Please help me with my garden!

[summersalmostgone]

It's east facing, about 75 foot long and terraced. The plan is to have it all dug over so we are starting from scratch. There will be a patio area directly outside the house, then another at the end of the garden to catch the afternoon sun.

We have small children so thought the rest of the garden should just be lawn with raised beds running along the sides against the fences. In my mind these would be quite high but the gardener is saying he can only make them one railway sleeper high. Is this still worth doing? Will it still look nicer than beds that are level with the grass?
I'd hoped to pack the beds full of plants to make the garden look a lot less barren. We are losing several small trees so at first it's going to look a bit empty. Any suggestions for plants that grow fast and are low maintenance?

[Ferguson]

You say 'only one railway sleeper high' - is that with them laying FLAT, or could they go ON EDGE - making it a bit higher? Presumably, if you paid more you could get higher with other materials:

www.growveg.co.uk/guides/building-raised-beds-that-last/

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=428

eartheasy.com/raised-beds-soil-depth-requirements.html

www.linkabord.co.uk/

www.fuchsiaflower.co.uk/index.htm

www.heucheraholics.co.uk/

I'll come back sometime, see how you getting on!

[summersalmostgone]

It's with them on edge. Can't go higher as they plan on using the concrete gravel boards on the fence as the back part of the bed.

[summersalmostgone]

Thanks for the links!

[Ifailed]

Just a thought, but will you be happy with this rather geometric design later on? small children rapidly become big children, when that happens, will you have the garden re-done?

[Kwirrell]

Could you ask for two gravel boards at the back to give you more height.
We have two at the end of our garden because of e ending out a slope.

[Kwirrell]

Evening out a slope I mean.

[summersalmostgone]

One of the fences isn't ours so we could only have two gravel boards one side which may look strange?

I think this design will see us through for many years. Our children are still tiny and not really playing outside yet so we still have a good 10 years ahead of the garden being predominately for them.

We plan to make the patio at the end " our" space with garden furniture, BBQ and maybe a chiminea. Somewhere we can sit with a glass of wine once the kids are in bed ( and if it ever stops raining).

The small patio directly outside the house, which only gets morning sun, was going to be for ride on toys, scooters etc. Then the lawn has a playhouse, swing and slide.

It's not that big a garden. I need to try and incorporate rooms for two kids to run around and also have the lush green garden I'd like. The only way I can figure out to do that is to have beds running the length of the garden on each side and then packing them full of plants and climbers.

If anybody has any ideas I'm open as gardening is not my forte

[MadSprocker]

Look on Pinterest for ideas. If your children are into ball games in the future, be prepared for bashed plants. I would try to be aware of which plants are toxic with smaller children.

[Kwirrell]

To begin with for this year, I would get the children to plant lots of seeds like nasturium, nigella, calendula and California poppies. Thiese will germinate very quickly and provide a colourful start very cheaply, they also don't mind poor soil.

At the front of your border, where balls will hit, children will tumble, bikes will swipe, I would plant lots of Thyme. Especially the golden thyme. It is hardy, smells great and very child resistant. At the back, plant any shrubs that take your fancy. Intertwined with rambling Roses, honeysuckle and clematis. This will give you structure and will cover your new fence.

Raspberry and blackcurrant canes can also be interplanted with your shrubs. Pyracantha provides lots of berries for the birds in winter, comes yellow red and orange. A great fence cover, but. Has viscious thorns. So needs to be kept at the back.