Help me feel better about the horrible garden in our new house

[WobbleHead]

Been house hunting for a year - we’ve been living in a flat for years and my green fingers have been getting itchy. Was really looking forward to moving somewhere with a garden!

But. The only place we found to buy that worked for a number of reasons has a long shady corridor of a garden.

The house has been rented out for nearly 10 years and nothing has been done to it, so it’s a wilderness of overgrown clematis, dog poo, crumbling concrete, collapsing fences and a hades-like effect from the shade of next door’s leylandii and oak trees.

The ONLY bit of the garden that’s sunny enough to grow sun loving plants (I’m a rose nut) is concreted over as a path to access the full length of the garden.

Oh and the front garden is fully concreted over as well and the builder said it would cost too much to take it all up to make a usable flower bed.

Just having a whinge really. I think we could make some nice spaces in between the out-of-control twisty willow and what I think is a plum tree. There’s an Ash and a horse chestnut that have grown as weeds and we will be probably taking up.

Just need to reconcile myself to not having acres of herbaceous border (as I was clearly secretly hoping we would end up with in a house we could afford in London...)

What have you found works for shady spots? Have you tackled any nightmare gardens and how long did it take?

Do you need the front for parking? If not rip up the concrete anyway regardless of price.

Once you've cleared the back and put some decent fences in it will look a lot better. Cut down any overhanging branches. Ask your neighbour if they'd consider having the lleylandi cut down? Even if you have to pay it might be worth it for a bit more sun.

Sounds like my garden:( it has the potential to be really, really lovely. But its not.

Ita very long, two halves of grass with a shitty concrete path down to the back gate.

Its horrendous and I donr have green fingers at all and cant affors to pay someone to make me a nice garden:(

Try and think of it as an opportunity to learn about shade loving plants? I'm not knowledgeable at all but I'm learning a little bit at a time. Shady gardens can be fabulous if you do a bit of research and plant accordingly.
It sounds like you have some established things growing which shows the potential. Agree with pp that sorting out fences first and having a good prune will help you weigh the job up.
Also my Ddad has had success growing roses in pots in his tiny courtyard garden.
Don't let it overwhelm you, gardening is an investment in your future. If there's no time or money to get it exactly as you want it straight away be patient, you'll get there in the end.

Could you make some big raised beds in your front garden for your roses?

I agree with Watto - build raised beds out the front, make that beautiful with your roses and slowly hack at the back. Spend the summer looking at NGS gardens, particularly any with shade gardens, there really are some stunning plants for a shady garden

A woman in my DM's village has a rose bush in a tub that grows all over the front of her house - you wouldn't believe that such a big bush could come out of such a small container - it is gorgeous. There are loads of shade-loving plants too - it's just a shame to not have free rein to choose what you want. Just tackle a bit of the garden at a time and eventually you will get there!

Re your path being concrete, we had this, though with slabs, in a very small, narrow garden. Took the slabs out, and put the stepping stone version in, so there is lots of grass around, and makes it seem more like lawn. I got the giant animal print paws but then I am 5

I completely understand why you're upset, but you can still have a beautiful shady garden. The rhs has lots of tips. Have a bit of a sulk about it, I certainly would, but then do some research and see it as a challenge!

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=100

You could hire a breaker and take up all the concrete yourself, I have done a whole drive way in a day, putting the rubble in to rubble bags and the taking to the rubbish tip.

Perhaps your builder didn’t want to do it, I don’t think it’s a big job.

www.hss.com/hire/c/breaking-and-drilling/electric-breakers

In this hot weather a shady garden can be very nice.

We have a long shady corridor of garden with big trees in our neighbours’ plots. It’s gorgeous. You’ll get there in the end and feel proud! Yours must be a decent size if it has multiple self seeded trees. And great to have a plum tree. We have astilbe, spiraea, a giant hebe, cranesbill, smoke bush, California lilac...

