Complete Newbie - where to start

Hi all,


Could really do with some advice regarding our decent size back garden.

We moved into our relatives house at the end of August last year and didn't get started on the back garden at all due to decorating. We decided to leave it till after winter to tidy up.

I have no idea where to start (don't even own a lawnmower) but ideally want to make the garden safe so my two year old daughter can play out here. It's slightly over grown, uneven and generally a bit of a mess.

It would be nice to have friends and family over for BBQ's etc doing the summer months.
We are looking at getting some fencing at we have steep steps leading up to the grass area.

I've always liked the idea of growing fruit/veg but again not even sure where to start. We are on the south downs so get lost of animal vistors.

I'll post some pictures shortly so you can see what we have to work with.

Hope you guys can help, I'm looking forward to spending spring weekends out there working.

 

Hiya BillyG,
welcome to Gardeners Corner, a great bunch of enthusiastic people who will be happy to help with any questions that you have. It's a good idea to give us some pictures so we can see what you have and help to the achieve what you want,
have a wander round, others will be along shortly,
Jenny namaste

 

Hello and welcome

 

Pictures would be good, to get a sense of the area, aspect, and the amount of work that is going to be needed

 

Thanks for the warm welcome
Here are a couple of pictures of my garden.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

Just merged & cleaned the 2 threads

 

Looks like a blank canvass to me

That hilly slope is not easy, certainly difficult to mow grass on. Most common solution, I think, is to create some terraces so that there are flat areas, and then steep steps up to the next level. Obviously a lot of work to create in the first place, but much easier to look after thereafter.

When you face up the hill what direction is that? That would tell us which way the sun shines on it, which will influence what will grow well etc.

 

Thanks for the reply, would a strimmer be a good place to start?
Up the hill is facing north/north-east.
I've found a picture from the top end of the garden facing down to the house.
This was taken in Sept last year just after we moved in.

 

Hi BillyG and welcome to GC.

A strim over would certainly help matters.

If you want to grow fruit and veg, the top of the garden would be my choice as it will receive most sun, my garden faces north but I've sectioned off the top part to accommodate my greenhouse, veg patch and chicken run.

Do be methodical and take your time, it's taken me 7 years to get my vegetable garden to where it is now, still not quite right but productive and getting better every year.

Good Luck.

 

For the rough grass you currently have its probably the only tool that will get it under control. If you convert it to lawn you'd probably need something like a hover mower to cope with the slope. If you are going to work on it you might want to hire a strimmer (or what the hire shops probably call a Brush Cutter) rather than buying one.

When it starts to grow back you could put weed killer (Roundup / Glyphosate which is made inactive once it hits the ground, so it kills only what it hits and does not linger in the ground) on the areas you want to then work for flower beds whatever.

If it was me I'd hire a small JCB for the weekend and recontour it into terraces! Make sure you keep the topsoil separate from the sub-soil - you can move the topsoil into a pile on one side, make the sub soil to the shape you want, and then put a layer of topsoil back on. Dunno whether that sort of thing is up your street though?

 

My lawn was more overgrown than yours is and I got it under control with a light electric mower. By all means get a strimmer but they're a pain because you keep having to fix the string and they're tiring. A mower with a helicopter-type blade that rotates around the centre, with adjustable-height wheels will get up the inclines and can be easily lifted directly on top of stubborn bits. Get one you can easily lift from the pushing position. Mine's a just Bosche 23cm blade, 230V, 280 watt, 10.3kg. Alternatively get one with a very wide blade to cut down the cutting time - but then it's not going to be light and you might need a petrol mower to get it up the slopes.

The first thing I did was draw a sketch-plan of my garden (careful, but not measured), and draw on all the things I'd like in it. Such as:
External views I want to cover up,
External views I want to keep,
Trees,
Hedges,
Bushes,
Child's play area,
Terrace,
Vegetable patch,
Little orchard,
Seated arbour,
Flower beds,
Pergolas etc.

Now's a good time to get a veggie-patch dug over - if you're making a new one then it's good to 'double-dig' the patch and then leave the wind and rain to get at the clods. If I had my time over I would have put a planking frame around it before I dug it to help with drainage and make it look neat.

I suppose you've got chalky soil there but it's a good idea to do a soil and drainage test http://organicgardening.about.com/od/soil/a/easysoiltests.htm to see what you've got.

 

What a marvelous looking garden, lots of work but plan carefully, you don`t want to have to do it twice ., Terraces as Kristen says to give you level areas.
As you have a 2 year old clear an area near the house for her to play outside, then secure off the remaining so you can work with no worries of her safety. While doing that formulate a plan for the remainder.

 

Wow, some great feedback thanks guys. Sounds a bit daunting to be honest.
I don't have a big budget and no equipment so going to have to make do with borrowing/hiring equipment and some hard graft.
We will have to sit down and decide what exactly we want but definitely need some space for children to play and then maybe somewhere where we could put seating etc for adults. It would be great to have a little veg patch at the top so maybe I'll try and aim for that aswell.
Long road ahead.