What to do with these spaces - Gardening Beginner (Pics Attached)

[ohgawdwhat]

Hi,

Moved into a new home recently - never done gardening before but just wondering if anyone has any advice of what to do with these two spaces

first is my front garden which is just grass but it doesn't appear in the best condition, gets barely any sunlight and grass doesn't seem to grow in certain places

second is from my back garden

have a very small if anything...budget

The parts where grass doesn’t grow i’d Be tempted to put paving down, or even a gravel/flower bed (I can’t think how to describe those lovely areas they do on Love Your Garden. Basically a ‘flower’bed, with grasses, shrubs and other evergreen type plants with gravel over the exposed soil.)

I’d keep the rest of the lawn well maintained. Not sure about the front - flower or not ? Depends on your budget ;)

Then at the back, I’d render those walls/paint them. And have a gorgeous cottage garden-Esque flower bed.

Enjoy !

For the back bed, do you want flowers, veg or easy maintenance?

Flowers - cottage garden as NamelessGem says - google for ideas. Things like lavender (grows every year), Aquilegia (grows every year and sets more by seeds easily) maybe a clematis (couple of pounds at wilco) etc.

Veg - upright things that look nice and don't take up loads of room - thinking currants (couple of pounds at wilcos), bean wigwams.

Low maintenance - evergreen shrubs like hebe, which have small pretty flowers too and grow reasonably quickly but not huge. Look at reduced section of garden centres.

Thanks for the ideas!

Ideally, due to time restraints and being a total novice, I want low maintenance for both front and rear.

I haven't the first clue about types of plants, flowers, shrubs, seasons, growing environment, etc.

For the rear bed in the back garden, I was thinking definitely some low maintenance evergreen shrubs but wouldn't know what ones, how many to plant in the bed, etc.

For the front, I was thinking where the path separates the two halves of the garden, getting rid of the grass and turning the smaller half on right into a bed for shrubs, plants, etc.

Then for the bigger half I was thinking turning the first half closest to the house into a bed with more shrubs and plants and just having the small bit of grass that grows nicely in front of it.

Not sure if that would work and again, wouldn't have the first idea what to plant and how much, etc.

I also think that getting rid of the grass in the front is a good idea. It’s very difficult to maintain grass in a shady situation.
Gravel as an option is quite expensive, weed proof membrane and tons of gravel. You always need about twice as much as you think!
Easy care shade loving shrubs surrounded by bark clippings might be a better option. It’s relatively easy to replace bark clippings as you go along.
Climbing plants and rambling roses planted along the decorative wall would soften its look.
In the rear garden the raised beds need some soil improver and new compost. What’s there looks dry and compacted.
Along the brick edge some rockery type plants would love the dryness and tumble over the edge.
Have a look on Pinterest for shaded gardens and cottage gardens, there’s lots of suggestions for planting.

Back garden - you can clean those walls and apply exterior masonry paint. It can completely transform the look of your garden. You can get loads of colours these days - slate grey is a good choice for a modern look which will work well with green evergreen shrubs. For a softer look cream or mint green are good.

Front - the patches of grass furthest from the house look healthy so why not keep them? The shaded bare patch - plants and bark would be a good idea. You should also have a think about artificial grass. I have used this in my parents garden and my own exterior terrace. It looks natural, you never need to weed or cut it and for small areas, it isn't that expensive.

Planting ideas;
Evergreen shrubs. Holly is nice for the back of an area as it is tall. The red berries in Winter look great. Camellia is also great and has huge flowers in Spring. It is medium sized. There is a family of evergreen shrubs called Hebe. They are brilliant and they come in all sizes, shapes and colours. Some have berries and others are great flowerers. Go to your local garden centre and ask to be shown the Hebes and pick the ones you like. The labels will say what conditions they like, how big they grow and if they flower. The RHS website has a great page on shrubs sorted into eventual size so if you have time - have a look at that; www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=842

Seed and bulb mixes are a great way to start off an empty garden. Buy from a specialist supplier online rather than from Homebase or similar. You will get more for your money and the quality of the seeds/bulbs will be better. The beauty of these bulk mixes is that you need no knowledge at all - just chuck them in your garden or bury the bulbs and see what comes up. You can plant a seed mix now and you will have loads of summer flowers this year.

Bear in mind that whatever you plant will grow so you can leave a fair bit of space and in 12 months or so the beds will be a lot fuller.
Pyrocantha looks nice against a wall too, evergreen and red berries which the birds love.
Do you use herbs - thyme, sage, mint will die back in the winter but come year after year. Rosemary is evergreen, cheap to buy, grows fast but you need to trim it or it can get quite large/spready.

Have a walk around the neighbourhood and see what other people are growing. Look in the local paper and see if there is a gardening club/group as you will learn and you might get lots of freebies as garden are good at sharing so may give you Cutting’s, seeds and certainly give free advice.

Flick through and buy a gardening magazine, borrow gardening design books from the library or go on Pinterest. There are loads of ideas on there. Car boot sales often have cheap plants.