Advice & Ideas Needed for Our Garden

Hi all,

New to the forum so will try and keep this post short and simple.

We moved into a rented house end of last year which has a small back garden and i am looking for some advice or ideas.

This is the current state of the garden which has been the same from the day we moved in. As its a rented house the landlord has said its ok to do what ever to the garden but I don't want to spend to much money on over doing the garden just in case we move out in a few years time.

The lower part of the garden where all the patio and slabs are i wish to leave as they are. The main focus is to sort the 2 raised beds next to the steps and the top half of the garden / grass.

Where there is no grass at the back i was going to lay some weed control fabric down with some railway sleepers across the front of the fabric where the grass ends and fill with some kind of stones or bark.

Either side of the grass is a border which has weeds and soil in. The raised beds i was going to cover with weed control fabric and also fill and the grass does not look in a good condition but am sure after a few cuts it will be ok

Would like to keep things simple but while having a nice garden for the time we are here to enjoy in the summer

And sorry about the mess of the garden :-) plan on jet washing the patio and walls.



Many Thanks
Chris

 

Plenty of flowering annuals/perennials which you could plant in the raised borders. Depends on what you like really. I'd forget the weed control fabric and pack it with plants.

A nice fragrant rose (David Austin's Golden Celebration maybe) would be an option or do you want something evergreen? Be a shame not to put something scented in which you could enjoy while sitting on the patio. How about some Lavender or other herbs?

It will certainly benefit from having some compost dug in before you plant anything though.

Re the bottom of the garden, I would plant some containers of varying sizes and put those there, then you can take them with you when you move (which is what I've done with a LOT of my plants). I'd do a row of mixed evergreen shrubs across the back to hide the concrete, then smaller flowering plants in front of them (either some patio roses or dahlias, fuchsias, stocks, etc).

Whereabouts are you?

 

Merle has said just what I was going to say....plus I notice some more pavers propped up at the back...you could level the existings ones off and make it a nice seating area....then re seed the top right hand side....edge the lawn down the sides and remove the weeds from the borders...I think it'll look great with a bit of TLC

 

The paving at the back needs to be lifted and put back straight or stored.

 

Clean the paving in the front and paint the fences with the cheapest exterior paint u can find

 

Hi

We are looking at staying here as long as we can but it could be anything from two years to five years. To be honest as well we don't have a massive budget.

The location at the back had 2 large sheds on both sides so its never had grass here before and its why it was paved as you can see in the photo and I was going to get rid of the slabs at the back.

There is no plants of any kind in the borders at the min and just the odd weed.

Ummmm choices, choices :-)

Chris

 

I'd fill that raised bed with herbs, with Rosemary as the centrepiece. Other than that, I'd go with all the other suggestions so far

 

Ive got alsorts you can have chris(i always grow too much),plus im growing dahlias,nigella,zinnia and other annuals you welcome to when they are ready for planting.
Perennials like shasta daisys,the pearl achillea,astilbes,papavar orientale poppy,pansys,asiatic lilys,lupins,sweetpeas plus more but cant think of the top of my head as there is prob more i can offer.
Also herbs..chives,rosemary,sage,thyme ...i nearly forgot about them

 

Hi,

Many thanks for the advice and ideas so far and to joolz68 for the kind offer. I dont mean to ask this but what does a container garden mean. Does it mean just lots of plants in pots?

Chris

 

Hi all

Am no expert but here is my plan so far.

Well I have been having a think and decided to do a quick drawing of the layout using your designs and ideas which you have given me so far.

Not sure if I have gone to complex.

In the raised beds each side of steps to have rosemary as the centre bit and herbs. Not sure on herbs yet.

Borders down each side of the grass with annuals.

Clean up and re lay the slabs on the left then maybe some containers or use as a seating area

Gravel or bark on the right but with wood or sleepers around the edge of this area

Leave the grass as it is but how can I get the grass looking good as it was before

 

Hi Chris

How about something like this?



Small herb garden next to the steps then some railway sleepers and gravel creating a pathway to the back section with the slabs and a nice comfy outdoor bench.
Along the right hand side a flower bed.

 

If you are prepared to throw more money at it, you could put up a dried (and treated) bamboo or similar screen to hide the walls and make it look more "natural".