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.

what are you going to use your garden for? do you like gardening, or is it going to be a playground? want to sit outside in the sun? where is the sun? need a washing line? sort out what you need it for first then we can advise on what to do

Yeah it is a clumping bamboo - Fargesia Robusta. It's been in 5 or 6 years.

I plan to sit in the sun....children dont use it at all except for picnics.
I do need a washing line. But I think that would just go down the side.

I shall look for the clumping variety of bamboo next year...It looks great.

Hello OP, I too am making a modern rectangular(ish) garden into a Thing of Beauty. For about 20p if possible.

I've made one bed, and was planning on doing weed membrane and gravel, but am alarmed by the gravel haterz on this thread, what's wrong with it?

OP, I definitely agree about the height. If trees are scaring you, I read an interesting article online about training shrubs to grow as trees so you get some height but not massive roots.

I'd would say do a a big deep border at the back and coming around the side.
The shrubs/ trees will do ok in the part shad that you have and your perennials will then be in the sun. I think a border needs depth.

I use weed membrane on the big borders and top with soil. That way the weeds lift easily as the roots can't establish properly, but the soil looks nicer.

I have turned a bare garden into a real garden. It takes time. I'd suggest you throw all of your money at tree/ large shrubs. Then grow some perennials from seed ( do this now) to add to it next year.

I'd plant Buddlia to begin with it grows fast and will make your garden look much more mature next year. Clumping bamboo is nice, I like pampas grass.
A cherry tree is always nice.

I would dig some borders and fill them with plants like methe's lovely garden! You're going to have to be very clever in the way you buy things to make your budget work as hard for you as possible, but it can be done.

The smartest thing to do is to plan, plan and plan your structure right now. You can then start digging the borders over the summer. But I wouldn't put anything much in over the summer - you'll have a battle to keep it alive with watering, particularly in soil that hasn't been worked for a while.

I would wait until the autumn/spring and give the soil a through dose of very cheap compost, of the 4 bags for £10 variety and then plant. If you can get to a local stables with free manure, a few trugs of that will be useful too! It would also be worth investing in a compost bin from the council to save you some cash in future. I realise that these are the least glamorous things to drop tens of pounds on, but they really will make the difference between your plants thriving and them dying.

It might be worth investing in some kit to grow plants from seed. Aldi do electric propagators in the spring. A cold frame might also be useful if you can find one cheap. A packet of seed is £2 (or 39p in the discounters) and will give you loads and loads of plants.

My advice would probably be to avoid the garden centre - it's just too expensive, and you won't get much for your money. Aldi , Lidl, Morrisons are brilliant for cheaper plants - research everything you buy, because you don't want to waste your budget on stuff that won't grow or that is expensive and annual and therefore dies at the end of the year. Aldi do fruit trees for £2.99 and shrubs/climbers for £1.79 in the autumn/springtime. Local plant sales can be brilliant too. Look out for small plants in small pots rather than buying really big ones that are much more expensive. The only difference is two or three years of growth, so you might as well fill your garden with tinies and have the fun of watching them grow.

Pamela, I think a curvy path down to the end of your garden, would help break up the rectangular-ness of it. Do you know anyone who is giving away some paving slabs and you could use them as stepping stones? Could you advertise for them on Freecycle?

Some really careful advice- thank you!

Someone I know is giving me some plants grown from cuttings.

I am very happy to grow from seed and have a couple of small propagaters and lots of plastic brown pots. I won't have as much greenery in my garden as I think it is too small so am keen on height for the back and sunken pots on the left and a little path made from tree trunk stepping stones on the right.

I am going to get either a tree or some bamboo for the back left.

I see lots of plants at Carboot sales, so I am looking forward to that.

Thanks for the tip of digging in lots of compost.

How do I make a bed though.....dig out the grass, dig in compost, weed liner and then bark on top?

If you're anywhere near the Black Country I'm happy to donate a couple of euphorbias - a mellifera and another one that I can't remember the name of. I've grown them from seed but have far too many :)

Thank you shove

Euphorbia x pasteurii

No I'm in Cambridgeshire area....that's a shame.

I will post some photos once the lawn has been cut to shape and edged.
Typical that it's forecast rain for the next two days. I'm keen to get started!

It'll be far easier to dig after a bit of rain anyway :)

Oh and I have a beautiful Astilbe in a pot- a pink one and I see that they like shade so that is my first plant for the back of the garden.

