Newbie -Help with 160x80ft garden much needed!

Hi,
I really hope someone is able to help, as I am feeling very dauted by the prospect of jumping in to such a large project with no experience!

My garden is 160 x 80 ft at the rear, and there's even more at the front! I bought my house 18mths ago and have done nothing except trim the hedges and put a seating area and miandering path in.

My biggest problem is that I don't know where to begin! There are 4 beds with mature shrubs (which I don't even know the names of!), 2 empty beds, mature hedges (for the most part) and 2 very mature weeping willows. The garden is also south facing, but does have a few shady areas (under trees).

The garden has already been divided into 2 sections and as I have limited time; I really need to stick with the existing layout and just add a lot more interest.

I am a country girl at heart and love a less formal look (bluebells, lobelia and sweet peas are all on my wish list). I have kids and need to accomodate their garden toys etc.

With no knowledge and such a mammouth task I really would appreciate any advice!

 

Hi there and welcome. Looking at a new garden can be a bit daunting especially one this big - but its kinda like eating an elephant, you need to break it down into bite size chunks.

Now is the ideal time to plan what you want from your space - and thats around what you want it for (chill out space, or social area, etc), and what the kids want it for (space to play, or explore, or adventures or mysterious etc) that will start you thinking of what needs to be where. Go visit your garden centre and browse the pictures of gardens in the books and find the kind that appeal. The existing garden can be amended to suit being careful to preserve the plants etc you like. Then once you've got a mind's eye view of what you want break up the project and start on the highest priority.

There's lots of folks here who can help with the how to do the various bits you want - believe me, that what seems a huge task, once started, is not that bad :D .

 

Fran's right! You need to look at the garden as a chessboard kind of thing and just concentrate on one bit at a time. Pretty soon you'll ahve it ticking over how you want it, you'll see.

Just keep coming back here for advice on specific things and we'll help all we can.

 

at this time of year you can just about pop a few bulbs in [really too late but they ll be ok].. check out the online catalogues for offers and illustrations... there are some nice crocus which can go under trees
for informal planting/cottage garden effect i suggest lavender round the borders with perennials behind,eg foxgloves, delphinium, and monkshead at the back,, if you go to Thompson and morgan site you will find it will help you with height and planning!
remember that you don t need to do all your planning in one year, you can leave things as they are laid out and use the beds as "nurseries"
so have one area as a kitchen garden, one as a cottage garden border,one for heathers and small conifers, buy small plants which will not cost very much and will transplant easily so you don t make any expensive mistakes, also look around and see what you like and buy a few plants,
i like my garden to be all the year round so i concentrate on picking up winter flowering . eg viburnum, forsythia, pyrocantha for berries,
you will need to find out if soil is acid [ie suitable for heathers, rhododenrdon, azalea and conifers]..... if not you can plants in tubs or prepared sites using ericacious compost.
don t be ambitious as regards seed sowing, stick with easy things like sweet pea, sunflower, nasturtium,

 

I would agree with Fran, look through some books until you find pictures that you really like. Then adopt that as your style. In my own case I liked pictures of informal perennials in pinks blues and purples.

My next step, as a complete beginner with an empty garden, was to buy 28 packets of seed, which I raised on my dinning room table. I chose first year flowering perennials in pink, blue and purple. The seed catalogues usually indicate which are first year flowering. I ended up with 700 to 800 plants, which was enough to fill my garden. The net result was a garden full of plants and colour in the first year, far cheaper than buying the plants themselves.

Having got started, in subsequent years your interests will firm up, and may well alter, and you will want to rearrange things. The main thing is to get stuck in without spending too much money. The pleasure I got from my first years flowers has only increased my interest.

 

Yes, Look at as many books and gardens as you can till you get some ideas. And dont wory if you come home with a car full of plants then after you put them in they almost disapear, we were always doing that. You will get ther just takes time unles you have thousands to throw at it in one go and a team of gardeners. One tip we learnt the hard way is if you want a lawn get a good size mowere, petrol if you can otherwise you spend ages moing it, We ditched the electric mower when we borowed a petrol once and realised it took half the time to mow. you can get a good rotary petrol mower for �£100 in Argos. Unles your lawn is leval a rotary is the way to go.

[ 22. January 2006, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: Madrat ]