The beginning of a garden!

First off i apologise if this is a little long and if there are too many pics. Myself and my boyfriend moved into our house last August. When we moved in our garden was freshly laid turf. It took a while for it to settle and grow, plus with a very non green fingered OH and lack of money we have only really got around to it now. My OHs mother is into her gardening and is helping me but im afraid her idea of helping is turning up and starting to dig my garden without my permission!

I have a little knowledge of gardening from my dad, who is very good in the garden and greenhouse. But i want to know more so that i can make decisions without having to go to my OHs mum who takes it as a sign to take over :o

This is my front garden. I plan to move my bins to the back garden and have a bench where the bins are.







Back garden. I hope to have a shed in the back, as well as the bins.



The back garden is part of the court yard and is a communal area, but everyone has the bits beside their own house. It doesnt get a lot of sun, while the front gets a lot. Its changed a bit since then, with a fence being put up.

What i am after are ideas. I know what i like but doing it is a different matter. I love meadow type flowers, cottage gardens. I would love to grow veg but its not at the top of my list yet. I love sweet pea. My favourite flower. I love colour and most of all i want to attract as many insects and birds to my garden as i can. The birds are slowly coming back to this place after a few years of distrubance from the builders. I love trees but realise i am limited. I live in quite a windy place.

One problem i have though is my dog. His area has been all the front garden, while he isnt allowed out the back as its not fenced off. He tends to spend a lot of time in the garden, mainly sun bathing but he hasnt really had much experience of a fully fledged garden. He has dug one hole in the turf and when it was freshly laid he kept pulling up th edges :rolleyes: I think he will be ok with the garden once its all done but i want to keep the larger bit of the front garden mainly grass, plus not have any types of flowers that are poisonous for animals.

Okay i am almost done lol. I love wood :D I have access to chunks of it and would love to encorporate it into the garden. I have mainly either stumps or longer branches but have one lovely piece.



So any ideas/tips would be really helpful