*PICS* Complete novice with a blank slate garden

[plantingandpotting]

I've moved into a new home with a really uninspiring green rectangle for a garden, and I just don't know where to begin.

Help from more experienced gardeners would be very appreciated!

Here's the shopping list:

• I'd hope to mostly screen the back houses (for their privacy as much as ours)
• I'm cautious of planting any larger trees that would overhang into the neighbour's garden
• On the left hand side I'd like to plant anything tall that doesn't need a trellis (so as to add some privacy)

Things to note...
It's south facing.
I'm inexperienced but very committed to maintenance.
I have a toddler so need to keep a bit of space for play gear
Happy to spend a fair amount to get there

I've added a few photos, one as it is now and a couple with my doodled ideas. The shape still feels boring and uninspired - I just don't know how to bring any flair.

Excellent work! I much prefer the path, and it’ll bed in quickly with a bit of moss and weather. And well done for actually doing it-I can imagine myself grumbling about a garden I didn’t like for years rather than cracking on as you have!

Ok, I'm envious that you've got this project ahead of you. The trial and error of your plan changing as you start to see and use the new space is part of the fun! Each time you change or add an element it can spark more ideas or help you see flaws with your original plan to modify.

I think you can end up with something better than if you just drew up an initial plan and did it all quickly in one go - making more radical changes is less daunting when you can already see it starting to come to life around you.

I miss working on mine.

I rotated my garden 45 degrees in staggered diamond shapes to zone off the space and make it feel bigger (both because the angles make it feel longer and also because your brain constantly feels like it has more space to step into when you break a garden into zones so you feel like you have more space than when it's one single zone), which is way more radical than my first imaginings but I love it.

Moss sounds fine visually (and it usually grows on its own!) But my only concern if it were me is that moss can make pathways slippery and it will also happily grow completely over bricks if left unchecked so you could end up with an entirely moss-covered path - making it even more of a menace when wet/damp.

What was the base for the path? Is it flexible or fixed?

Oh the hours I spent looking at photos like these searching for ideas...

diygarden.co.uk/landscaping/small-garden-ideas/

www.idealhome.co.uk/garden/garden-ideas/small-garden-ideas-2-174377/amp

Your new path is beautiful!

The gaps between the bricks are quite large and deep, so I planned on adding in some moss, which will hopefully help it look more natural/less new. You won't have to add moss - it will arrive.

You could consider creeping thyme, same effect as moss, with purple flowers. My brick paved terrace has got harebells (self seeded) - a bit large and intrusive but I like them, and if they're happy growing there I'm not going to try to move them.

I saw your OP and was going to say -do a hybrid, with the curved lawn from pic 1 and the division into two halves from pic 2. And lose the straight line of slabs. Then I saw your update and found you'd done exactly that. It's going to develop into something really nice.

Try to be wildlife friendly, for the fascination and interest and education of children, for easy maintenance, and for the planet. There are plenty of sites, but a pond can in fact be made non-lethal for children. Grass allowed to grow long in some sections, only cut once a year , and seeded with wild flowers especially loads of yellow rattle (It stops grass being a thug)

The fruit trees can be augmented by anything to feed all kinds of birds and insects (ivy left to flower and fruit is one of the things which feeds in winter, and need not be the single variety over-vigorous wild variety, but even that is no real problem ) Ornamental grasses give winter interest and bird food. Don't use poison or insecticide or slug pellets, because your insect hotels and 'neglected' bits with nettles and rotting pruned branches all re-establish bio-diversity. A load of greenfly attract a load of lacewings and ladybirds, who do the gardening free.

The water and the shelter attract frogs and hedgehogs, who eat the surplus slugs for you. Live and let live. The no-dig/no-plough method is now known to be best for crops and gardens. The soil needs mulch on top, not digging up to disturb the essential layers and their different micro-life and natural creatures. Don't burn anything. The climate cannot stand the air pollution which does not 'go away somewhere'. Burning causes the equivalent of traffic pollution.

Can't wait for more progress pictures!!

I've seen this written by PPs but I'll say again. MIL has both laurel and bamboo in her garden for privacy. They grow tall and nice. She doesn't like her wall of laurel, thinks it's boring but yes, it grows very well! Nice green colour and solid, luscious

Consider evergreen planting for structure so that your garden isn't bare in winter

I have a pleached laurel at the end of the garden to provide screening above the height of the fence.

Small trees are great but many are deciduous and you end up with a lot of fallen leaves in autumn and bare branches for half the year.

I'm working on a pleached photinia (red robin) at the moment. Ceonothus (likes sun) and fatsia (likes shade) are evergreen and good for medium-tall structure.

How tall are your fences?

Lovely design! I'd avoid borders all around the edge of a garden, they always make it look small. Large blocks of planting, hard landscaping tend to break a long space up and make the garden look bigger and more interesting. Also its much more interesting if you can't see the end as it encourages you to walk down to see whats there. You plan looks fab, good luck. Lots of ideas in garden mags such as 'Modern Gardens' for comtemporary ideas.
Also (sorry, keep thinking of things!) Circles do look nice in a long rectangular garden and soften it, straight lines, blocks look very modern.

