New garden - low budget

[fuckingpamela]

I have moved into a new build and the garden needs something doing as it is just barren and depressing.

It is rectangular 10m long and 5m wide with a patio at the front of just 2m by 3m.

It has 6ft Brown fencing and was turfed a few months back and the grass looks dull and crispy......

I only have a £200 budget.

I wanted to gravel and add pots to the back of the garden and add some trellis but it's all so 'square' and formal = dull.

Shall I do a little path and some round stones and a semi circle of gravel to create some shape? I'm lost.

Have you got tools?

If I had a new garden the absolute first thing I would do would be plant some trees. I'd create some beds round the edge and have an oval lawn, I'd plant the trees in suitable places and do the rest as I went along.

There's a saying about trees.. the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the second best time is today

Perrennials are ever so easy to grow from seed if you buy one of those little greenhouses. Do you know anyone with a garden? Most gardeners are happy to share if you ask. I'm always giving my friends loads!

You need height in a garden or it'll always look barren.

Have a look on Pinterest :)

Step away from the gravel imo. I think you ought to invest in your lawn to start with and maybe add a few colourful pots for interest.

Any chance of a carefully angled non-identifying pic of the space in question?

Oh year definitely don't gravel cat toilet

Agree about trees btw. Totally. Trees are good. You can buy young trees online for peanuts really. We bought 30 beech for £20 and planted a few to make a pretty hedge. They're doing really well after 2 years.

Cherry, plum and apple trees are lovely for a small garden.

And amelanchier!

Mail Order Trees are very good, and very cheap!

Wow thanks for the replies! My camera phone is not uploading for some reason....

If I plant trees I think the neighbours would not appreciate the height of them in a few years....so I was thinking some potted bamboo for a similar effect? Or is that crazy?

I would love to steer away from gravel and do the oval lawn but I feel the weeding will kill me in such a large area. Is it too time consuming?

I love the cottage garden type flowers and would love a bed of those mixed wild flowers. Do they work as beautifully as the pictures suggest?

It's my budget that's the problem.
Also I have been on pintrest for hours and hours....I love it! But it's overwhelming.

Not all trees get massive. Some proper trees only grow to 3 or 4 meters and some trees are bred to be tiny but tbh I can't really see the point in them. There must be somewhere in your garden you can plant a small tree without it causing too many problems for your neighbours?

I've lived in my house for ten years and it's only the last few years the garden has looked good and tbh, it's because of the height of the trees and shrubs I planted. I spend very little time weeding.. Maybe a hour a week?

Cottage garden planting looks fabulous :) those sorts of plants are simple from seed too.

Small kennel and wooden planter at the back. So square and sad.
I could get a tree then....how much for one that wont grow too large would you say?

Garden is south facing but very shady along the bottom third of the garden which is why I was going to gravel and dig up the dying grass.

Methe: I have tools

Really appreciate your advice!

Have a look on the link I posted ^ you can buy trees for £30.

The trees are lovely and the pampas grasses are beautiful....

How about bark in the garden and doing the sunken pots around a tree .....I like that but can only have shade lovers for the back.

I like fence paint too but is that considered a bit garish?

Like this? But cheaper...

Don't do pampas grass you've have all the neighbours excited

I always think the best thing abitj gardening is if you make a mistake or do something you like it is simple to un-do it!

You could start by going some way to having something like this...personally I'd do away with the palms and have a couple of little native trees instead...but you get the idea. It's a good design to elaborate on.

Like a couple of little willows instead.

Oh my! The pampas grass gets too big?

Love that picture pictish....I guess I just have to accept that I won't have an instant garden and just buy two/ three awesome plants/ trees/ shrubs each year.

I will save the picture to look at.

No such thing as an instant garden :)

Pampas grass is used to advertise that you're in to swinging.. Or so they say!

Pictish's picture is lovely :)

Oh I remember that thread now ha!

No Palmas grass then...although the pink stuff is gorgeous.
I am leaning towards bark and sunken pot with dark stained fence, trellis and climbers and wooden stepping stones to the back gate.

Sounds lovely to me :)

Does anyone ever post their own gardens on here?

This is mine

They've come up shit. My camera on my phone only works with whatsapp, annoyingly.

The border with the obelisk is new this year apart from the verigated shrub and the yucca. I ripped everything out, widened and replanted.

The onnthe end is a patio with my greenhouse and the kids trampoline.. I didn't post a picture with that as its where ive dumped all the crap

It looks very lush and tropical! The path is lovely. Also, is that bamboo I can see in the first picture?