What would you do with this garden?

[Daffodil2018]

We have lived in our house for 4 years but haven’t really had much time to do anything other than basic maintenance of the back garden (and sometimes not even that! ). Now I am on maternity leave and would love to get the garden into good shape over the spring and summer.

DH and I are both total novices who have no clue what would make it look better!

It’s a north-facing garden around 30m square (guessing). There is one patio close to the house, which is always in shade and badly laid. Then a patchy lawn with a flowerbed on one side and hedge on the other. The flowerbed has some nice, albeit overgrown, shrubs in it. On the left are some fairly tall branches which overhang from our neighbour’s garden.

Two little flowerbeds at the end of the lawn on either side, then another more attractive patio at the end. Shed on the left hand side. A triangular bed at the very far end of the garden which gets a good amount of sunshine. This currently contains a compost heap of sorts which seems to be being used as a bed by the local foxes.

We are on a limited budget but I’d love to know what i could do/plant to get the garden shipshape for summer. Does anyone have any ideas or advice please?

Firstly I’d track the sun and plot it on a diagram of your garden. I have a N facing garden, which fortunately gets a reasonably amount of sun, so I know it can be difficult.
I’d then prune back the Laurel hedge that is stopping the light getting through to the beds and lawn. They can be chopped back really hard without much trouble. Also prune the overhanging branches.
The bit at the back, where most sun is could be raked and some soil improver dug in.
I’d also borrow a jet wash and wash the patio. Don’t worry about the grass too much, your little one will be happy playing on it!
The RHS have a list of shade loving plants you could plant. Easy ones are Cranesbill Geraniums ( different from the red ones) also Hydrangeas are easy. Maybe plant some bulbs for next year.
Enjoy making your garden yours.😊.

I would:

Cut everything back that's taller than fence and overhanging.

Tidy border and maybe put a thin line of gravel separating that from the grass or some railway sleepers to make it a 'hard border'.

Get rid of the compost heap.

Buy a big tub of cheap thin bleach. Spread it on patio/paving and use yard brush to rub it in, then swill off with water or leave and the rain will wash it away. Cheaper than buying a jet wash if you don't have one.

Put some weed and feed on the grass.

Paint fences.

Anything you buy ensure it's leaves don't drop and it's got colour all year round.

Good luck and enjoy.

Thank you both very much! It sounds like pruning is the first order of business

And power washing the patio - we do actually have a washer somewhere I think. I love the idea of railway sleepers. And hydrangeas. I might see if I can get a big hydrangea for that back bed - the compost definitely needs to go. It’s quite a big garden for a tiny house so I am determined to make the most of it now I’ve got a bit more time at home!

I hadn’t quite realised how massive the Laurel has become until I looked at the photo again

A sunny, well composted bed at the back of the garden would be a brilliant veg patch! You can get instant veg patches online, with a nice selection of plants that are easy to grow, delivered at the right time to plant them.

What do you want to do in this garden, before you start doing anything with it?

Agree with pruning that laurel - I'd even go so far as to say you could possibly get rid of it altogether. It doesn't add anything, it blocks the light, and it will be sucking all the goodness out of the ground. If you can't face digging it up (and it would be backbreaking work) then you could chop it right down to below knee height, and then you could keep it more under control.
When it comes to other shrubs, identify what they are first, and find out the best time of year to prune each one. Renovation pruning is helpful - where you cut back a third of the oldest branches each year - so that after three years you have all new growth. It isn't such a shock to the plant either. Sometimes if you prune too heavily you can either kill it, or encourage it to put on huge leggy new growth and no flowers.
Agree with the sunny end as a good place for a veg plot.

bugger giving the sunny bit to the veg...I'd want somewhere nice to sit out,

I'd get rid of the lawn, pita to mow and they never look nice

Yes to dealing with that hedge, but is it yours or the neighbours?? Maybe a difficult conversation to be had?

Lovely pics on this link I especially like 31, with the curvy paths and gravel with the lovely pots.

Heh @MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours the pull of the greedy versus the sun worshippers! My gran was forever putting her deckchair right on top of my grandads veg...

You could always have a small seating area in the sunny spot and some herbs & tomatoes in pots you can move around.

Wow, thank you for these replies!

I like the idea of a mini veg patch in the existing flower bed although am rather attached to that patio as it’s where I sunbathe! Maybe I could do some veg in the bed and as you say averystrangeweek put some things in pots there too. I’d love to grow my own tomatoes.

I think for now I’d like to keep the lawn for when my daughter starts toddling around. Gravel might lead to skinned knees I reckon. I did wonder about putting a path down the middle though.

I think the idea of cutting the laurel right down to knee height is really interesting. I wouldn’t want to get rid entirely as there’s no fence behind it and it acts as the barrier between our garden and NDN’s. But I hadn’t thought about it being much shorter. It is such a beast! It seems to have doubled in height and width since we moved in.

Renovation pruning of the shrubs sounds a good idea. I have no idea what they are. One has little red flowers and another little pink ones. I’ll have to go out there with my gardening book and phone and do some investigating.

My plan to start with is prune, prune, prune!

I am also thinking about putting some decking tiles over the patio nearest the house. I think this would hide the badly laid slabs. I’ll power wash them first though to see if that makes it a bit better.

Yes, cherry laurel is a brute! Cut it down to a better height straight away, luckily, they are pretty robust.

Can you show the individual shrubs in the side bed? Pruning may be right for some of them too, but it depends what they are,

If you want some instant colour, then in April/May, buy a couple of strips of bedding plants, geraniums, or pansies, or petunias, and plant them at the front of the beds, they shoudl flower all summer and give you some colour. The only problem you might have is if the slugs get to them!

