Uneven and overgrown garden advice needed

Morning fellow gardeners we have just moved into our new flat. I haven't had a garden for at least 16 years and it's the first time for my two children (6 and 3). Hopefully i've added the picture correctly so you can see its weedy, no grass and very uneven. As it's a rented property not looking to spend too much money but would be nice to have something the kids can enjoy as will be here for about 3 years.

I was going to use weedkiller but we've discovered we have frogs or maybe toads. The last couple of nights we have seen 1 big one and 2 small ones (having a good time if you know what I mean). My husband saw the larger one last night and thinks maybe its a toad but neither of us have any clue. We don't have a pond and i've seen a smaller one go into a hole on the gravel under a drain pipe near our backdoor.

I do have several pots so was thinking the children can enjoy growing flowers and vegetables in them but it seems a shame not to do something else.

The sun comes across the front of our house so the front bit of the garden is shaded by the size of the building. Hopefully you can see in the second picture where the sun stops. The bottom left is a little raised bedding area with lots of roots and weeds but doesn't get any direct sun and just in front of the picture is our gravel area.

I would appreciate any advice many thanks in advance xx

 

Well, I think that's got loads of rustic charm. I love it just as it is. Reminds me of the old homestead in Wales. Don't ruin it with too many petunias!

I especially like the tumbledown brick/stone walls, very atmospheric. The rotting logs add to the foresty feel and will be brill for wild life but I expect you want rid of those. The trees are fab but they will give a lot of shade when the leaves are out.

Looks like you may have a ground elder problem in the foreground, or it may be celandine - little shiny low-growing yellow flowers. Probably primroses and bluebells on the way too. I think I can spot a buddleia under the washing line, and that rushy thing is probably a garden plant that you may wish to keep. You need to keep an eye out for anything dormant that will be just starting to come up around now.

The main visual problem is that partition-type wall at the far end - but it's perfect for getting some climbers growing against and you could paint it first if so desired.

Could you tell us which end faces North/South, and maybe provide a pic of the house end?

 

Thanks for replying Madahhlia and funny enough it is in Wales Cardiff to be exact and when i first saw the garden it reminded me of my kids forest school at their school. The kids love exploring.

yeah i'll add a picture of the house end excuse the beer and washing powder lol. To the side of this picture is gravel where our frogs/toad live.

 

Hello and welcome to the forum Sunflower.

I love your garden. I'd probably love it even more if I was a 3 or 6 year old. I was hooked just by the pictures but when you mentioned frogs and toads, that's sold it for me. And all those nooks and crannies to hunt for creatures in, excellent.

I wouldn't change much at all to be honest. Maybe a small island of neat lawn in the middle of the sunny patch, a couple of benches here and there perhaps. Rhododendrons or Azaleas in large containers would look good too in my opinion, and would fit in well with the woodland theme.

Near the house, in the gravel area between the house and the logs, maybe pave that bit? You didn't say if your kids are boys or girls (or one of each) but I know boys like a smooth hard surface to push their toy cars along, and also for chalking. Paving stones are cheap enough for small areas and are easy to lay.

 

Hi Clueless1 thank you for replying. I have a 6yr old boy and 3yr old girl and they love exploring in the garden. The property is rented so don't think I can pave the area. I also love the foresty feel of the garden too. I love Rhododendrons and Azaleas so thank you for that idea. I just would really like something the kids can grow with me should I just stick to pots and planters so it keeps its rustic charm. As Madahhlia said earlier I think we have celandine and im not sure what to do with it especially with the frogs/toads should I just leave it?

 

Hello Sunflower and welcome to GC.

I agree with Madahhlia, your garden does have as certain rustic charm in its present state, it looks like a haven for wildlife. You probably have loads of insects and other small creatures around. If you've got frogs or toads, that's a sign of a healthy garden (from a wildlife point of view).

At this time of year, all sorts of new growth is emerging, so you might want to give it a few weeks and see what appears. I think I spotted some clumps of bluebells in your third photo, near the wall. Bluebells seed and spread themselves around quite happily, so there may be others around the garden.

