Hi all,
Our garden is fairly big, not sure how big it is but we have ample room up one end for a shed and a chicken coup and the same space the other side of it, that top end could easily fit into our garden 3 times over.
The garden as it stands is that up one end. Two borders down the length of the garden and a tree in the middle of the lawn which we've been told by MIL we have to keep (her house and garden, the tree was planted when DP was born) and a small patio at the house end. Last year we 'groundforced' the garden as it hadn't been tended to for several years but I think we planted into it too soon as this spring it looks much the same as it did last autumn so i've been out and cleared back one border (too tired and achy to do the other side today) and dug the soil over leaving a rose, two young but thriving camelia's a hibiscus and a laurel. The border is incredibly bare other than these plants.
The other side again the plants i want to keep are a young thornless blackberry we're training up the fence, another hibiscus and another two roses.
Other than these plants, again the garden is bare.
One problem we've got is both neighbours have a unfathomable love of Ivy and along both sides this has crept under the fences and taken hold. We cut is right back last year but it looks pretty much like we've not touched it. The other problem is that somehow despite us not having any herbs in the garden we have an abundance of corriander which seems to have taken root in the beds I assume one of the bordering gardens has it or it's taken seed somehow, but thats' pretty much what i've spent today digging up!
Other than the plants we want to keep everything else can go.
I want to keep it very very low maintenance but I want to have 'big' colours out there so roses, dhalia's, clematis etc and am looking for ideas of what I can do out there really. Is there a step by step guide I can follow? I'm great at following instructions but not so good on the ideas front!