new house, garden is blank canvas - tips & ideas?

[ErnestTheBavarian]

We actually moved ages ago, but the gardening company downed tools in November and still haven't reappeared.

I had been expecting them to come back at some point. (We have snow again, so no doubt will delay their return by another 3 months).

ANyway, to the point. Our garden is basically a totally bare plot of land. I am a totally novice gardener.

I have tried to get tips of the aforementioned totally crap gardening firm, the best suggestion they could come up with, is to just cover the whole lot in grass seed Have tried several landscaping companies (who are v. hard to find here. None of them are interested as we already have a really crap firm involved (much of their work paid for by building company so can't ditch).

So, if i were to scan in a picture of the plot, would anyone be able to look at it and give my suggestions?

Or anything I should watch out for right now? What should I try to include? (We have 4 children and 1 cat).

Any obvious plant or garden design dos and don'ts to watch out for? Thanks

Do you have a college nearby with gardening/landscaping students?

What do you want your garden for? Playground, football pitch, Wendy house, grow your own, pond, patio, barbecue area? Low maintenance? Modern or old fashioned planting?

hmm, good idea, no idea.

Will look into it.

It doesn't seem to be done here so much. Most of the firms I found seem to do big projects like parks or landscaping a whole new housing estate rather than helping people with their back gardens. Seems a bit extravagant, and we are now suddenly totally skint, and the gardeners will reappear any day (apparently) so I need pdq to be able to tell them something.

ok, have a spot already planned for a little play house, had considered 1 bit of play equipment (torn between trampoline which the kids will love but I'm worried about the dangers, and a climbing frame with slide and den, which they won't love as much and will cost £££ more, but won't be so dangerous.)

I need something I suppose reasonably modern, very low maintenance, patio is already built, no pond (small dc) dh would like veg plot.

i have put the plan in my photos if you can be btohered to look

I want a plum tree.

We would like lots of fruit bushes.

I need an evergreen thickly climbing plant but attractive, not a yucky dark ivy, to cover a wire mesh fence.

I would like a tree with a circular bench around it. Long grasses or similar for privacy - had though bamboo, but the roots are an issue? So maybe Zebra grass (is that what it's called?) I need an evergreen hedge down one side that isn't too wide, as narrow (3m strip). We aren't supposed to have conifers, but everybody else seems to ignore the rule, and I don't know if a good evergreen alternative.

dh wants some borders, dunno if I need (or it's best to have) formal border like bricks or something, or if the grass just stops iyswim. dunno if I should let the gardners seed the lot, or mark off the areas for borders already, or even get them to put in formal border?

tghanks.

that escalonia looks lovely but very bushy. would it really be narrow enough for that long narrow strip?

The land is 527 m2, minus house and patios, so i think it works out at roughly as 300 odd m2 garden.

the front door is in the middle of the house t to side where you see the car (by the stairs if you can make them out) not on the narrow strip.)

I've heard of sleepers being used before, where would I get something like that?

I'm getting a 1m20 wooden fence (max height allowed) along the narrow strip and want a narrow evergreen hedge up tp 2m high along there. It's on the road so I want hedge for privacy and security.

I was thinking of pebbly type stone along the narrow side up to the end of the garage, cos I want to put a lean-to up along the garage for the bike storage, so will need a border there with the grass, another for the veg plot, planned at the end of the garage, so it'd be about 6 m wide and 1 m deep, and then one border for plants and stuff in the opposite corner to the garage, green wiggle line, so I'd need a border/grass division there too.

DO you think the plan looks ok? WHat would you recommend I get the gardners to do (what's the main landscaping bit?) and what could I as a clueless (but competent) novice reasonably expect to be able to do. thanks for your tips. I really appreciate it!

we aren?t alloewed to pave between the garage and the fence on that side, so I though paebbly stones was next best thing. Dh doesn't want any play thing at all so planned to put it in the corner by back of garage so not in view at all from house. Even considered putting it up the side if I could get one that's say 2.5 m?

The corner with the patio is soth, the corner with the garage entrance is north, so I think the veg plot at back of garage should be sunny? Never grown vegetables, is 6 x 1 m enough for a few different things?

Don't think we'd be allowed trellis. fence max 1.2, hedge max 2, think trellis would count as fence.

whatever we plant would have to be hardy as it can get down to below -10, and in summer also get pretty hot, above 30.

that climber looks nice, could do it alone taht mesh fence on the other side.

ANy ideas how I could break up the long not-so -narrow bit along the back of the house? Looks so plain? Must say you're a great help :)