Please help me do something with my boring New Build garden!

[katewitch]

I am accomplished with houseplants but have never had my own garden before!

I really want to plant some shrubs etc along my borders to make it more interesting/welcoming/nice but I've never outdoor gardened and don't want to cock it up...

I have no idea what soil type I have - how can I tell please?

It's north-west facing and gets sun mainly at the far end. I know I want some Japanese beautyberry but after that I'm stumped!

Any easy to care for, nice looking shrub things that will survive my shady borders, please?

Do I just dig a hole in my lawn and go for it??

I'm determined to make it lovely, even though I'm clueless

If you need lots of plants quickly jparkers sells them small and cheap, takes an extra year to establish. Also sell some packs with a collection of different plants for a ready made border.

Can you post a pic of what you have? There are some posters here with amazing ideas for using your space.

For not too sunny, daphne is very attractive : evergreen, flowers around now, lovely scent and good looking foliage. Lots of varieties so worth some research.

If you draw a plan of the garden, you could then plot the path of the sun during the day. Of course this will change slightly during the year, but give you a good idea where the sunniest/ shady parts are.
Some shrubs can grow very large quickly, so be careful when choosing and look at their ultimate height. Of course you can prune them, so research their pruning time.
I’d try and go for plants that will give interest all year round, such as evergreens mixed with spring, summer flowering and Autumn colour.
A simple way of testing soil is to put 3/4 cms in a jam jar, fill it with water and shake it up. Clay soil will sink to the bottom and light loam soil will float on top. It’s ideal to have a mixture.
It sounds like the lawn goes up to the fence and it’s new build, so it would be best to dig out some planting beds and dig in some compost/ soil improver.
Sorry this is so long! Please come back with more questions, others will be along with ideas. Enjoy your garden.

Thank you - I shall do that soil check!

I think I'll start with just a few this year making beds as suggested and hope it goes well from there...

I've attached a photo of my rectangle. We have just gotten some furniture to start enjoying the improving weather, and we have a slide and swing set on the way for the DC. I want mostly grass for DC to play, just want to add interest

How hard would it be to get something like honeysuckle to climb the side of the shed? Its the sunniest spot and I'd love something fragrant... but wondering if climbers are too much for a novice!

Oops, forgot the photo

Personally I would put a border at the back with some taller plants (delphiniums, alliums, lupine, cosmos etc). and some plants (honeysuckle, clematis) up the fence.

Be careful of annuals and bi annuals vs perennial (ongoing).

Do you want flowers you can pick or just for garden? What type do you love? I'd get a flower catalogue or scroll a website and make a list of what you like.

Think about what colours you like, I like blues, purples, pinks and whites mostly. Some people want yellows, reds etc. It isn't like indoors with colour matching but can look pretty. Do you want lovely smelling plants too?

Some things such as bulbs need to be planted in the autumn.

How lovely to plan from scratch!

Not really interested in picking flowers, just after a pleasant outdoor space to enjoy

I love purples, honeysuckle, and jasmine. I quite like lavender, and I love fuschias but have always had them in pots before and they've died!

Would I be okay to do this Easter half term? I have a week off and would love to do this then but I've found some places saying you should really be planting in the autumn?

I've very worried about spending on all this and then everything dies because I've not done it properly but different websites say different things!

Sorry I forgot to mention that the fact your garden is mostly shady does have an impact, do have a look at this first before planting. New builds tend to have lots of rubble and lots of soil goodness gone so do invest in some overall soil feed / fertiliser to put in first.

Also think about providing something all year, hellebores are out now for instance along with daffodils and crocuses. Do you want colour in the autumn?

Would you rather just have very low maintenance bushes / shrubs instead? In which case research those instead!

That's great that you know what you want! Again, climbers and bushes or flowers and shrubs? Bulbs are often wonderfully reliable but for autumn.

Easter holidays would be fine as the frosts should have gone by then.

Having a list of your favourites is perfect!

Spend this time researching the best types both to look at and for partial shade. Keep a book of what you plant and care guidance so you know if they need pruning and when etc.

Thanks so much everyone, I think I have a plan!

Beautyberry along the back, I love these and they will grow to a decent size without going too high iver the fence (purple). Then jasmine on one side and honeysuckle on the other, with some kind of trellis support for them (Yellow, hoping these work!). Then a row of medium size things like lavender and some evergreen shrubs or something (Green, will see what I can find!)

Then in autumn I may plant some bulbs in the gappy parts

I'm very excited, really really hoping it will all come together!

