Totally overwhelmed by the garden

[Moonlitdoor]

I've moved into a house and the garden is basically devoid of plants. There are conifers around the outside. There are numerous raised beds which have nothing but soil in them or mud covered by gravel. I can see euphorbia coming through along with thistles and dandelions. There are beds on all sides of the house, so I have room for plants which like all types of conditions. It's a big garden and I enjoy gardening but I can already see I need plants that will to an extent look after themselves once they are in. Please could you recommend plants that are cheap, that spread or easily grow from seeds.

I have three places at the front of the house so South facing that are ideal spots for climbers. I plan on putting in Virginia creeper in one of those spots. Any other suggestions?

At the back of the house I have a long bed that's quite shallow with a tall wall behind it. It's south facing but the house is in the way. Not sure how much sun it will get, although it is getting some sun now. I was wondering about sweet peas or sunflowers? Any other suggestions?

I'm looking on market place for plants going cheap. I plan on visiting a plant wholesale market at some point. Any other suggestions as to where to buy plants.

We also bought a house with an overwhelming garden. We chopped the conifers down and have started a programme of replanting with mainly native trees and fruit trees, the silver birch, Rowan and white beam are already a significant height despite only having been planted in late winter of 2020.

Do you know anyone with a garden? We do a lot of dividing of plants and taking of cuttings, and don't always have space, or want to, plant more of the same so look to give plants away, and our friends and family are happy to do the same.

I don't know where you live but we have a couple of really good independent nurseries with great quality plants much cheaper than the equivalent major retailers. Supermarkets can be a good place, especially if you don't mind about the particular variety of a plant. There are also lots of nurseries that have gone online during the pandemic selling more mature plants for less than the well known garden centres.

Just popping in to say take your time. We moved in in February to an empty garden. However there were some plants just not showing. Although most except bulbs should show something now. We checked out what was doing well in neighbouring gardens and lots of our lovely neighbors gave us divisions or cuttings. Personally I enjoy a look through the almost dead section of a garden centre, some of my best buys are from here my Musa was £1 and my canna 90p. Anyway good luck sounds like you will enjoy it.

It’s not advisable to plant Virginia creeper against a house. It is extremely vigorous, and can damage brickwork and pointing, and can invade the eaves damaging the roof.

Agree with the suggestion to wait and see what comes up next spring. Check out local garden centres for plants of interest throughout the seasons, and also see what grows well in your neighbourhood gardens.

You might have a gardening contact or two on your neighbourhood pages if you look online.

I like jasmine for its hugely long flowering periods and longevity, but you do need to prune it each fall.
Oleanders are terrific for hot sunny yards , they smell amazing and take care of themselves.

Virginia creeper against a house. It is extremely vigorous, By "extremely vigorous", Nan means that you can cut it almost to the ground one year, and next year it will still be sending branches to the roof tiles.

I’ve bought plants from here and they have all been good but choices are dependent on what they have rather than an extensive list this place

there may be lots of herbaceous perenials hiding underground!
Do wait to see what comes up.

Look for flowering shrubs, once established they will look after themselves with an occasional prune.
You can get small ones like hebes or larger ones.

Don't reject things which are very popular St John's wort is used in many places, but it is a pretty bush which flowers for months.

for climbers, clematis is always good. A montana is very vigorous and will grow quickly, but easy to chop back.

find gardening friends and ask if they have any plants they are splitting, and could you have some.

there are lots fo daisy like plants that flower late summer/autumn that are great like this. I have 3 clumps all from friends, not good on names but Rudbekia? (or is that an annual/) these ones are all tall, 2 foot ish and yellow daisy like flowers and perennial

Herbs are nice to, rosemary and sage don't mind a dry bed.

I would look around your area at what grows well and and buy a few shrubs to start you off eg around here hydrangea, pier is, azalea.I would get loads of bulbs which can be planted now and are on offer at nurseries , on line shops and stick them in.
I would keep my eyes peeled for offers and local sellers ,supermarkets, Facebook etc it doesn't have to be perfect.
You can start some seeds now eg sweet peas if you have somewhere to put them. Life will be easier if you think about colours before spending much money .I totally agree about cuttings etc if you have gardeners among your friends and family.
We have some trellis with Virginia creeper, ivy and Montana on which provides good shelter from the road but I wouldn't risk the creeper on the house.
I'm not artistic and find new bits of garden a bit overwhelming but once started it gets a lot easier as you can work around what is there, move things etc.

We were in a similar situation 8 years ago and we’ve sort of reclaimed a s croon each year since, it looks pretty good now. My best buys for filling space without taking over and looking good for long stretches have been dwarf bamboo, penstemon, broom, eucalyptus, acers, verbena, rudbeckia, elephant ears, Himalayan honeysuckle and a few more I can’t remember. Aldi, eBay and B&Q plus local plant sales have been main sources.

• that was meant to say reclaimed a section each year…