Thanks everyone - I'm so excited to get going and start learning.

@GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat funnily enough, the only thing I've put in the border so far is a red robin! It's been sat in a patio pot for nearing 4 years and seems much happier to be in the ground. It looks very pretty just slightly overhanging onto the path...
The fences are daft, I'd say

A kind person on my street also offered us a pink camellia that they no longer had use for. It wouldn't be my usual taste, but the fact it was gifted from a neighbour has really made me love it. I can't actually believe how much friendlier this neighbourhood is, compared with my last place (moved from North London to South East).

The sleepers came for the raised bed today, as did my new wheelbarrow, which I'm disproportionately happy about
The arch is on order but won't come til' April.

Thinking about climbers for the arch - I've always loved wisteria, but someone recently suggested star jasmine is better for an arch. What are you favourite climbers and why?

I also have some bulbs to dot around in the left hand bed, blue freesia and blue agapanthus.

oops, missed a bit off there...

The fences are daft, I'd say they're 2.5ft high, maybe 3. A friend suggested adding a trellis to the panels closest to the house. To me it looks like an awkward fence to add trellis onto though.

Sounds like it's coming together!

What are your neighbours like either side? I don't think I could cope with such low fences but fair enough if it works for you

They do look awkward to add trellis on to. I wonder how solid the posts are. I added metal collars to some of my wooden fence posts and increased the height of the post. I replaced the panels with 5ft panels and 1ft trellis on top. I don't know if that's an option.

I don't know much about wisteria but my neighbours have it on their arch and it looks good and stays green about 2/3 of the year. They also have climbing roses on either side as the wisteria flowering window is fairly short.
I'm a big fan of having several climbers on an arch - the more the merrier 😂
I have no experience of regular jasmine, only star jasmine. I love the latter as it remains evergreen and the leaves turn red-ish in the autumn. I'm intending to add one to my arch this spring (good old Morrisons £1.79!).

Ooh I love the idea of red-ish leaves. That's sold it to me.

I'm also in the market for a climber by the front door, but it has to be one that will cope in a large pot (paved driveway). Google repeatedly suggests a clematis, although there seems to be about a zillion varieties

But my only concern if it were me is that moss can make pathways slippery and it will also happily grow completely over bricks if left unchecked so you could end up with an entirely moss-covered path - making it even more of a menace when wet/damp. It's usually algae, not moss that makes a path slippery. The trouble with moss is that it grows over the path, then it catches blown dust and soil and small plants like bittercress and the smaller Poa grasses can take hold, and in about 3-4 years you can't see your path. But it's pretty easy to scrape off the growth and heave it on to the compost heap.

I've always loved wisteria, but someone recently suggested star jasmine is better for an arch. Wisteria is a big plant. I have it over an arch, but it's a big job to keep it out of the medlar and apple trees.

@MereDintofPandiculation That's a good point. I had it at my last place and it got a bit out of hand!

It was lovely seeing the update. I’d potentially ditch the pyracantha.scratches from it can give a nasty rash.

That's good to know @dustyhedge - thank you! I'll definitely avoid it in that case.

I've been admiring pyracantha a lot recently during lockdown walks - especially the variety with orange/ yellow berries. It's so gorgeous.

There's a very naice street a few minutes walk from me, where it seems like every single resident is an incredible gardener. I've been going there a lot recently to take notes

In case I didn't have enough to do, I'm now also thinking that I should make the most of the back left area, and lift a strip of the patio to create space for a final tree. I really like the look of Rowan, but feel like it might be one for a bigger garden 😔

Your plans are coming on really well. Love the arch. Pyracantha does have brutal spikes but it’s worth it for the value it adds IMO. Evergreen, lovely coloured berries, and a huge flush of white flowers. I had one in my garden, and added two more last year.

Not huge progress but I used the warm weekend to get planting. I thought I had picked up loads from the garden center... Got it back and in situ it's barely made a dent! Might have to order in some more mature bits to fill it out.

My absolute favourite is the Daphne - I've never paid it much attention before, but the smell is so pretty!

Another fave is the convolvulus (which I'd never heard of before). Love the sage coloured leaves.

Shoved some bulbs in that I'll no doubt forget about and dig up again later.

It feels so good to have had 2 days of fresh air. Like so many other people I've been pretty depressed lately, and this time in the garden is definitely my new favourite pick-me-up.

Wonderful! Well done!

Looks great. Remember to prune the eucalyptus right back each year to keep it under control. The plants will soon grow and fill the gaps out.

Looking good!

@CausingChaos2

Looks great. Remember to prune the eucalyptus right back each year to keep it under control. The plants will soon grow and fill the gaps out.

Thanks for the tip, @CausingChaos2

I've just been out and taken off the bottom third and some of the mid-section. Pruning is very satisfying!

I also emailed lots of local tree surgeons yesterday, hoping for someone to have a recently felled tree to make into stump seats.

Obviously I didn't explain myself well enough - I had a really confused man call me, determined to get the address and come over to quote...yet so confused by the fact that I didn't personally have a tree that needed cutting down.
Me: No no, I want you to bring the tree to me
Tree surgeon:...