Starting again, new year, new start, new strategy

Hi all.

I'm planning on completely blitzing and restarting both my front and back gardens. I might need some advice. But first, some background.

2023 was not a good year for me. So, December 2022, skin cancer found. Two rounds of surgery followed. The first, to take away the suspicious tissue, the second, having confirmed the diagnosis in the lab, took away a lot more surrounding tissue as a precaution. Compared to what some people go through, I think I got off lightly, but it did mean I was out of action for a while. Imagine if someone took away a huge chunk of skin from most of your upper back, then skinned you alive, stretched the remaining skin to fill the space, and quickly stitched and taped it up. Kind of like wearing a shirt that's far too small, where any slightly misjudged attempt to move will cause it to just burst open.

By march it looked like it was all in the past, but routine scans suggested otherwise. Suffice to say the gardens were not my priority while all this was going on. I even somehow managed to completely forget I'd bought a greenhouse. My poor missus trying her best to tend the plants in it without bothering me, because she didn't want to give me more to think about.

I had plenty of time to think and reflect. Here's some of my conclusions.

The garden doesn't have a pause button. I always thought I understood that, but taking a whole year off really proves that. The whole place is a mess.

I won't stay young forever. Last year the gardens got away from me due to a health crisis, but really what that proved is if I don't have the energy to maintain them as they were, I will quickly lose control of them. Basically, my earlier strategy is not sustainable long term. So I need to simplify.

I have a lot of willow out the back. I love the tall leafy nature of it, but turn your back and it grows, fast. There are willow stems out the back that must be a good 20ft tall. I might get rid of a lot of them, but I might want something else, more slower growing, to give the leafy almost woodland clearing look.

The front garden has always been a challenge. I struggle to grow anything out there because it's clay, and a heat trap. It's sheltered and south facing, and small enough that in summer it doesn't even get a rest at night. The front wall of the house just radiates trapped heat that it's soaked up during the day. I'm thinking of partially paving it, and just having a few pockets of compost or mulch or something to try to grow a few things.

Basically, I haven't decided yet how I want the new start to look. I'm open to suggestions. For the back, I like a semi natural look, but need to go lower maintenance. The front is a complete blank canvas. I intend to dig the whole thing over.

 

Gosh sorry to hear about your health problems, Clue. The only thing I would suggest is, if you ’re intending to dig up the front anyway, incorporate grit or gravel and soil improver and plant Med-type evergreen shrubs and perennials that need very little maintenance. Cistus, lavender, rosemary, choisya, hebe, phormium, euphorbia etc. Playing with colour, form and textures will give you a good-looking space with minimal upkeep.

 

Sorry to hear about your health problems, @Clueless 1 v2 but I hope you are over "the hill" & can get back on with life during this new year. I have no suggestions on what you can do in your gardens but @noisette47 's suggestions sound very good for your front garden as being plants from a much warmer & dryer climate they should do well. Nevertheless during their first year & until they get established they will need some watering. Also being clay soil you will need to open it up a lot, so her suggestions again are good.
.

 

Sorry about your health problems @Clueless 1 v2
Just an idea for the willows,what about chopping them right back ,they'll soon shoot again and then just keep snipping to a more manageable size

 

@Clueless 1 v2 Hope your health problems are behind you and this year goes more smoothly.
@noisette47 suggestion for the front of going Mediterranean is a good one. However bear in mind you will need to add a lot of grit to improve the workability and drainage of the clay.
Also many salvias will appreciate Mediterranean conditions.

 

I think this is a fine idea - you would effectively be creating a coppice, a lovely, traditional kind of English woodland, potentially both productive and great for wildlife. Not too difficult to maintain, and if there's room you could add in other tree species like hazel - here's some info from the Woodland Trust on coppicing.

I like others' advice for a front garden with Mediterranean plants and salvias, too.

 

Strangely, I've found Med plants to be much longer lived and healthy looking on heavy improved soil than on a lighter, sandy one. It's getting them established that's the tricky bit. Especially if they're pot-grown in peat or peat substitute.

 

For rockery plants I tend to remove the compost as much as possible get the roots in place and then fill the space with a gritty mix of soil, compost and grit; followed by a watering and more mix as required.
For larger plants such as salvias I tease the roots out from the root ball, piut into a larger pot fill with desired mix, water and leave for a month or so until the roots are appearing out the bottom holes and then plant out into desired space and back fill the hole with the same mix used earlier and water. This approach means the roots have got away from the old root ball and "acclimatised" to something closer to soil. Works nicely in spring and summer.

 

Just something to consider, a place might well be in full sunshine in spring and summer, but for various reasons in total shade all winter, I've got lots of areas like that in my garden where at this time of year trees a fair distance away cause shady winter areas.

I like, and prefer, sharp sand to break up clay unless you use very fine grit.
The odd bag of coarse bark also helps.

 

Good old British horticultural grit is perfect The nearest we've got in France is what they use to resurface the roads. Luckily, everytime it rains heavily, a few bagsful get washed off the lane next to our house

 

Classic advice, Nigel, but I doubt many people take the trouble to do it. Garden centres don't push the idea either..it's not in their interest is it?

 

Thanks all. Sorry I asked a question then vanished again for a while. I'm not ignoring you all I promise, I'm just focusing most of my time on a combination of getting my fitness back and catching up on all the jobs around the house and garden that I kind of neglected last year. Busy times

 

A farm not too far from me sells the old fashioned rectangular straw bales. Ie ones I can fit in the boot of my car, not the newer massive round ones. It's a while since I last bought some so presumably they're more expensive now, but unless the prices have gone really crazy it might be an option. A few years ago they were about 3 quid each.