What would you do with this garden?

[Cakemonger]

I've just moved into a rental house and want to spruce up the garden and make it look less bare without too much trouble or expense. We are reseeding the lawn as it was full of weeds.

I'd like to cover up more of the fences and improve our privacy if possible. I'm thinking I should stick to climbers as a border or perennials will surely take up too much space?

The garden is quite shady due to the trees so even the south west facing fence only gets partial sunlight. The best area for sun is the patio so I'll put a few pots there.

We have a cat so I'm trying to avoid anything very toxic to cats. From what I've read this includes ivy and clematis, but star jasmine, honeysuckle and climbing roses are fine. Where exactly would you plant these?

I should point out I am a total novice and didn't know a shrub from a hedge until last week. All ideas welcome.

Impressive diagrams OP! My first thought is that a lawn might struggle in the shade; did you sow grass seeds specifically for shade? I would be tempted to put down gravel /shingle over a weed-proof membrane but perhaps not worth it in a rental property. I have clematis and jasmine; a Clematis Montana will grow like the clappers and likes its feet in the shade and head in the sun. To be honest, I wouldn’t entertain ivy - it’s a thug. Pyracanthas grow well in the shade and would cover your north-facing fence giving blossom in the summer and colourful berries in the autumn; for such a small space it’s a good idea to plant things to give interest in more than one season. A passionflower would fill your south-west fence in no time. And don’t forget bulbs - plant now for spring.

Thanks so much for your reply @Knittedfairies, that's really helpful.

We know the previous tenants and they said they did manage to plant a lawn, so we're going to give it a go. We were busy unpacking and didn't water it at all through the hot summer (we thought the weeds were grass!) so I think it gave up the ghost then. I bought some shady lawn seeds so fingers crossed.

Good point about year round interest - I'll check out all the plants you mentioned, they look lovely. I wasn't going to plant bulbs by the fences because I thought they might look odd without a proper border and perennials - perhaps I could plant them in the patio pots?

Yes, it was strangely calming making the diagrams

Hydrangeas like partial shade and grow well in planters. Garden centres are selling off plants now, because they don’t want to overwinter them.

Thanks @Beebumble2, I'll check out my local garden centre

Superlative diagram! I'm sorry I can't make a link, but if you go back a bit, there's a great thread about 'shady characters' with zillions of suggestions.

Ooh thank you @concretesieve I'll have a look for it

Great diagram!

For the moist, shady area, ferns might be good at the feet of whatever is climbing, and they're low maintenance. Polystichum polyblepharum or maybe Japanese painted ferns.

Epimedium or Epimedium x rubrum for the dry, shady area.

Hydrangea seemanii will grow up against a wall but is slow to get going. ("First year sleeping, second year creeping, third year leaping").

Star jasmine or honeysuckle sound good, I think star jasmine will look less 'bald' at the bottom, at least from what I see in my garden. What about Virginia creeper, it's less aggressive than other types of ivy?

Euphorbia / spurge will probably grow in the impossibly dry shady area. We have managed to get them to grow under our spruce trees where nothing else (not even grass or weeds) would grow. They did require watering for the first few months to get them established but have been remarkably resilient thereafter.

Only thing to be aware of is that they are not very child friendly as if broken the stems produce a latex which is an irritant.

Thanks @teasal123 I love the look of the ferns and the Epimedium x rubrum. Hydrangeas and virginia creepers are both toxic to cats sadly but yes, star jasmine looks the way to go.

@macshoto Great tip on the euphorbia, thanks!

Try Facebook market place for some garden furniture for the decking. That's a lovely space and looking on Facebook for second hand can save quite a bit of money.