I'm showered with bulbs with not a clue where to plant

[GinAndOnIt]

I may have sent off for a few too many of the free bulb offers, and now have 6 types of alliums, plus snowdrops, hyacinth, ixia, crocus, muscari, anemone de caen, daffs and tulips.

I've posted other threads with garden plans, so sorry to repeat myself if you've read the other ones. And I can post some pictures if needs be! But does anyone have any lovely ideas of where I can plant?

I have found a spot for the Allium Purple Sensation and Mount Everest, and another spot for some Allium Moly (but I have a lot more of those to spread around). I also thought I'd plant the tulips and daffs around the base of a few trees I have going up the front path. There are a few snowdrops already planted near front door, so I think I will just add the other snowdrops to those.

Now, I have a section of bedding towards the bottom of the front garden where I have planted my rose plants, and they're doing quite well considering I'd left them sat in their pots for far too long. There are four of them, and I've planted them in four separate small beds of their own, with a space in the middle. This middle bit is where I wanted to plant other things, but I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with googling heights of alliums and what to plant with what, so I need some help.

I'd like it to be the kind of bed that has tall in the middle, with shorter towards the edge, but surrounding the tall all around IYSWIM? Almost like a circle bed rather than one that goes from back to front in height. If this is a terrible idea, tell me now!

Any other ideas for the plants would be nice to hear too. I can list the Allium types if you'd like!

And then finally, the view from the side of the house/entrance to back garden. If you imagine the shrubbery gone, then there will be a lot better view of the rest of the garden from this top point.

I always buy too many bulbs at once, the solution that works for me is to plant them in pots and then find spots for them in the spring, means I can fill unexpected gaps and avoids me attempting to plant on top of existing bulbs I have forgotten about. You can colours in the same pots if you want to avoid distinct clumps.

What a gorgeous space! (is that your dog? TOO CUTE!) It's quite big, isn't it? Is that your house I can see? Not being nosy, just trying to work out how your outdoor space relates to your indoor. It sounds from your description that it might be a neighbour's house?

I agree with you about naturalised spring bulbs in that spot - you could really enjoy them there.

What I love about it is that the elongated shape gives you a sense of a journey through it. And you already have this lovely curving path across. You also have some gorgeous mature trees punctuating it, most of which are in really great places.

I think if it were mine - and bear in mind I have a tendency to create high maintenance solutions and generally need to be told to calm down a bit!! - for the first section looking up from the steps, I would create peripheral beds with an 'islands' of lawn in the middle, and borders all round. This means you would get a low border all along the first bit of the path on your left (ideally with scented things for all seasons so as you walk along it you get wafts of lovely scent) and a deeper border around the edges. You could link the lawn islands to the main path via a strip of grass. There's even room for a pond should you wish!! The island-effect and built up borders should make it feel less like a corridor (always the risk with an elongated shape).

I think I can see what someone was trying to do with that shrubbery - narrowing it down gives you a screened area. But it's got a bit tatty. Does it get lots of sun there? The reason I ask is that it looks shaded (but this may just be the picture) and there is that large hedge? (I think it's a hedge) - and a lot of veg likes it a bit sunnier.

There's so much to consider with a new garden, but I think you have the makings of something amazing there!

That is a very good idea wiggly but I don't own a huge amount of pots unfortunately, in fact I just have a few broken plastic ones that were left behind by the last owners! So I'd rather not go out and buy them just for that purpose. It's a good idea for future years when I'm better equipped though.

Oh, and I think your instincts of opening up that view are spot on.

That is indeed my beautiful dog

So, my house is the cream one with the black door that you can see at the top of the garden. The kitchen window is the closest to the camera and the lounge window is the other side. Garden mostly gets looked at through kitchen window more than lounge.

So with the shrubbery, you sort of have to pretend none of it is there. We are ripping every bit of it out, it's just taking a while! So there will be nothing left at all of that tatty area. There will be a big space between the small shrubs at the top of the patterned path, right down to the pine tree. And on the other side where it's brown will be gone too.

I'll get a birds eye picture, hold on

Here we are. So, do you see the top of the pine tree? Essentially everything up to there is going. We might keep the row of hedges just at the front, but I think I'd like them gone too really. And then that whole space will be veg/beds

It's going to be BIG once you take those shrubs out!

And the size of some of those bushes, I can totally see why this is making you groan (and taking time). They're monsters aren't they? Big job, BUT worth it.

In fact, I think it'll feel so different when you've taken those out, you might want to hold off on any major design decisions until you can really see and feel the new space. Because it will work so differently and the light is going to change a lot as well (it looks sunny so your veg bed plan should work!) Come join us in the allotment thread - we're already planning next year's crops!

Oh it is such a slog. It's on hold at the moment as we're in maize harvest, so I'm just pretending it's not there as I walk past for now.

I think maybe I'll just focus on the beds at the bottom for now then, and get the bulbs planted and think about your other ideas for meadow/beds/pond etc when the veg is under way.

Will have a read of allotment thread too!