What would you do with a garden like this?

Hello everyone, it's me again. I hope this post is in the right place, so here we go!
I've previously asked for occasional advice on this excellent forum, but have been quite bogged down with getting on with the work in the house.
However,the new french doors, windows, internal and external doors are in as is the new kitchen, bathroom and lighting. The loft is almost converted(the plaster is drying as we speak )
The deck is laid, fencing started and I would like to do something with the garden with the little time and money I have left. So, I am ging to try and post a picture for the first time. I'm following insrtuctions given on this forum!
I hope it appears. Please feel free to give your opinions on what you would do with this garden.
PS Although I have virtually no money left, I have been asked to face paint at a well known garden centre and I'm considering asking to be paid in kind. I've also joined freecycle to see if there are any cuttings/spare plants to be had. What do you all think then?
Linda

 

Hi Linda. Can you give us some details of the family situation? Number of children and ages? How important is it that they play in the garden? Is that eye-sore of a trampoline well loved and used all the time or could it be disposed of? How big is the area? Blimey it's just like being interviewed for a job isn't it? Really it's just a case of how far can you go with nuking it and starting again.

 

Hi there Glasgowgreen.
Going by your pictures you have young ones?

I always believe in spending to save later, so how about doing the same as we did when our two boys were little?

My hubbie (Bob) sectioned off part of the garden via trellis work for the kids and over on the kids side he made them a large but no too deep wooden sand pit I think is was about 12ft wide x 6ft long x 3ft deep.

One of the great things about this was that the kids really loved having part of the garden for themselves with a huge sandpit that they played with for hours on end!

After the kids 'grew' out of the sand pit Bob turned it into a wonderful Alpine bed for me and it did look smashing!

Bob also made them a little seating area 'hidden' away like a den where the boys just loved to eat their dinner.

I think it's a must when you have children to give them their own part of the garden and of course one part for the grown-ups.

The kids can do what they want and if it's hidden behind trellis work covered with wonderful flowers the grown-up area can't see the mess the kids are making!

You could always get the kids to have their own little plants of which herbs are great, my little niece likes nothing better that picking the herbs and rubbing her fingers to get the strong smell from them!
Helen.xxx.

 

Hi everyone,
thanks for the comments so far, to answer your questions,
I am a mum of 4, ranging from 5 yrs to teenagers.
As for our beloved trampoline, its fantastic fun!
We are planning to move it further back as the little two have grown a little and don't need to be directly under mum's eye any more (ha,ha,ha!!)
The area is 23metres long x 5 metres wide at top to 10 metres wide at house end.
It is also on a slope from back to house.
And Sarraceniac? It's been nuked, twice!!
I know it looks a disgrace now, but it's a 100 times better than it was.
Helen, I have thought about trellis and I really like the idea of breaking up the length of the garden that way. It's just the money just now, we've spent about �£20,000 on renovations/improvements so far and it's still not finished. boo hoo! We are getting there though.
I have got the children into planting and growing, we have lots of pots with herbs, annuals strawberrys and tomatoes etc. They all like it but my youngest especially enjoys digging and picking.
I'm also interested in your sandpit, did you have a cover? We have a large covered plastic elc one, but a wooden one would look so much better. We live in Cat Alley here.
Thanks again for taking time to reply.
All comments suggestions gratefully received,
Linda

 

Gg you need to decide if you want a garden or a play area the trampoline dominates the area consider inverting it and making it into a fruit cage or a sandpit cover as helen as suggested, limit the play area and fence it off, draw a scaled plan of the area decide the lay out and what you want from the garden then you can decide what plants you want.

 

I agree with walnut and Helen. If you have to keep the trampoline, then move it to the far end of the plot. I take it the little ones are only allowed to use it when an adult is present?

If you want to just have a play area for a few years then no problemo, trampoline, sand pit, wendy house, small area for the kids to plant up. If Mr. GG is handy, even a small climbing frame. You clearly can't have just a garden for a while, so if you are not happy to have this as just a play area then draw up a plan of the play area, at the far end, trellis it off and garden to your heart's content at this end. You have the expensive thing, the trampoline, the rest should all be self buildable and won't cost an arm and a leg. But do hide that well loved trampoline. :D

 

Hi there Linda with regard to the wooden sand pit the costs you will be pleased to know are a minimum I think the sand cost more than the wood Bob used!

