My new garden. Lawn/border shape advice needed, please :)

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Broader and less curves for me Linz. Sweeping and generous.

 

Try not to go to narrow with the borders they are difficult to plant up and don't create any impact.

 

My partners flat has the curved borders, personally I like straight ones as you can fit more in, his ones are v narrow at the narrowest point which I find a bit silly! But, totally up to you! Curved is definitely more interesting! Hear you about blocking out nosey neighbours! Make sure you get evergreen stuff at the back where you can! Or, just make a higher fence? Or put tight trellis going higher if you don’t want to replace the whole fence? Railway sleepers look excellent IMHO for raised veg beds or any beds. Good luck with it!

 

So, what have you got there? Rough guess a garden say 64-70ft x 36-40ft. No idea asto North South etc. The trampolene is that perhaps for children? in which case they must be catered for.
Slightly curved borders, but not s series of curves.

May I suggest looking at your garden as one would look at a photo. The latter normally suggests varying depths of focus. So how about this.
The borders, need to able to get the best of sunlight, so the border getting less can be narrower and possibly more shrubbery than general planting.
I'd suggest some kind of close attraction at the end of the paved area. Perhaps a low trellis or ornamental wall, something to immediately attract ones attention. Next. Break up that tunnel vision view. The garden being divided into three, border down each side and a lawn or whatever in the center lane. If you install a path, this is a good way of changing direction. Try and avoid straight lines anywhere in the garden. What you need to do, IMO is to slow down seeing that fence at the farthest end of the garden. So, perhaps a pillar rose or even a small flower bed, something that draws attention and makes you and others wonder what lies beyound. Finaly do somethin to cover over that fence at the end of the garden.

My friend. I hope this contribution helps and I sincerely wish you well.

 

Hey @Linz if you’re renting and it’s not yours if you’ve got a car or friends able to help you with theirs, keep an eye on gumtree freebies and join your local Freecycle groups. You’d be amazed what people give free - even ebay, things sometimes don’t sell so watch things and send a message. We got these sleepers in the photo for around £20 each plus VAT brand new - they are 100mm x 200mm x 2400mm, fit through the middle of my big car, I can lift them myself. A not hugely strong and pretty determined woman!

Not gonna lie, they’re heavy but manageable. Maybe 20kg each? In an old property I used to own we got some original railway salvaged ones with tons of marks on and probably creosote soaked in, NO CHANCE I could lift those. I struggled with half of one. I like the look of these new ones more but we are all different!

There’s a seller on eBay who offers “we don’t just drop kerbside we take them right into your garden ie where you want them” and wasn’t overly more pricey than others. Hope this helps

 

By the way you can get sleepers much cheaper than that, that price was delivered in central Ish london - had 3 spare so took them away - if you can collect and are in a more reasonably priced area you should be able to get them much cheaper especially if you can collect.

 

I agree with the advice so far - borders that are not too shallow, and gentle curves.

Re: ease of mowing. I know this might sound strange, but try on the open ground with your mower, mowing the curves how you would like them. You will find the comfortable amount of curve for you and your mower, and you can pop upstairs and get an idea of scale...

 

One word of caution Linz....blueberries must acid soil.
Before you plant anything do a PH test. It’s a very simple and cheap thing to do and it will tell you if you have acid, alkaline or neutral soil
I suggest you keep your blueberry bush in a pot anyway.
Why not just concentrate on the back garden for now.....you will see during the summer what thrives, what looks good and what doesn’t, you may want to move plants to complement or contrast with others, etc.
Take your time

 

It’s just that you will learn a few things about your garden or acquire new ideas by the time you get around to the front garden Linz

 

Great space @Linz, and I agree with the others - wider/deeper on the borders, it's something I would definitely change if I was starting mine from scratch again, especially with the overall width you've got there!

One thought re sleepers, if it's only manpower that's putting you off - a few years ago my parents were terracing a section of their garden and needed about 15 sleepers moved a fair distance through some awkward gates and turns. They ended up throwing a moving party - anyone welcome for bbq food in exchange for carrying one end of a sleeper. Could work?!

 

Another thought @Linz - to give the kids the longest possible lawn eg for ball throwing, why not consider making the main axis of the lawn on an angle, so the beds form essentially triangles - one wider near the bottom of the garden, and the other wider near the top?