Help me makeover my front garden (please)

[TwitterQueen1]

I have a large front garden (50ft x 20ft) in desperate need of a makeover. It currently houses a now unused trampoline that I want to get rid of. Under the trampoline are brambles, the grass has turned to moss, the shrubs bordering the driveway are messy and spreading. See diagram 1 :)

Reluctant though I am to get rid of the grass, shrubs and the old plum tree, they are just not practical. I can only get one car in the drive at the moment and I want hard standing that will enable 2 cars to be parked. I plan to get rid of the gate pillars to give more room for manoeuvre.

For the area nearest to the house I think a grid pattern of paving slabs interspersed with spaces for architectural plants would provide a degree of screening plus interest (yucca, fern, cypress etc). The bamboo will probably stay, though cut back a lot (tosser neighbour who complained about being able to see the trampoline over the cars parked in his drive....)

So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Alternatives? Also, any ideas on costs etc? Any comments much appreciated.

Bumping because I have produced some beautiful diagrams

They are very nice diagrams indeed Could you keep the plum tree, if it’s pretty?

They really are fabulous diagrams!

I'll have a think...I seem to better at other peoples gardens than my own

thank you

Unfortunately the plum tree is in the way of the proposed new hard standing. If I knock down the gate pillars a second car will be able to pull into the driveway and then bear right (from the road) onto what is now the garden. It would be too tight to turn if I kept the tree.

I have a 'hard landscaper' [titter ye not] coming to give me a quote tomorrow so I will hopefully get advice from him.

First thought is that the grid pattern with shrubs looks a bit over elaborate, (a bit like a chess board?) and may be expensive to do, but I like the basic layout and the idea of the screening. I'll ponder. (Should be planning my own back garden 😁)

I'm hoping it won't be expensive Pickingdaisies. I have some plants already - a couple of bay trees, a jewel yucca *£26 from Homebase yesterday), a fan palm that can be divided and a couple of random standards. I'm also thinking some fragrant low-level plants like thyme?

I don't want cats crapping all over the garden but it has to be gravel / paving for easy maintenance.....

Have you considered paving the whole lot and having plants in large pots? I think the grid thing is a bit municipal to be honest - but it’s your garden so what do I know?😀

Cant you have a deep border? I dont understand the grid design really?
Do you have any photos of styles you like which you can link to?

knittedfairies my diagrams obviously aren't as good as I thought they were! I'm aiming for what you're describing, with tall plants in pots on paving to provide some screening without blocking the light. I was thinking low-growing alpines or aromatics like thyme for possible gaps in the paving. It won't be as rigid as my diagram - I can't do curves in Excel...

trickyex Nice though a deep border would be, I am not well enough to maintain it properly - or mow grass for example.

I c an't help with design but I love* your diagrams !

How did you do them ?

• but my v creative friend has a gravel forecourt edged with raised narrow beds ( curvy/wavy ) with retaining walls and planted with v low maintenance stuff .

Thank you peridito . I used Excel - I can't draw for toffee so I can't do freehand stuff in Paint for example. I'm hoping the gardener will find it useful .

Now I'm thinking, a narrow slightly raised bed along the fence just enough to take some wall shrubs and climbers, maybe a climbing hydrangea, or flowing quince, or some clematis. I'm thinking this because my large pots keep getting attacked by chafer grubs, and the first I know of it is when the plant keels over because the roots have been eaten off.

And maybe another one between the concrete and the grid next to the house, where you could put a couple of structural shrubs for permanent screening, or some perennials for summer colour, then pots in front of that, the gaps for thyme etc that you were thinking of. I'll stop now

I like your grid design, and - unlike hard, impermeable surfaces with plants in pots - it fits with the rules on hard surfacing in gardens (at least, as I understand them). I’m sure your hard landscaper can advise you on the relevant regs.

As for planting, I think the key is to make this look like a garden that has space for cars, rather than a car park with a few plants in it. Can the planting space be made any bigger? What sort of age/style is your house?

1st gardener came last night and spent a good hour measuring up. He was very good. Told me he wouldn't do anything until nesting season is over and he's keen to save the plum tree.

He's suggested random paving slabs of differing sizes rather than the grid pattern in my diagram, which will look a lot more 'natural'.

Maud my house is frankly very unattractive from the outside. Probably 1960s? But the location is brilliant and it had 4 square bedrooms of reasonable size, which was essential for the 3 DCs. Parking on the road outside is very limited (early commuters bag the spaces) and currently I can only get one car in the drive. Although it's green and very private at the moment these alterations will increase its kerb appeal (IMO)

I asked about the house because I was pondering about matching the planting style to it. With a Georgian house, say, I’d probably suggest something quite traditional. As it’s a modern house, I’d go with quite bold, sculptural planting - dicksonia antartica or fatsia japonica, for example, which will work with the bamboo. Your original ideas and the gardeners’ tweaks both sound great. Near me, there are lots of hideous front gardens - barren slabs of paving with no kerb appeal - but you’re clearly going to avoid that. It sounds like an exciting project!

Thanks Maud! I've meaning to do it for a while and now I'm on extended sick leave I can use this to occupy me over the summer.

I think I've lost one dicksonia over the winter unfortunately - even though I protected it. I've got a jewel yucca, a fan palm, a couple of Montana cypress half standards and 2 bay trees so far.

I love Maud's suggestions, and also the gardener's tweaks to your design. I think your onto a winner

If you get a chance the houzz website is great for ideas ( lots of high end stuff but some good ideas) a bit like Pinterest but without the memes!

Rereading this, I think I might have misunderstood. I thought the grid was gaps in the paving, into which things could be planted, but is it in fact an arrangement of pots? Having nothing but hard surfaces will I think require you to use permeable materials to mitigate rainwater run-off.

I’ve just remembered that the RHS website has lots of stuff about designing front gardens in ways that can accommodate cars but still look attractive. I think it was there that I saw a rather nifty (I thought) idea about using narrow strips of planting space even where the cars will be parked, so that the cars can have a solid surface to park on, but with low-growing things like thyme nestling beneath them.

I’m sorry to hear about your poor health but good luck with this.

Hi Maud No you didn't misunderstand. The gaps are supposed to be gaps in the paving for me to plant things into. I'm undecided about whether to keep the tall standard plants in pots on the surface or to actually plant them. Either way, there would be gaps for drainage, thyme, maybe alpines etc and maybe for the odd 'feature' item like a glass ball...

Gardener said yesterday that he recommends sinking square drain containers into the ground because it contains the roots and stops them pushing up the pavers. Thanks for the RHS tip - I'll take a look

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Since you were all so kind as to help with suggestions and opinions I thought I would update you all . Here is my before and after front garden.

Thank you! I am very pleased with the end result. Space, light and so much neater!

I’m glad you’re pleased with it (but I can’t see any paving, with or without gaps....)

Hah! Well spotted Knitted. No, the first quote I had came in at £12k, which I thought was somewhat excessiv . So I moved from landscape gardeners to drive experts. I had terrible trouble getting people to answer my messages, let alone give me quotes. Also, several friends told me gravel is OK... and actually it is. I may rent out a parking space as we're very close to the station, or I may just leave it as is.