For a cover we just brought a tarpaulin which you can pick up quite cheaply these days and attached it to the back of the sand pit with a strip of wood and then on the other edge we attached another piece of wood which allowed it to be weighed down and keep the cover in place.

The above worked wonderfully for a great many years and no cat ever manage to do it's mess in it as we too used to live in an area with loads of cats!

I'm sure even the 'big' kids will enjoy messing around in the sand pit. :D
Helen.xxx.

 

Thanks Helen,
You are right even the big ones like to play in the sand!! And thankfully, I already have lots of bags of unopened play sand (I try and buy it at the end of summer when it is reduced)
I must confess that we have added a double wooden swing to garden since photo was taken.
Still, even though the main purpose of the garden is to be a play area, I still long for a lovely garden!! In fact, I'm so sad, I sat and watched 3 episodes of "How to be a gardener" last night.

 

Yes, I would definately put the trampoline up the end of the garden, and I would screen it off with trelis. leaving a gap to get to the trampoline of course!
Then the rest of the garden you could shape with boarders and have a focal point in the middle.
Just a few suggestions to consider! Good luck.

 

Hi

You could always sit the trampoline at ground level i.e. excavate to allow for "Bounce" and use the spare soil mounded and grassed (you could also plant wildflowers and bulbs in the mounds) over - less distance for falls and quite a good way to screen.

 

Hi Linda don't despair girl you can always have a couple of pots around the place maybe around your deck? as it's a smashing looking deck ideal to sit on and enjoy a drink or two or maybe just a good cuppa!

I 'gave' my garden to the kids when they were little... one is 19 and the other is 23 (both still living at home) , although I enjoyed gardening I got by with just a little patch called 'Mum's' then and as they grew up started to reclaim it all back.

Children are not young forever and I am a great believer in them enjoying their youth and what better place than in their own back yard!

You will 'get' your garden back sooner than you think in the meantime enjoy your little patch, although maybe like me you might have to alter your garden for future little ones...we have not got grandkids yet (thank goodness) but I don't want to alter the garden if one 'jumps out' so I'm thinking ahead of things maybe 10 years or so if we're lucky...but this time round we will be ready for them! :D
Helen.xxxx

 

Hi Helen,
I've got about 10 big pots round the deck (it's 35m sq metres and was worth every penny) In fact if you look at the third pic, you will see that they are made from the big plastic toytubs, that nobody ever tidied things away into, except Mum, of course!
I've got lovely stocks that me and the "baby" grew from seed in two of the pots. After we watered everything today,we jumped on the trampoline, then we jumped some more and played "bums and bounces"
I'm going to pick up some free cuttings of Crinodendron Hookerium?? I think its other name is Lantern Tree. I don't really know where to put them, any more suggestions.
Thanking you all :D
Linda

 

Hi Linda I see these pots now, my two boys had them for their toys when they were little although just like you I was tricked into all the tidying!

After I got fed up of the boys not using them they went into the garage, one of them even ended up as a little pool complete with plants and set into the ground surrounded by rocks...it looked nothing like a toy bin!

Those toy bins must have took some filling but they are the right colours for me, I love bright containers in the garden...I'm just finishing off painting my chimney pots purple and going to put some gold paint and maybe some 'gems' on them.

Haven't a clue where you can put your plant but I'm sure others might be able to help you out, although I was able to find the below link for you..maybe that will help you out some what.

And yes you are correct Crinodendron Hookerianum is called the Chinese Lantern Tree.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/gardens/rosemoor/archive/rosemoorpom05may.asp

Maybe one other thing I could suggest when you have some pennies spare is to set some path ways for you children to use to get to their part of the garden.

You could make the paths wide enough for them to get round on their bikes/trikes and little cars and have little flower beds for yourself in between....we did this for our boys and they loved the fact they had their own 'car road' around the garden!

Oh what fun you must have on the trampoline there wasn't any about when my boys were little...I noticed B&Q had a great sale a couple of weeks ago and had a big trampoline (don't know if it was 6,8 or 10 foot one)and it had an added bonus of having the surround with it which normally costs a bob or two on it's own, anyway the whole package was only �£40 and boy were they selling out fast!
Helen.xxx.