The never ending garden project....

So I've recently moved house (Dec 20th 2016, just in time for xmas!) and hopefully this will be the 'forever' home and garden and I have a feeling it will be a never ending project!

We've bought a run down leaky cold house surrounded by 6 acres of grass on the edge of a river (all sounds good? but did I mention the A road we're on and the flight path for EMA we're under?! the only reason we could afford it!) but I actually am sooo excited about this and can't quite believe we own it!

So some pictures of the 'garden' in the first few months (I can't really call it a garden as its just grass and a few trees)

This is the view from the terrace facing the river (east), the terrace is elevated above the river and the whole property is on a slope up away from the river so no chance of flooding, phew!


(oh did I also mention there are pylons in the distance as the power station is only a few miles away!)





in this picture the building is the garage/coach house which is quite bit a run down

 

this is the terrace to the south side








this is the front with the super ugly conservatory which is definitely going (at some point!)

 

this is the bottom of the terrace with an odd double retaining wall sort of thingy and weeds and elders



this looks down to the river from the south 'lawn' (I only own a push mower....)


this is the weeping ash on the south lawn


shurbbery on the south lawn

 

couple of views from upstairs across the south side and towards the river

 

and a view from upstairs to the north and west

 

Not a lot has happened in the garden since we moved in as I want to try and figure out what to do with it, which is a bit of challenge! But we have seen more wildlife than in our previous surburban back garden - apologies for the fuzziness of these, my camera is not quite up to much!




(there was a deer in the garden, a deer!! oh dear, my dear lord, it was rather deer etc. etc )


and of course an obligatory cat shot, who is responsible for the death (to date and counting) of approximately 20 shrews, 1 pheasant chick, 2 mice and 1 baby rabbit I'd never seen a shrew before but now have seen plenty just not that alive, sigh)

 

things that have flowered and been interesting in the garden so far

lots of double snowdrops


many daffs







fabulous fungus


squill?


not really a plant I like, but this one is kinda ok as its just a bit lovely to have when its a bit dark and cold in spring


I've always loved magnolias so to have one is such a wonderful thing and I think it's just stunning!

 

Hi @day dreamer - fantastic - lots of potential there! Take your time about planning so that you don't end up putting permanent features in the wrong place (which I did). And remember to allow room for the 'working' bits of a garden - shed, compost heaps, clothes line, polytunnel (?)

 

my garden is always never ending. there will always be something I can do to to it.

 

That looks incredible @day dreamer , an amazing project house and garden by the look of the photos - I'm very envious! Does your land stretch all the way down to the water? Could you have a waterside area for sitting/listening - or possibly even keep ducks? Do you plan to grow veg/fruit etc? Sorry for so many questions, I'm getting excited for you!

In terms of where to start, I'd be inclined to start in and work outwards - so start with the patios and area immediately surronding the house so you've got something close to look at and spend time in while you plan what to do with the larger more open (and maybe more overwhelming) areas.

 

Spend your time mowing that amazing lawn, its always a good place to start.

 

Big project! Good luck. Only you can decide where to start but I think I would consider the parts nearest the house first.

 

So not a great deal has happened in the garden in the past year... but I do finally have a plan of sorts for it (which has taken a super long time to come up with!), just one bit that I can't quite figure out but plenty to get on with before worrying about that!
I may be being a bit ambitous with the plans, but am planning on a formal arts & crafts style garden by the south of the house, then an orchard/meadow on the east side and then down to the river to have some sort of willow coppice and a boat house (as the land goes right down to the water), then near the garage will be the greenhouse and veg plot (probably with a low wall to keep the rabbits out!). The OH wants an outdoor kitchen so have to work that in as well somehow! will post a pic of the plan if I can get a decent pic of it
I've also just realised that I've been absolutely rubbish about taking pics of the garden but I don't feel like much has changed, so perhaps posting here more regularly will make me remember to take photos!

 

Something I did manage to do was to take up the slabs in the border at the back of the house and get some annuals sown, I seem to have a bad habit of collecting seeds so finally a chance to get some grown, so a bit of before and after - not sure if its actually better!!





So a friend gave me a spare squash and it ended up going a bit triffid! And the rowan tree in the black pot by the steps (pic above) came from the roof...! We had to have the roof replaced and when the roofers got up there this tree was growing there not good for the roof, but a free tree for me! The roofers chucked it in the skip so I rescued it and potted it up and it's now planted by the drive and doing ok

 

I've planted a wych elm hedge to separate the 'formal garden' from the meadow/orchard

Looking a bit tiny at the mo! We've discovered that there are quite a few hungry bunnies hopping around and they chewed the bark on these so we had to improvise with some net to keep the b$&gers out! The green pole shows the planned extent of the border that will be in front of the hedge, which I'm hoping will be quite arts and craft in style

I'm planning on making the borders with the no dig method, as when I planted the hedge it was full on grey clay and absolutely back breaking! So I'm hoping if I go with a pile of cardboard and compost I may get results with minimal effort (fingers crossed). This area is also the only bit of lawn that we've mown as it's a lot of grass to keep on top of and I kinda like the wild look plus its been great for the butterflies this year