Garden Project - Not sure where to go....

Hi

My garden needs to be sorted out desperately.

When I bought the house it was untouched and I've been busy doing the inside up to not worry about the garden, but I want it sorted now (as I have finished the house)

Heres some pics


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The garden is south east facing, so the fence on the right seems to get all the sun.

Goals are - Something that hides the fences, makes the garden feel larger then it is (its just a plain boring rectangle shape at the mo), I will plan to use the paving slabs I removed for the decking nearer the garage as the tree drops alot of pine cones, easy to maintain

I've installed the decking so thats why theres bags of rubbish I havent taken to the dump yet

Any input/advice would be great as I havent got a clue

 

the 1st thing, is don't rush anything ... the cold months are coming soon, and it would be better to plan now, prepare the beds, sort the lawn and plant most things in spring when the last frosts have disappeared

the nice thing is that you have a blank canvas and can plan and lay it out to suit your personal tastes ....

choose a main theme (such as exotic), and plan accordingly, and add a few plants/shrubs for colour .... if you go for colour, choose 2 colours that look good together such as red and yellow, or purple and yellow ... if you opt for flowering plants, seek those that have won the RHS award, and that flower for a long period

I normally start planning a garden with evergreens .... strategically place them around the garden to ensure that there is always some interest in most places, then fill in with colour

shop wisely, and don't rule out sites such as ebay

I would prepare the beds now, and sort out the lawn .... add some seed to the patches, add some topsoil and water well .... in a month's time, add some scotts autumn lawn slow release fertilizer (or similar)

then plan and start planting in spring ... If I have time a little later, I will give you some of my ideas ... also need to know in which part of the UK you live as that may affect the plant selection

 

What happend to the first post??

 

Anti Spam software seems to be possesed by demons at the moment, should be sorted now.

Anyone else can't see their posts, please contact a mod

 

I would put a bed against the wall with the edge following the opposite angle of the wall plant something eye catching to draw your eye more to the center.
Plant a clematis or two to grow along the wall and fence.
Id have some pots around the decking/seating area window boxes and planters by the house wall.
A bed at the front right hand corner (maybe raised up) with plants you can see through (so you can see the rest of the garden).
Possibly some small beds to follow along the fence maybe a curve here and there to give the eye more to look at than just a straight line.

Thats what I would do but what would you like in the garden? :D.

Its not too late to start sowing seeds indoors for next year, look at shade loveing plants along with some choice sun lovers to go along the right hand side.

 

Hi Richard.

I think the main thing is to try to get some idea of what 'theme' you're after. As no doubt you are aware, there are many styles one can adopt. I reckon a good idea would be to see as many gardens as you can, there's no shame in pinching ideas As *dim* said, there's no rush. Take your time to get some ideas, and try to plan carefully. Time taken now could reap rewards further down the line. Consider things like hard landscaping, water features first, then build around it. I reckon that when one has a narrow garden (as I do) that it helps to not be afraid to add height. To this end I have used tall grasses, Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' (Zebra Grass) for example, and it seems to work well (for me). On another fence I have a grapevine, which although was quite small two years ago, has now taken over. Of course, these two examples are deciduous (they lose their leaves in the autumn), so don't provide all year foliage. Try to remember, it's not about creating something that's a showpiece, but more something that pleases you You'll probably find that you make a few mistakes, well, maybe not mistakes, but evolving your ideas as you go along. This I think is what makes gardening so fascinating. If we all got it right fist time, it would be quite boring. I'm not an expert, but I hope this helps.

Cheers...Freddy.

 

against the sunny wall .... plant 3-4 evergreen star jasmine creepers (Trachelospermum jasminoides) .... these take a while to establish and they get going, they will fill the whole wall ... evergreen and smell really good in summer .... the leaves sometimes turn red in winter .... I have planted several in cambridge last autumn ... they were small, and had no probs during winter (the coldest in 100 yrs) .... this year, they have really taken off and should hopefully fill out the spaces by next year ... I have planted several more this year in other gardens, and all are doing well (so far)
http://www.klru.org/ctg/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/star-jasmine-wide-web.jpg

make a bed approx 750mm wide along this sunny wall, and let it run the full length of the wall .... plant 4 small trees/shrubs at equal spaces .... the ones that I would look at are:

sambucus black tower ....
Sambucus Black Tower, Another Winner! - New Plants Matter! | Blogs | Horticulture Week

smoke bush ... (Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple')
http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/shrubs/smoke-bush-border.jpg

sambucus sutherland gold ...(this one will need regular pruning to keep it in shape)
http://www.djroger.com/sutherland_gold.JPG

