*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.

Re camellia, mine has been amazing this year, it had so many flowers I had to prop it up (stealth boast) but I don’t think it is water that makes them go brown, I think the blooms haven’t enjoyed the cold nights. I pick off the dead flower heads carefully, mine usually have another bud underneath which takes over. Even a few flowers look pretty.

I’m in a similar part of the world to you, and my camellia has been hit by frost too - it was v happy last year but lots of brown this year. Lovely to see your garden transforming!

Thanks for the Camellia advice, everyone. Hopefully the next round of blooms will be happier.
Frost damage does make sense, as the only ones that have come out nicely have been the buds tucked away at the bottom.

Earlier today I had a chat with my neighbour, who seemed confused by the trellis not running the whole length of the fence and kind of hinted at it being messy and looking unfinished.
I'm questioning it now and feel a bit guilty - I didn't think it looked untidy until now.

It would need an extra 4 panels, so it's not really a small cost.

Garden is looking brilliant, you must be so pleased. I can kind of see where your neighbour is coming from re the fence, but as the privacy issue is now dealt with, maybe you could just add the remaining panels over time as and when funds allow/aren't being spent on much more exciting things like plants!

It’s looking great! I can also see where your neighbour is coming from but I think it will look very different when the clematis do their thing.

Hello, garden friends

Remember my empty little patch of soil...look at her now!

Those few weeks of heavy rain really kicked everything into life.

I didn't realise quite how many purple flowers I had planted 😬 so feel like I need to warm it up now with some oranges and reds.

Some kind friends brought over plants for the veg bed so that's starting to take shape.

Working on my new baby right now, the compost bin. Never thought I'd have the compulsion to repeatedly look inside a bin and smile to myself 😅

Also the shed is now black 🖤 Actually not as strange as I expected...so props to DH for that.

I'd love to see any of your garden pics, if you've got some to share ☺️

@plantingandpotting I've been following silently and I must say it's such a wonderful transformation! You must be so proud. And I'm ever so glad you got rid of that straight path 😅😅. It all looks so fresh and full of life. Wonderful idea with the tree stumps too

I do love your path. It's looking good.

A layer of bark or wood hips makes the bindweed much easier to pull up - the roots break more easily in soil imv.

This is just brilliant. Well done you!

That’s a nice border, only just got on the gardening section though I have been on MN for ages. I’m also having a total refurb of my garden it does seem quite daunting. We are lucky in that we have mature trees and next doors silver birches along borders. Due to work and then my illness the garden has been sorely neglected for six years. It’s all rather exciting but so expensive. Good luck.

@Auntienumber8

That’s a nice border, only just got on the gardening section though I have been on MN for ages. I’m also having a total refurb of my garden it does seem quite daunting. We are lucky in that we have mature trees and next doors silver birches along borders. Due to work and then my illness the garden has been sorely neglected for six years. It’s all rather exciting but so expensive. Good luck.

Thank you! How are you getting on with it so far? It really is costly. I'm buying lots of bits here and there, which makes it feel manageable. I'm sure the overall total would come as a shock.

At the moment I'm trying to amass patio pots and planters - the nice terracotta ones are especially spendy. If anyone has a good online source for those things, please do let me know

I confess I am a convert to plastic pots! The glazed are very expensive and the unglazed terracotta loses so much moisture through evaporation that keeping them all watered was becoming a nightmare.
I do think keeping them in a cluster means the pots are less noticeable than the plants, which isn’t the case for a ‘specimen’ pot.

oh wow, @NeedNewKnees that really does look great! I love that tiered layout. Everything gets it's moment as you look across and it looks so full.

I don't really have the room to cluster, so going to be patient and try to pick up a bundle of glazed pots from eBay or marketplace.

...Although someone near me is trying to sell very normal looking used terracotta pots on at £400+ each

Thanks! The tiered shelving is just decking boards on old bricks, to accommodate all the garden herbs near the kitchen door. The other cluster uses an old side table to raise the smaller acers up and layer the foliage from low plants at the front to the fruit tree at the back (just in front of the gazebo)

I’m getting in ok but appear to have spent £70 on just stones! I’m lucky in that DS who is 20 and still at home has decided he likes helping and has been doing heavy stuff, I have a bad back so it’s great. My friend has a lovely garden I was asking her some questions and she revealed she had a landscaper gardener design and install. She has a beautiful round lawn but now I know her secret.

