grotty gardens

Hi. We have had our garden for a while, but year in and year out as we have tried to do something with it, family matters have taken over. As a result we have a hard ground garden, with small remnants of attempts at lawn, one tree, a propensity for weeds and nettles, and encroaching ivy from next door. We cut the ivy back - repeatedly. We plan to hire a rotivator and to completely break up the ground. But the hosepipe ban sounds like the death knell for a new lawn. We do not have lot of money to spend, but I want to have a garden to enjoy. Due to arthritis, the amount of physical work is limited. Can anyone advise please? I love country type gardens and plants, want space to sit in, and to grow at least my own herbs

 

there s a lot of work ahead so i suggest you reward yourself every week with a medium sized pot of something, some of the plants can be enjoyed be4 they are put in to the main garden
plastic planters are fairly inexpensive, and you need at least one large bag of compost, in supermarkets you can get primulas for a �£1 each, . three will be fine,, and you can sow some seeds in between
herbs do quite well in pots and .... try a mix of rosemary, thyme lavender, etc . often gardening friends will give you some of these
there are lots of perennials which can be potted on, they should double in size in a year if looked after ... so buy small now for economy and variety
summer bulbs ... also do well in pots, and can be tranplanted once the garden is ready,
Salads . sow some mixed salad leaves and pick fresh
LAWN, in a small garden sometimes they are not worth the effort, i assume you have considered puting down gravel as an aid to low maintenance gardening .......... in my experience people forget the need for a retaining border, which is essential and involves cost of �£5 to �£20 per meter,
PATHS, simple paths are gravel, with an edge to prevent loss and fabric to stop soil and weeds ingress, small slabs can go in a lawn .... they can be spaced apart
RESOURCES
have you any resources to re cycle
use large plastic lemonade bottles as mini greenhouses,
. floorboards to make a raised bed for vegetabes [no dig method]
old sinks for containers, some peeps are fond of white painted tyres [ i think its a waste of paint!
make your own compost bins if council does nt give them away,
before the hospipe baN i suggest you wet the area to be rotavated to soften hard soil, not enuff to make it muddy!
look out for bargains in local paper, some peeps are happy to part with the very thing you need

[ 23. March 2006, 10:31 AM: Message edited by: Lady Gardener ]

 

That is a wonderful start. Thanks. When you say gravel, do you mean simply buy loads and lay it all over the ground once rotivated, leaving a space for borders? That sounds atractive since I have 2 dogs! Good for de-toileting the garden. If that is the case, do I simply lay it all across the garden and rake it over?

 

Also get a water butt, or two, or three- try your council for cheaper ones. It's surprising how much water you can save for watering just from a small showerof rain. They aren't difficult to install where there is already a downpipe! And if there is no rain you can fill it with grey water from washing up or baths [some physical effort, though]. Gravel sounds great, mowing is hard work. Expect LG will tell you how to lay it, perhaps with weedproofing.
Perhaps you could do before and after pictures!

 

when putting gravel down it would be a good idea to put some membrane down first so the water can soak through, but the weeds are supressed, if you go the way of gravel there is no need to rotavate the ground, just put weed killer down first, then the membrane then the gravel.
if you want leave areas for borders etc.. then dont put weedkiller on those areas.
It may be helpful to put some edging where the borders may be going before the gravel goes down

 

... to cut down on the cost of pots, I buy builders buckets and put some holes in the bottom!!!! They cost between 80p and �£1 - considering the size - very cheap!!!

 

and portable,
but i thot plastic pots are quite cheap nowadays,
re gravel . membrane is essential to separate soil and gravel

[ 26. March 2006, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: Lady Gardener ]