How can I make my garden nicer?

[thisismygardenname]

Name changed as obviously this will be outing to anyone who knows me!

I'm now in the position where I can spend some money on it to make it nice.

The garden is used mainly by the dog but I would like to make it into a nice area to relax and spend time at the weekend. The bamboo was planted to provide some screening but some has died.

It's small (5mx7m) and overlooked. What would you do with this? I've attached pictures of garden styles I really like but don't know where to start.

Also - where would you put a shed? Back right?

Or should I just get a landscaper in?

A lot depends on where you get the sun. It’s a lovely space and you could do a lot with it.

You don’t want to plonk the shed in the area that gets evening sun for example where you might want a patio for an evening drink or bbq.

You could have a small area for veggies.

Do you want to grow scruff, screen the houses opposite or have lawn for dogs and a place to have lunch outside in the shade?

Bamboo needs a lot of water to get established, West kind of soil do you have?

If you describe it on here people will tell you.

Look at what grows well in other gardens near you.

It’s a lovely project to have.

Oh and think height, google trees for small gardens and make the borders big enough to plan5 some lush big plants. Fewer bigger plants make more of an impact.

I would cover the fencing, look up small trees, clematis to climb up. I am doing the same in my neglected garden, is your soil acidic, you can grow camellias with lovely dark leaves and beautiful flowers. Watch Gardeners’s World for ideas, they often show amazing small gardens. Monty Don has a good website as does Gardeners World

As well as adding height on the borders and when you have an idea of how the sun falls, I would draw a plan to break up the oblong. You can do this by adding either curves or straight shapes/ borders that run perpendicular to your lawn. You get the idea from your 2nd picture with the raised bed at the front. This works to give the impression that the garden is a group of several different spaces and in fact make it feel bigger. I put the shed in the shade or any area where not much will grow.