Your dream garden?

[GoryGilmore]

I’m in the process of starting to plan our garden, and looking at all the different styles and features it could have has got me wondering, what are your favourite features in a garden? Do you like a cottage style garden or something more modern? Water feature? Pergolas? Wooden gazebos? BBQ/pizza oven area? Patio, grass or both? What sort of plants do you like to see and are you bothered about how low/high maintenance the planted areas are?

We’re mainly planning our garden for own enjoyment, obviously! But we will be selling in 5 years or so, so would like it to be an attractive feature of the property for any future buyers too. I’m also just nosey about what other people love in a garden!

I turned my small back garden into a wildlife garden last year. I dug out a pond, added a bird feeder, a large bug hotel and two hedgehog houses that have been getting used. I love it. Probably not what you’re looking for if you’re planning to sell soon though.

Ooh a pizza oven is my dream!

I think what appeals to buyers will depend on your target market. When we were looking for our small 3 bed, we wanted low maintenance (first time having a garden after living in flats) with plenty of space for socialising. We don't tend to have people over but we live away from our families so needed somewhere we could all sit and relax when they visit.

The house we bought has a stone patio that's a couple of metres deep then a few steps up to a path made of the same stone as the patio, a long flower box on the left and a patch of grass that's about 4x4 metres on the right . Past that is a deck that's about 8m x 4m with a couple of trees and an L-shaped bed in one corner. The mix of stone, grass and decking really helps soften the look despite having very little to look after.

Now with a bit more gardening experience I've learned that the beds are actually in the shade 90% of the time, the massive wisteria will drop enough petals and leaves to fill our green bin several times over and that it costs a fortune to replace decking of that size but at the time it was all well maintained and looked so easy to a novice.

I like lots and lots of plants!
But I’m picky, they have to be colourful/flower a long time, wildlife friendly, preferably scented and most importantly be neatly pruned/maintained and arranged in an orderly fashion.

I cannot stand ‘wild’ cottage gardens with a hodge podge of different flowers all jostling for attention!
It just looks unkempt and messy to me.

I like a nice pond and a patio area is a bonus.

I despise grass as it’s the main trigger for my hayfever.
I’m growing a thrift lawn at the moment, like grass but better 😉

I love a cottage garden - really busy and not too structured. I only really started to enjoy gardening when I realised that there is no pressure to be perfect. And if something doesn't work you can just change it or try again.

@thefourgp

I turned my small back garden into a wildlife garden last year. I dug out a pond, added a bird feeder, a large bug hotel and two hedgehog houses that have been getting used. I love it. Probably not what you’re looking for if you’re planning to sell soon though.

This is my ideal garden.

I love watching love your garden on itv for ideas. I'm planning my garden at the moment which Realistically is about 3 years away as we are saving to buy and currently live in a flat.

My current ideas include sunken seating and chimeneir at the front, surrounded by planters to create the 'sunken' effect.
The green grassy space for the kids and a windy path leading to a small area at the back which has a bench with winding flowers over the arch of it and is surrounded by wild flowers for the wildlife. It looks over a small raised bed of veg to its side and I can watch the kids from it. I'm undecided yet as to whether it should be a sort of swing or not.

As the kids grow up and use the garden less for games and more for relaxing, I plan another raised bed for veg and maybe pop a pond in for wildlife but they're too young for that right now.. That's more the 15 year plan.

These keep me focused on the saving for a house!

My ideal garden would have borders with trees, evergreens and an awesome colour scheme for flower bed. No grass, just gravel or cobbles.
Lots of different areas for seating and a napping areas (daybed), raised waist height veg/cut flower beds, fire pit, and a water bowl. Plus bug boxes, bird nests, feeding stations etc.

Inspiration.

While housebuying, what I am looking for is a big garden with not too much "hard landscaping" to remove. I would baulk at a front garden turned to tarmac.

You might be better asking this on AIBU, find out what sort of garden non-gardeners would like.

I love cottage gardens, everything mixed in and flowers all season. My ideal would be to have a pond for wildlife, with a little section where I could just scatter wildflower seeds and have a little wildflower meadow. Some mid size trees like cherry and apple for the blossom and bushes for birds to hide in. I'd like somewhere lovely to sit out with a book in the summer - a chimnea would be a bonus

In reality I live in a new build so have a tiny strip of garden. I'm busy filling it with scented native and non native plants to encourage pollinators. I'd take my favourite plants with me when we move.

@Ohchristmastree they are beautiful photos 😍

DH is absolutely the main garden person here, he's done a wonderful job. We have a long thin garden with patio, table and chairs. Then stepping stones across a lawn which also has a couple of blossoming trees in it and a deep bed on the sunny side. This leads to a second diamond shaped patio with planting all round, more bench seating and a pizza oven which gets A LOT of use and works as a patio heater if you keep the fire going. Then there's another bit of lawn with a new-for-this-year garden room/office facing the house. The sheds are behind this so there's hidden storage for all the 'stuff'.

It needs a tidy up right now but it's a really special place with a great mix of seating/social space, mature plants and lawn for play ❤️

It works so well for us but if someone else wanted lower maintenance they could take out some of the plants, have more lawn or whatever. Make it a space for you that you love to keep looking good and buyers will respond to that. Gardens are a long term project, any owners in the future will make it what they want.

I'm literally remodelling my garden on a shoe string budget. We love our inflatable hot tub and I love bbq. Extending the patio by 3x4 meters, building a retaining wall to try and level the border off as it was very uneven. I'm adding a sand out for my beige and grand son too. I've ordered a 6x4m heavy duty all year around gazebo and will have a seating area with mega comfy cane chairs and a sofa , an outdoor kitchen with a bbq, fridge and pizza oven , hot tub and lots of planting to encourage insects.

I say it's on a budget and for us it is. It's cost a lot more than expected even though I got somebody in to do it at mates rates and offered my sons as Labourers. The skips were £300, materials £700 , Labour £500 and gazebo, furniture, paint, planting etc another £500. Is in the last stages now and I'm painting fences and it's just coming together.

I would love a cottage garden full of bee friendly flowers and wildflowers, maybe with some old stone walls, rose bushes and old windy path, maybe with a big greenhouse or summer house and a wishing well.

My reality is.....
We are in a newish build, garden is uneven due to the previous tenants burying rubbish under the lawn. Soil is pretty rubbish so I have some raised beds to grow veg in. I am slowly adding more plants to exempt some kind of cottage garden but not getting far 🤣

My dream garden would be full of herbacious borders like Sissinghurst, Mottisfont or Snowshill Manor. Due to becoming more decrepit I couldn't possibly manage the upkeep, sadly.

I would love to have a greenhouse, and a really decent sized shed with a little deck in front in the sunshine. I would like to have a several good sized trees - nothing massive, but should be UK native and good for wildlife. I’d love a veg patch, and some raised beds near the house for herbs and spring bulbs. Then it should be herbaceous borders with plenty of flowers, not too flashy or modern, and a lawn area with a bird table. Finally a little patio area where I can sit and enjoy the garden.

@ChiefBabySniffer which gazebo have you ordered?

I like a garden which is broken up into different little areas with hidden spaces. Quite enjoying having a pond but I wouldn't put it into a house I planned to sell.

@Cattitudes

We've ordered this one. It's massive but extremely durable . We had a 6x3 up all last year and it was brilliant for drying washing even in bad weather and It meant we used the outdoor space all year round. I love cooking outdoors and this means we can do that and keep the hot tub up too.