OP you mention that you're in SE London. If you have access to a car I can highly recommend Woodcote (South of Croydon) for nurseries / garden centres. There are a cluster of independents (and a Dobbies) with a fantastic selection of plants. Barnes Nurseries (on Woodmansterne Lane, they don't have a website) have tons of gorgeous terracotta and glazed pots for extremely reasonable prices.

Thank you @Coronilla. I'll definitely drive out that way when it's been less of a spendy month. 3 new tires have decimated my plants and pots fund grumbles about nails on the street from building work

The Arch of Dreams arrived after a long 8 months. Desperate to see it in all it's glory, we got it in the ground immediately and oh - it was so worth the wait. The arch has since gone up in price massively, so I'm thinking the delays were down to Brexit and timber shortages.

I've planted 2 roses either side, a Claire Austin climber and a little pink rambler. Hoping to add a star jasmine when they're back in stock locally.

A big failure has been the dahlias, which I've had to relocate to pots in a last ditch effort to save them. Of everything I've planted, the slugs have gone for them in a major way.

Aside from all of that, I'm starting to enjoy the back half of the garden a lot (the unkempt overgrown bit!). Some wildflowers have popped up and it's lovely back there under the shade of the tree. I'll have to strim it back though, the long grass is too appealing for foxes and the gifts they leave behind...

I hope you're all well and your gardens are looking forward to a week of solid rain!

p.s. @Auntienumber8 I love that your DS is helping you. I'm really looking forward a time when DD might start to enjoy being out there with me. She'll probably be old enough to help with planting seeds and bulbs soon

Hoping your new stones have made an impact I'm sure they will have at £70 - that must have been a lot of stones!

For pots, car boot sales and also auctions sometimes come up trumps - there's been a run of lots of pots in one of the auctions we keep an eye on recently.

It's looking amazing planting!

This is one of my favourite threads! Love seeing your improvements!

Re the Woodcote area, my gardeneners said definitely don't go to dobbies (which used to be Woodcote) as the plants are very expensive and they have found not good quality. Wallington Nurseries on the other side of the road is much more reasonably priced with better plants. Crossways is good for pots (and Christmas trees, but a bit early for that!)

I can't believe that this thread was started 11 months ago - where has the time gone!?
You have done such a good job, OP; you must be proud of your handiwork.

Thought I'd drop by with my annual update! 🌱
Ultimately, I've been really pleased with how many things have bounced back with gusto this year, with very little care or attention on my part! After neglecting the garden through most of winter, I gave everything a cutting back and furiously mulched 😂and it seemed to do the job!

At the start of spring I also used some Nematodes, which have worked fantastically. Thank you to the poster who recommended them. Dahlias have grown for the first time, which I'm putting down to the roundworm magic.

Last year I planted a Himalayan silver birch at the back, which seems to be happy. We're probably another year away from it providing (part time) screening.

The camellia had to move back there also, as it turns out they really don't enjoy full sun! I've amassed a pretty jazzy patio collection and grown a few nice bits from seed this year - lots of cosmos and verbena.
As predicted, I've run out of space and begun to dig in a new border on the right hand side of the lawn. Planning on filling it with salvia and other bee-friendly flora.

In the last week we've seen 2 big old stag beetles, which felt really amazing.

Oh - I'm very grateful to the poster who recommended trimming the eucalyptus - it's really helped keep it in check and I'm happy with how it's growing up, rather than out. Wise wise advise.

Tomorrow I'll be finishing the trellis so that it covers the whole left side. I probably would have left it as is, but the neighbour's DS keeps climbing over to get his ball and it's making me twitchy 😠

I hope you're all having a great midsummer and plenty of planting luck 🌻
Please show me pics of your progress if you have them!

Few more snaps. Forgot to also add that my absolute favourite discovery this year has been geums <3 They're just so prolific and pretty