Help designing new garden...please!!

Hi all, I'm a newbie with a new house and a desire for a lovely garden... And not a lot of idea where to start! My garden is roughly 1/3 acre and north facing with open country side to the right side and neighbours high hedge on the left. Bang in the middle is a concrete lid for septic tank and it drains diagonally across the whole plot so am worried about roots and such! The whole garden was weed suppressed and piled five inches deep with stones and bark... And I have no rear access to dispose of it so am trying to reuse what we can to a, save money and b, I don't really want to lug it all through my house! After reading these forums I am trying to put in hard landscaping first and I know that I would like nice meandering paths to walk through with stunning beds with a cottage feel, and also a fern garden in the most shadiest part of the garden... But help on how to achieve this..on a very tight budget...*gulp* ... For the paths I am thinking to just reuse the stones but I will have to have meters and meters of edging, and it all seems very expensive. The soil itself is very stony but seems quite fertile with a lot of worms( they are a good sign?) and I have started digging the whole garden over and trying to remove the deep roots that are all over, we have taken out a lot of overgrown blackthorn hedging ,I believe this is the culprit? But it is so daunting on such a large area, any advice? Thanks.

 

Wow, you could do so much with that garden area. My first thought was that it would take an age to get things as you want. If the garden was my mine, I would section off areas, like a veg patch, shed/greenhouse area, grass and patio. As there isn't much of a budget for you I would beg steal and borrow as much as possible. You will be busy thats for sure !

 

You can't really create a meandering pathway with square slabs. I've seen it done buy professionals and they careful cut each slab with a large stone cutter. Very long, messy and time consuming. If you want stone paths I cannot recommend highly enough getting professionals in to do the job. This will cost you a large amount on money though. Most people want to do it themselves to save money but usually call the professionals in when they give up. So you've wasted time and money in the process in the long run. If you feel you can lay a slab path, then please make it simple for your own sanity.

Although I personally would recommend that you use the bark for the pathways, if you have enough of it. Edge this with some shuttering either sides and put some weed membrane underneath.

I think you need to think more about what you want from your garden as your plot is too large to have just a cottage garden.You need to divide it up into rooms. You could grow veg and fruit like John K said if you wanted to or create a wildlife area,ponds etc. In theory your imagination is your only limit with a garden that large.

The hedging at the side of your garden looks a bit like leylandii to me, is the ground underneath quite dry? As this may dictate what you can plant there.

 

Yes... Ages! I have never worked so hard in my life me and hubby have been working the garden every weekend since November and it feels like we are not really getting anywhere, but I know we are! Clearing and digging mainly but it is giving me a "feel" for what I want where and that part is free but looking through other gardens on here is giving me hope of an end to the suffering!

 

Also whats the rectangle that looks like railway sleepers? Is that an old shed base or a veg bed?

 

Hi jungle Jane, the whole garden seems dry it has all the hedging and trees, but digging it over seems to be helping it that side of the garden is where I'm going to put the shed so not too worried about the hedge, I wanted a large garden, but I do think i am having trouble filling it all! I was thinking of having a meadow but not sure i get enough sun for this being north facing?? The soil has large clay pockets so am I right thinking I need some thing digging into it?

 

If you're garden is north facing then it should be only the bit by your house that should be in permanent shade. You could have a meadow at the top of your garden though, where it probably gets more sun than any of the rest of it, I presume. Clay soil isn't really an issue for a meadow and Chelmsford clay isn't anywhere near as the clay round here in south Essex. Also if your soil is quite dry then it may be low in nutrients because of the hedges all the way round, though I doubt it as it is clay, which is a good thing for a wildflower garden.

Improving clay soil depends on what you want to do with it and what you want to plant there. There are many cottage plants that love clay soil, others that can survive but would prefer more drainage. However if you want to use it for planting veg then it will need improving. Chelmsford clay is usually a mixture of sandy clay soil from what I remember when I used to live round there, so wouldn't see it as a problem personally. If your soil is bright orange or blue then it would defiantly need improving.

 

I have found lumps of blue and orange soil.. But Mainly stones and plates..with some bones thrown in ( shudder to think!) i think my garden was a dump at some point and the sleepers were "apparantly" a veg patch but they are creosoted and the membrane goes all the way under it so they obviously wasn't growing anything! I am new to this country lark but seeing as they had no fencing I have no idea how they thought they would keep the rabbits out!

 

I also have a question about composting...told you I was a newbie! Do I just put all leaves and weeds in and leave it? How does it all work :s

 

Composting isn't really that simple. If you chuck weeds in, especially perennial ones. Then you are quite likely to have them return in your compost. Annual weeds are ok to compost, as long as there are no seeds on the plant. Fallen leaves can be stored separately to create something called leaf mould which is a brilliant soil conditioner for the ground, particularly clay soil. Otherwise chop them up with your lawnmower and add them to the compost bin and these will break down even quicker.

Look at this guide here which gives you simple advice for beginners to composting
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/compost_pf.php

There are also several books out there to help you with composting, which go a bit more in depth on the subject. I recommend you get one, if you want to be a serious composter.

Also think about investing in some Comfrey Bocking 14, this will help your compost bin a great deal as well as helping the local bees out too.

It sounds to me like the railway sleepers were used as an old shed base. I'd keep them and move them to wherever you want your shed to be, that should save you a bit of money.

Stones and plates are not really a problem, but your orange and blue clay could be, although I doubt it as you're in the country and it looks as though most of your garden hasn't been under 50 years of concrete, like mine was. Things could be much worse, as long as you can stick a spade through it, you should be fine.

 

Thanks for the advice jungle Jane

 

I have also just moved and taken on a garden, after clearing the rubbish and cutting down the old trees I drew up a simple plan . I positioned a shed at the bottom left and laid a simple patio and raised beds to the side of it. I then created areas and divided them by trellis, the main area I have laid down to turf and planted shrubs in borders down the side. I will cut out more beds and lay paths in time as I learn what plants I want and where the sun is all year. The beds have been turned over and manure mixed in to improve the soil. I will plant the new trees when the soil warms up and I have made my mind up as to what to plant. I have found this the easiest way in the past, do not rush, take your time to plan and see what neighbours are growing, know and improve your soil and learn where the sun shines. most of all enjoy the fresh air

 

Hello and welcome Clueless76, and Alumchinegirl

 

That's probably not strictly true. It is possible to make a gently curved pathway by creating an angle between the slabs and infilling with another material, gravel, for example or pebbles set in cement.

It probably works better with rectangular slabs because they have more width to create a decent path and allow the creation of more flowing curves.

I have done this with my front path, it was a relatively easy solution although it is quite a short stretch and I really like the way it looks, fortunately, because I'm not about to pay for a more sophisticated solution! You could also make a winding path with diamond-shaped squares as they are at present. You'd have to have an edging and some sort of infill, though.