Have a search on garden and design websites like Houzz. If you put words like 'shady garden' into the search you get hundreds of photos popping up with some lovely gardens (mostly featuring hostas quite heavily, but I like hostas).

My husband just spent £40 on a bolster, hammers etc. and took up our patio himself. It shouldn't be an expensive job so maybe get a few quotes.

Have a look at www.plantsforshade.co.uk/

There are loads of interesting and lovely plants that prefer shade! See it as a challenge and an adventure : )

I'd get another quote to take the concrete up. "Too expensive" often means "I can't be bothered".

Beautiful pots out the front. And planters made from sleepers.

meaningfuluse-emr.com/flowers-for-shade-garden-border-plants/

Margery Fish's Gardening in the Shade is your saviour in this situation.

Awww thanks guys.

Yes I was surprised builder said he wouldn’t take up at least part of the front driveway. It’s pretty massive though - about 20’x30’ (original owner must have bloody loved concrete) and raised to a depth of a couple of feet to make the front level. Builder said it was probably all rubble underneath and we would have to buy in topsoil etc.

Re tubs or raised beds - yes maybe! I have a Generous Gardener rose climbing over my flats balcony for the last five years. He’s suffered with our last hot summers though.

There is a good side, your plants won't die and turn crispy in the sun, you can have an oasis. I am so tired of having to water plants every time the sun comes out or not have any at all.

If you can't remove all the concrete you could make one corner into a bed with a wall around it. We have a hideous paved drive and a corner bed which is a mass of roses, honeysuckle and various shrubs, all mangled together at the moment as they need tidying up but very pretty and bug friendly.

If you really hate the garden, you might want, (and be able to afford), to move again in a few years’ time.
If that’s a possibility, then don’t remove the concrete at the front or put permanent raised beds on it - because (sadly) it’s probably worth a lot more as a parking space to potential buyers.
I’d go with lots of pots and containers, which can be easily removed when (if) you leave.
As to the back garden - the first thing I’d do is relay the horrible path so that it’s a series of curves, not a straight line. That way, not only will it look prettier, it will free up some areas in the sun for planting flowers.
As well as pruning your own trees, speak to your neighbours and see if they’d be willing to lower or remove their (ghastly!) Leylandii or whatever else is blocking your light. If it’s in the form of a hedge, they are legally obliged to keep it below a certain height.
Finally, as you’re “way down South, London town” (apologies to Dire Straits!), you have a mild enough climate to go mad with exotic tree ferns etc and create a fabulous shady jungle vibe in the darker areas of the garden. It could be a blessedly cool retreat during heatwaves.

When we moved into our house 6 years ago the garden was a mass of concrete and half of it was in shade due to overgrown trees next door. We ended up hiring a mini digger and dug up a whole grab lorries worth of concrete which we carried through the house by hand so it could be taken away. We put in a lawn and a lovely patio plus lots of flower beds. We found rhodedendrons grow really well in the shade as do many other plants. Also we got new neighbours after a couple of years who chopped down the huge trees!

Agree that you could get quotes or look into doing it yourself.

But really, I’d take a look at Pinterest for how you can just use the concrete as a stable flat base to quickly put together an outdoor living space with garden elements. This will look much more modern and also be attractive to a lot of buyers if you want to move on- lots of people don’t want a proper garden now due to maintenance costs/time.

So by this I mean an outdoor seating area, Marybeth and outdoor cooking station. A small patch of highly manicured grass that is easy to maintain, bordered by nice stepping stones and pebbles/pretty sand.

Add some raised beds, trellises on a nice new fence, some planters and you have a lovely space pretty quickly. Plus you can take your beloved plants with you if you move on, and you can also move stuff round the garden a bit to find the right spots for things to thrive as you get used to a shadier space. You can use arches and canopies to train things upwards to get more light, like you did on your balcony.

I pinned a few ideas for you.

Marybeth? Maybe!