.

A courtyard beer garden would look lovely with either raised beds down the sides or lots of containers and maybe a pergola with some nice climbers If you Google 'courtyard garden' you'll get some great ideas.

A Japanese Maple or two in planters would like that shady side, or Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Sarcococca Confusa, Viburnum Tinus, Skimmia Japonica Rubella. All except the Japanese Maple are evergreen

 

Oooops sorry mum, not nessicerily going for beer smells in the garden I want to achieve the look of a traditional old English beer garden like the ones you see in the country minus the boozer ... Lol, but as you mentioned a good all year round fragrance would be good, and red flowers of some sort is what I'd like to see, but I'm really undesicive at the moment more I can make my mind up! Ever greens sound fantastic I saw at b &q the other day they has some Heather which I believe is also an ever green, it had purple/pink buds and I thought it looked fantasic and hardy.

As for the dog he's a big chocolate Labrador and full of mischief hence why I want to get rid of the turf, he pulled it to prices last time and p'd all over it and made it look as I does now.

I'm thinking of changing the substrate so I'm thinking of laying down some hardcore and making some raised beds and maybe a feature or two in the centre of the garden and around the edges, pieceful tranquility and relaxation is what I'm hopin to acheive

 

Fantastic pretty much the look what I'm going for, the more English theme tho as aposed to the Japanese, I'm not against japanese or anything as my right arm is covered in a Japanese theme tattoo, I just want the look and smell of an english summer beer garden

 

I think it's a traditional cottage style you're after. One of the first plants that I think is a must have Dan is a climbing red rose along one of your fences, the dogs won't get to near that! Would you prefer perennials to annuals, or both?

 

Climbing red Rose sounds great, do they need a lot of sun because if not that would be ideal for the fence to the left,

I would like perennials that way it would five me something to look forward to every year, annuals would be good too, they would keep me busy around the garden annually lol,

But I think I'm going to go with a gravel substrate, and make a few raised beds with stone I get from work .

Thanks.

 

Roses prefer full sun, but at a guess two to three hours a day would be enough.

How about.....Lupins, Delphiniums, Lavender, Fuschias, Clematis, Honeysuckle for starters, these are all perennials. Lavatera can be hardy enough to survive more than one year.

Annuals......Petunias, Stocks, Nicotiana, Cosmos, Pansies etc.

It's amazing when you're trying to bring plants to mind it goes blank.

Have a look at some of the online seed catalogues like Suttons and Dobies, they will give you ideas for plants as well as seeds.

 

Hi sheal sorry for the late reply works been crazy! First bit of good weather and the building trades go mad lol, anyway there have been a few transformations in my garden since the last pic, but I still have the same problem..... I really don't know what I want, I really like honey suckles and would like a red/yellow one but the thing that really is making decisions hard for me is the fact I'm changing the scruffy lawn for a more dog friendly gravel but because the gravel is a dull colour, I'm finding it hard to decided on a colour theme and style, I saw Charlie dimmock and tichmarsh do a lovely Japanese theme water garden with gravel and look really nice but some stepping stones and plants which brightened up the gravel, but I really don't know what to choose or look for, but then I like the look of red panseys and other plants which I couldn't possibly name... I really am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I have transformed my garden and done some woodwork I've re fenced it and built like a pagoda and 2 box beds for flowers ill post a pick up ASAP to show u all, but as I've stated I'm stuck on how to decorate it and plant it HELP!!!!!

 

Ref your 1st photo how about some Apple trees so you can make your own Strongbow!!!!

 

Sorry Dan I don't consider gravel dog friendly, it's likely to make the pads on their paws sore.

If you want a Japanese theme, Freddy comes to mind, perhaps you can take a look at his garden for ideas. Sorry, I'm not sure whether he has it on a blog or maybe it's in the projects section.

Until you've decided whether to have gravel for certain I'd be inclined to hold fire on what you want to plant until it's laid, by then it might give you some ideas.

 

Agree with Sheal re the gravel - too harsh on furry paws.

New pics would be great