As Madahhlia says, the small bush near the washing line is a buddleia. These are great for attracting butterflies and other insects when they flower in mid summer. You can give it a prune next month, don't be afraid to cut it back quite hard, this will encourage it to flower.
As a bonus, buddleia prunings are great for making new plants. Simply cut them into short lengths (about 8 -10 inches or so), push them into any reasonably clear patch of soil and several of them will take root, providing you with vigorous new plants, which you can then move to your desired location next autumn.

The tall spindly looking plants on the left in your second photo, behind the log, look to me like either small sycamore or ash trees. In either case they are fast growing trees which will quickly shade out all other plants nearby and fill the soil around them with a network of fine roots, making it difficult to grow anything else there, so you may want to consider digging them out.

 

totally agree with this, the charm is definately there. go for a wildflower sort of look maybe with a bit of landscaping. could be a hobbit garden!

 

Looks like a previous owner has used a row of logs near the back of the house to partition off a bit of a gravelled area. I would keep that for the first year but weed out the gravel as plants are rapidly encroaching on it. Clueless has a good point about hard surfaces for play, if there's any concreted areas it's worth keeping them clear for that sort of thing.

There seem to be some areas of breeze block in the walls which I would be wanting to cheer up with some masonry paint which harmonises with the other wall sections. White might be too bright but a warm cream would be lighter but still in keeping with the olde worlde feel. What do others think?

I can see dead twigs growing out of the walls which may well be valerian. A weed but a very pretty one - cut back the dead twigs to neaten it and it will look wonderful in May/June.

There is also a bare shrub on the left in front of the garden gate - not sure what it is, it may be hawthorn, in which case, remove it as they have vicious thorns and are not very garden-worthy. I absolutely agree with Trunky about the ash or sycamore, control them hard or remove. Someone else will thank you for it!

At the back, on the right, there seems to be a massive stone built into the base of the wall. Looks like a fantastic feature, maybe it's an old standing stone? Well worth keeping it fairly clear of vegetation to show it off.

The grass looks very patchy, sparse and weed-invaded. This might be because the trees in summer shade it out a lot. If you feel you need a decent lawn for the children wait and see what the shade situation is like before laying or sowing.

There's quite a bit of ivy, quite nice, but keep it well under control and don't be afraid to cut it off if it's going anywhere you don't want it.

Personally, I wouldn't have any containers (unless you have a prehistoric stone trough lying around) as they would look too prim and suburban to suit the plot. You might be surprised at what's there in the beds undiscovered.

 

The top picture shows a Carex pendula just beyond the low stone wall on the right hand side and the branches of a buddleja, both of which I would keep but be aware that the carex has a tendency to self seed and you will probably have lots of small plants round there.
I would put a in a winding path through the garden leading to the back gate. Nothing elaborate, bark chips laid over landscape fabric would be effective given the nature of the garden and would not be too costly to do. They have the added benefit of being softer on knees when fallen on or knelt on than gravel.
A wooden batten either side of the bark path would help to define it and also help hold the bark in place. It would only need to be about 1" above ground level so a 3" wide piece sunk into the ground with wooden pegs to hold it in place would suffice. Any cheap wood will do if it only has to last 3 years or so.
That way you can wind the path round various parts of the garden with minimal impact on the wildlife. Flower / vegetable beds could be used to edge the path leaving the bulk of the garden to the wildlife.

I think a climbing, or rambling rose on the back fence and side wall at the end would add colour without imposing into the garden.

 

Agree with all the suggestions above.

Looks to me like you have a North facing garden - which would explain why, when the sun travels across the front of your house, it leaves the house to create the shaded area at the back.

Even though it is shaded at *this* time of year (when the sun is lower), there is the potential that you will get the evening sun on that patch during the height of summer (which should stream through that window into the house, beautifully!). That area could be a lovely BBQ/seating area for enjoying summer evenings until sunset.

I left pretty much most of my garden alone for the first year (aside from clearing the copse end which was filled with trees, weeds taller than me and goodness knows how much rubbish the "locals" had thrown over our fence from the park). The reason being, I wanted to know what, if anything, would grow and of that anything, which did I like/not like/wish to keep/get rid of. It was enough for the 1st year.

I do adore the look and feel of your garden

 

If choosing the curvy bark path route and using cheap timber edgings such as slats from pallets, making vertical saw cuts on the inside face of the curve will really help them bend.