I agree about buying things when they are little - they are so much cheaper and if they're happy put on growth really quickly and if they're not happy they will die whether they are big or little.

I would concentrate on feeding the soil now - and planning. Don't plant your astilbe until autumn as they like it wet. If you can find a stables that will give you manure ( try and get it when it's really old and fudgy), it really makes a difference to the way things grow: otherwise I'd recommend lots and lots of bagged manure not compost. Orgpanic matter feeds the plants and helps water retention - or helps clay soil not be so clay - is the soil sandy clay or in between? You might like to get a soil testing kit too - no point planting azaleas if your soil is not acid.

To be honest the so is rubbish which is why I am thinking of sunken pot garden. It should help with weeding, watering and upkeep.

The soil is all rubbly and Sandy so I shall be feeding the lawn once shaped on a regular basis.

If your soil is bad, I would spend the time on that. A good dig and sieve and manure, manure, manure.

It's full of worms, which you need.

Sort out your boundry first imo, don't go for brown fencing because it'll emphasise the boxy shape. Green is softer imo. Give the grass a good watering and feed, might be that the developers didn't do the best job laying the turf. Check out the neighbourhood gardens and see the sorts of things that grow well, then try a good website like Crocus to check out those plants and others that like the same conditions. Lots of ideas there to help you get an ideas of the look you want too. Head to recycling sites for slabs (another no to gravel!) pots (buy the biggest you can afford) and fill a couple for by the back door for now to encourage you while you begin to sort the rest out. Don't waste your budget on annuals, get a couple of box plants for structure and tuck in some perennials like violas or diasica. Go to the plant stall at local fairs for more bits. Get a bench to sit on and contemplate the loads of design ideas on the web, but do think carefully about which sort of tree you plant. Look for interesting bark, Autumn colour, perhaps berries to encourage the birds. Cherry trees have a habit of pushing their roots up through grass so a family apple tree might be better for blossom. Take your time and enjoy!

One thing you could do is get this offe if you like enough of the plants:

www.thompson-morgan.com/flowers/flower-plants/perennial-and-biennial-plants/perennial-best-value-collection/t47606TM

I got it last year (almost identical range of plants). The plug plants are minuscule, but almost all survived after I had potted them on, and I now have a nice range of plants covering quite a long season. You could nurture them over the summer and then plant out in autumn when you've dug in all that manure!

Weed membrane is not a good long term solution as it stops plants and trees establishing deep roots and collects dog piss and restricts drainage. Much better to get a weeding tool and hand weed.

In the interim between getting rare plants, you could plant common pretty vigorous hardy plants like nepeta and species geraniums and geums and dahlias which will come up year after year and keep the weeds down and look nice without needing expensive weed membrane. Their roots will also help break up heavy soil.

Bark is also said to be good cat toilet, and is best not spread on till late autumn.

How does the weed membrane stop trees from establishing roots, surely it goes on the surface?

Work out what conditions you have and buy plants that like them . So check where you have shade, semi shade, sun, good or bad drainage . It's a lot of work to grow plants that don't like where you live

If you are Cambridgeshire and have poor sandy soil , your astilbe won't like it . Sorry . OTOH there are hundreds of beautiful plants you CAN grow

Pots are fun but a lot of work and expensive to buy ones that look half decent . Personally I'd go for plants that love your sun and good draining / drought tolerant and put them in the ground

I agree with all the posts about improving your soil under trees and big shrbs, planinig well and getting some feature trees and shurbs in ASAP. But only once you have reached carefully , so you don't spend money on the wrong things

Op here- name changed....

I am taking notes from all the suggestions, writing down names of plants and researching, thanks.

Feeling optimistic that I can have a reasonably nice garden after three years.

I fear I have acted a bit rash though......I have sown some gladioli seeds today but then realised I am too late. I had them in the cupboard and did them on a whim. They are in a pvc greenhouse now indoors at a south facing window. What will happen....they won't flower this year now will they, so will they die?

You need to keep them between 7-14 degrees to germinate . If they do, you can prick them out in about 6 weeks when they are baby plants . You can plant them out later I think and Feed them over the summer . Then in the autum you can lift the corns and let them dry out. Store over the winter and replant next spring .

northcoastgardening.com/2010/10/why-i-hate-landscape-fabric/

Thanks...that's a relief!