Make a flower bed. Please help

[JugglingTheBalls]

I've been in my house 8 years and now dc's are back at school I'm going to plant flower beds either side of steps.

I know nothing about gardening but I have some ground cover and a good bit of top soil.

The area I'm planting in is very close to a drainage under the lawn and I've been told the soil is neutral.

So what do I plant? I was thinking of so bulbs like daffodils and tulips but then I'm lost. I'd like things that are easy to look after and come back every year and also things that will give some colour year round.

I've looked at may Web sites but they are so confusing for a complete novice so any advice would be welcome.

[gingeroots]

Watching with interest .

My own 2 offerings ( boring I think but they grow in my difficult garden ) are hardy geraniums/cranesbill www.blisstree.com/2009/06/03/sex-relationships/cranesbill-geraniums/
and fushcia . Oh and forget me nots which grow like a weed but seem easy to control .

Sure there will be proper help soon .

I think it's all about planni ng rather than random planting

[gingeroots]

Aargh - just noticed the "sex -relationships " in my link . . ???

[bookbook]

hello! - how big is the area? That will make a difference to any design, and how much sun it gets

[shovetheholly]

What way does the garden face? And what kind of soil do you have? These will make a big difference to what you can grow!

I can't emphasize enough how much it really pays to get the soil right before planting in - digging and adding lots of compost and grit (if you have clay) will give things a great start.

[JugglingTheBalls]

snovethehollyMy back garden is north facing with very little shade. My dad says my soil is more or less neutral, not too acid or alkaline (this means nothing to me????) we have lots of kitchen/garden compost in bins which dh looks after. Would that be of any use. I also have a lot of topsoil.

bookbook I was planning on starting smallish but the house is on an very large site so in reality I have a lot of room. I was planning on extending my flower bed over time to go right along the retaining wall.

ginger lol the link seems fine. Thanks fir the suggestion. I'm going to have a proper look at it now.

[shovetheholly]

Wow, is all that space yours? It's amazing!

Home-made compost is fine - but you have a lot of space there so if you want to make a long or wide border you may need to buy a bulk bag in addition and really spread it in - a thin covering won't do much. Dig in plenty around the root ball of any plants that you put in, too. In terms of removing grass - I would dig the turf out and chuck it away. I know a lot of people say you can just dig and turn the sod, but in my experience this just leads to the grass re-germinating and a LOT of weeding!

By all means, start with a linear bed along that wall to give you a start. But quite soon I would think carefully about the overall structure that you want - it is a very large space so to make it feel like there is a bit of a 'journey' through it will take some careful planning, particularly regarding where you put really big plants (you have space to use small to medium ornamental trees to screen off areas so you can't see the whole space all at once). The upside of this is that the final result could be absolutely spectacular! (I'm at the potential)

If you have a little bit of spare cash, it may be worth calling local landscapers and asking them to do some rough ideas for the full area. You don't have to go for the full ££££ garden design and project management service - but for a few hundred quid they might be able to sketch you out some ideas that you can execute yourself. Digging beds, planting trees etc is very pleasurable and relatively easy work and you don't need a lot of expensive hard landscaping or anything. You could even get in a mini digger to help with larger-scale digging in the fulness of time. As long as you're clear with designers that they're not getting a massive commission, many will be happy to do preliminary sketches.

You may also save money buying plants in bulk, wholesale, and then clumping them up! To get impact in a big space, you tend to need a lot more than a single plant.

[bookbook]

Mmmm- thats a very big space. Could you perhaps look around a couple of o gardens somewhere near you for ideas? - there is a good charity scheme if you have the time and opportunity. These are private gardens open for charity so come in all shapes and sizes
www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden.aspx