Where the compost heap was, is there a heap still, or is it ground level? If it is a heap, then dig the top off the heap and shovel it under those shrubs in the flower bed. The bottom of the heap will give the veg bed enough good stuff.

oooh I want to come round and help you now - I love chopping stuff back and making it look good!

It can be good to know what bedding plants slugs will leave alone. They never seem to touch snapdragons (antirhinum) for instance.

Oh I didn't know that MrsBertBibby, we might try those thise year!
begonias seem to do well too, but I love it when you have all the bronze leaves and white flowers, or all green leaves and red flowers, I don't like the mixed packs

Marking place as my garden is small, north facing, with patio slabs that need cleaning too.

I would get rid of the patio near the house if it's shady and replace with turf. I would put raised beds on both sides to fill with flowers, and a stepping stone path up the middle of the lawn leading to a seating area at the bottom where the sun is. That shouldn't cost too much and your garden would have a focus, destination and colour.

But would grass grow nearer the house in the shade if OP took up the slabs? I've got a very similar aspect and the bit of grass beside the slabs in the dark is pure damp moss. Grass wouldn't stand a chance.

Some clematis, roses or honeysuckle would be nice for the fence on the left. If you tie in new growth you can train it up.

In any case, a shady patio is great for tinies. You can put them out there with paints or whatever on nice days and not worry too much about the sun.

And yes, shady grass is hard to do.

Does the laurel belong to you OP? If it's yours I'd prune it back towards the fenceline and take some of the height off. It grows back quite quickly.
Possibly look at removing down the line and replacing with fence panels as like a pp says it will be gobbling nutrients and it's a pain to keep clipping.

I have a pleached laurel in my garden - I really like it. Not sure how far out from the fenceline the trunks of yours are? You really need a barrier behind (i.e. fence) so you don't end up looking through the trunks at your neighbours if you're going the pleaching route! I have a shorter fence under/behind mine and the laurel on top

I love lawn and I'm a bit of a chemical baddie with mine. I don't use chemicals on my plants but I do put weed and feed down twice a year (March and Sept/Oct for example) to keep it looking lush. Wilko sell lawn seed in barrels that you weigh out. Two varieties - premium and hardwearing. I think the hardwearing contains some rye grass though which some people don't like. It is tougher however and more suited to shade. They also sell boxes of lawn seed for shade which I've never tried - the reviews say you get better results sowing it in summer. I scuff up the soil with a rake, sow the seed, gently water in and avoid treading on it.

If you're applying weed and feed do it before heavy rain is due and apply sparingly. It's really easy to put too much on and scorch your grass black
A nice heavy rain shower will wash it in for you. I use 2 or 3 9cm flowerpots inside each other to apply mine, it trickles down through the holes so you don't end up with too much. You can weigh the amount to see how much you're supposed to be applying per m2 - it's less than you think. Good YouTube videos exist for lawn care and bringing a lawn back from the brink!

Wilko are excellent for budget gardening supplies.

Instead of a boring straight path you could look at round paving stones to form a bridge over the lawn. These can be lifted to one side for mowing.

I love foxes so I wouldn't want to get rid of their den! Could it be relocated around the back of the shed or screened off using a painted trellis panel with something attractive growing up it? I love attracting all sorts of wildlife to my garden, it's really important
Try some mini log piles and bird baths too. Home Bargains and Aldi usually sell butterfly and insect houses at some point.

You could check out garden on a roll websites and copy their shade planting selection
I can rattle off some evergreen shrubs and climbers that are doing well in my north facing bed.
As per pp check how much sun different parts of the garden receive. Even shadier areas often count as 'partial shade' (not full shade) as long as there is overhead light (i.e. no overhanging trees) - giving you more planting flexibility.

Is the vegetation to the left very tall? Would your neighbour be amenable to cutting it down (or allowing you to trim) if it's grown out of control? Obviously tread carefully and seek permission. The sun will travel around that way so any height on the left (West) is casting a shadow over your garden during the afternoon.

Geraniums (pelargoniums), begonias and fuchsias all tolerate shade in terms of bedding plants. I buy £1 trailing fuchsias from Morrisons and their trailing begonia corms (they grow super easily - I start them off indoors in 9cm pots then plant out in April/May). These would look lovely in pots on your patio nearest the house. I love pinks, purples, reds and corals together.
I also buy a massive tray of flowerbed begonias (the ones with green or purple flattish leaves) and stick them all over my shady borders as they last until at least October here (SE) and give continuous colour when the May/June flower peak has subsided.

I'm also a big fan of vertical gardening. Climbers, arches, obelisks, hanging baskets, pouches, vertical vegetable gardening - all of the above! It's a great space saver and draws the eye upwards making your garden feel bigger.

Tbh I'd be looking to get the laurel removed and some fence panels put in (if it belongs to you). By my calculations that should be your sunniest bed during the afternoon (W facing) and it's a complete waste!
Laurels are a nuisance to keep on top of as they sprout tenfold after clipping. I am a fan of laurel but not in this situation.

Your garden will feel much bigger/wider/lighter without it.

I've thinned my pleached laurel and aim to keep on top of it this year with a cordless electric pole hedge trimmer (to be purchased from Aldi once the correct offers week comes round - they come with a 3yr warranty!).
I don't know how dense the branches are in your hedge once you prune the leaves. If it's really woody an electric trimmer may struggle.