Albizzia Summer Chocolate ... not 100% hardy but worth a try as it's not too expensive and the normal one does well here in cambridge?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dLSVgS5Ax...9ugxo5IDOFQ/s400/Albizia+Summer+Chocolate.jpg

in the bed along the sunny wall, plant heuchera .... I would go for 2 bold colours that do well in sun such as georgia peach and Heuchera 'Cinnabar Silver'
... they are 'evergreen' but need a good mulch of manure or compost in autumn

Terra Nova Nurseries - Home Gardeners - Heuchera 'Georgia Peach'

Terra Nova Nurseries - Home Gardeners - Heuchera 'Cinnabar Silver'

there are other colours, but make sure they grow well in full sun

for border edging, plant black grass at 200mm intervals along the whole length off the bed/wall (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Arabicus'- Black Mondo Grass)
http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/pictures300/Ophiopogon_Black300.jpg

this will sort out the sunny wall side ...
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the back area by what looks as a garage:

make a decent sized bed the full length right up to the door (3m wide)

in the middle, plant a palm (Trachycarpus fortunei)
http://dominicanexclusiva.com/trachycarpus-fortunei-gc-7.jpg

they grow very slow here in the UK, and will take a very long time to grow as large as in the photo ... so buy the tallest one you can afford ... these are the hardiest palms in the UK and will be a focal point from your patio

around the palm, plant evergreen ferns such as dryopteris affinis crispa:
http://www.honeysomeaquaticnursery.co.uk/shop/images/categories/Dryopteris affinis.jpg

some large leaf hostas:
http://seddeo.com/data_images/hosta-plant.jpg

some japanese painted ferns:
http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/58/4/AAAAAvDDXJAAAAAAAFhFAw.jpg?v=1183393435000

some jack frost brunerra:
http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/images/jack-frost-brunnera-21299046.jpg

some heuchera for colour (sun/semishade):
Terra Nova Nurseries - Home Gardeners - Heuchera

and a few more hardy colourfull plants that will fill the gaps

against the garage wall, plant an evergreen creeper that will do well in semishade ... perhaps a HYDRANGEA seemannii but will need regular pruning ...this will be part of your focal point from your patio

a small japanese maple should also do well here assuming there is not too much wind:
http://community.homedepot.com/t5/i...D7C74B3F6E/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&px=-1

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against the shady wall on the left hand side, make a bed 750mm wide for the full length of the wall ... plant a few hardy large ferns, at regular intervals (dryopteris affinis crispa) and fill the gaps with 2 colours of huechera that grow well in semi shade (perhaps berry smoothie with electra)
Terra Nova Nurseries - Home Gardeners - Heuchera 'Berry Smoothie'

Terra Nova Nurseries - Home Gardeners - Heuchera 'Electra'

in the far corner (but away from the garage door), you could plant a fatsia japonica
Google Images

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along the back border (by the garage) and all along the l/h wall (shaddy wall) plant hakonechloa macra aureola at 300mm intervals along the border edging
http://www.perennialplant.org/ppy/2009_POY.pdf
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add a few more shade loving shrubs along this wall such as acuba and a few others, as well as some semi-shade evergreen creepers,

sort out your lawn ...and you will have a pretty nice garden IMHO

you may also consider installing an irrigation system ... they are very cheap and easy to install ... use the one that has the small computer timer on the garden tap with a manifold

.... and perhaps a clematis montana to ramble up the big pine tree for a bit of extra colour?
http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/Clematis montana_E2.jpg

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these are only a few suggestions off the top of my head ... ask me the same question tommorow after I have had a few beers and I will most probably have a completely different list/idea!

 

Fiippin' eck *dim*! That's pretty comprehensive! Well done :thumb:

 

always a pleasure! .... am still learning, but if everyone shares some ideas, the person who has the query will be more informed and will be able take the best parts from everyone's suggestions and create something to his own tastes ...

and at the same time, we all learn

 

Hiya *dim*.

I can't argue with that

 

Wow Dim, thats some great pointers in the right direction!

Thanks

 

My advice is somewhat more humble than has already been given, but here goes:

If you make a path through the garden, don't make it a straight line. Straight paths, by the very rule that a straight line between two points is always the shortest route, just make areas look smaller than they are.

Maybe divide the garden up into sections. Not necessarily screened off (which will just make smaller rooms), but different features at different points. Not radically different, remember you'll always be able to see it all from every point so it probably needs some consistency, but just slightly different enough so that it doesn't look too formal.

In my back garden (I was also blessed with a 'blank canvass' (read mammoth task of back breaking work)), I'm going for sweeping curves as a way of tricking the eye into thinking it is bigger than it is. Its a strange and well documented quirk of human vision that our eyes are automatically drawn to follow lines, so if the lines are curved then the they are longer, so the garden is magically bigger.

 

Class post, Dim, as always.