Hello! We moved into our house 2 years ago and the garden was weedy grass with several concrete patio areas. We’ve moved the steps, made raised beds, dug in borders, returfed and hacked back the ivy that was everywhere. It’s a blank canvas and I’m a new gardener so I’d love some advice.
It’s chalky soil but I manured well last year. It’s east facing but does get good late afternoon sun on most of it. The brick to the right is our garage wall, and the bit hidden at the bottom left is a veg patch. The borders are about 3 foot deep. That’s an apple tree at the bottom and beyond our fence is railway land with lots of birds. The ivy on the right is quite dense and does cast a lot of shade on that side despite me bringing the height down and cutting back to the fence.
I would like to plant a rose up the garage wall from the raised bed is anyone knows a quick growing variety? I’d prefer pink or yellow flowers, it will get a lot of sun and I can manure the bed well. I’d fill the rest of that bed with wildflower/bee attracting seeds. The bed on the right- I was thinking lavender, would it be okay with partial shade? I really like delphiniums, should I buy and plant them now before they flower? My husband loves daisies and so I though shasta daisies would be nice as they are quite tall. I’ve seen purple asters in a lot of neighbours gardens so i will get some as I know they grow well. I have some aquilegia, honesty,Cosmo and nigella seedlings to fill some gaps.
As you can see I like cottage garden plants, lots of bright colours and flowers but I need some shrubs or something for height and structure. What would you advise? I’d really like a list when I go to the garden centre as it would be so easy to spend an awful lot of money and come away with plants that don’t go together or don’t suit and just die! I’m aware it’s a perfect opportunity with a blank canvas and I don’t want to mess it up.