Hopefully next year we will be extending our paved area into a patio, so after that's done I can assess the level of success and do some shade loving plants at the end closer to the house, but we will have some potted plants there for this spring/summer

Popped back to say that Hebes are low growing, evergreens with white, purple and pink flowers, they don’t mind semi shade and are easy to look after.
They are very useful plants to grow alongside children, as they are tough and resilient.

It would be lovely to do your border curved, just the suggestion of a circular lawn.

Next Autumn get millions* of your favourite daff bulbs. It will look great with the shrubs and climbers and so easy.

*yes, millions. Fight me

Strong vote for some aliums in that bed, they are fabulous. Pop them in in the autumn, and enjoy.

We have a gorgeous very dark purple leaves hebe, midnight sky or something. It has looked very glam all winter.

I also adore perovskia, it is silvery green foliage with intense blue spikes.

www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/625.shtml

Think about contrasting leaf colours/shapes in your border

@Beebumble2 those sound good, thank you! We love purples and whites, pinks too, less keen on warm colours but very keen on flowering evergreens so it looks nice year round

@7Days ooh, I like that idea... are crocuses really hard? I'd love some purple ones in there for next spring!

@MrsBertBibby that sounds fabulous! Just been out there again and its a wide space to fill, 13ft across, so hopefully much can be done with it...

If you're accomplished with house plants then you're a gardener!
My biggest revelation when gardening was when someone said if you don't like it, you can move it. I've had sickly shrubs moved around, then they flourish elsewhere. A plan is good, but a bit of trial and error is fun as well.
Also ask your friends/family for cuttings. Usually people are delighted to help and it can save you a fortune when starting from scratch.

It would be lovely to do your border curved, just the suggestion of a circular lawn.

This.

Curves and shrubs would always be my first priority on a square or blocky plot.

The type of soil you have will be typical of what is normally done by builders on a new build, who bulldoze it all flat and dump turf on the top.

I reckon if you dig down a bit you will find all sorts of debris, broken bricks, bits of plank etc, and hopefully it won't be the place where they stood the concrete mixer otherwise you will be finding lumps of concrete all over the place.

My suggestion would be to plan where you want the borders, and then give them a good dig over and get rid of anything that shouldn't be there first. Then dig in a load of soil improver. If you have heavy clay under there, then lots of grit and compost mixed in will help; if it is too sandy or stony then compost again, but add composted bark etc as well. The best time to improve the soil condition is before you start planting.

@endlesswicker thank you, will aim to do that a week or 2 ahead of planting then! Hopefully it won't be too terrible!

I'm definitely going to do it curved, it would never have occurred to me without this thread so thank you

Ours is a new build too (well, back in 2017) and about the same size. Agree with endless to dig, dig and dig, and to add in lots of organic matter. I ordered in manure compost from Mr Muck; maybe have a look online for local suppliers. You'll always need more than the one or two bags from the garden centre. I've also had good results with sprinkling on Envii Activearth every spring.

I think climbers are a great idea. Here's my star jasmine nearly 4 years after being planted, on an east-facing trellis covering the shed. Smells amazing when it's in flower.

Crocuses are great, but to get the spring flowering ones you would have to plant the bulbs (more correctly called corms) in autumn, so maybe plan for that. Crocus vernus 'Flower Record' is a very vibrant purple. Crocus minimus 'Spring Beauty' is also nice. They do like sun so as pp have said try to track where the sun falls throughout the day.

Btw also research if plants are toxic if you have pets. My cat doesn't try eating the hellebores in the garden, but I wouldn't put in autumn crocus as she nibbles on anything grass-like.

I would grow something tall and thin in the 2 corners of the back fence like Twombly's red sentinel (an acer) or a "spire" prunus (ornamental cherry), then grow jasmine and another climber (clematis or passionflower) along the back fence and over the shed. You can intertwine a spring and winter flowering clematis with them so you have flowers in other seasons. I would do the same with climbers all along the side fences so you don't lose space.

I would then have a bench/sofa in front of the climbers to sit and enjoy the sun and the scent of the jasmine. I would plant the beauty berries level with the front of the shed (possibly standards) and curve the flower bed on each side from level with shed path to the front of the bench IYSWIM?

It all sounds lovely! Yes crocuses are very easy. Plant in autumn. I second alliums that are lovely! Also don't underestimate the use of pots in a small garden! Tulips can be planted in autumn for April / may. Although pots need watering they rarely require weeding and can be moved if you plan to build a patio etc.

If you're looking for medium sized with colour have a look at Black Eyed Susan (lovely yellow flower with a black bit in the middle) and hot lips (small red and white flowers). Both grow quickly.
I second hellebores somewhere for colour in Jan / Feb. You can get lovely purple and white ones.