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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

How to plan a garden?

8 replies

Indecisivelurcher · 24/11/2021 12:08

How do you go about planning a garden? I've got a couple of books I am working my way through. Also been watching Love your garden and your garden made perfect! Is that the best way to start? And, how brave would you be with taking out existing planting?

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Autumnscene · 24/11/2021 17:34

check your soil type, so you know if it’s acidic, alkaline or any other. see where the sun shines, so you can plan where to have your seating area and sun loving plants. plan your borders starting with evergreens first so you have structure in the winter. if you have a large garden get a compost construction and a garden shredder. i moved established plants when i moved in to my new home and they’ve been fine.

2bazookas · 24/11/2021 18:00

Live with what you've got for a year; simple maintenance only ( mow lawn, remove weeds.).

That way you'll see what grows and flowers in each season. What produces edible fruit/berries; what has autumn colour or is evergreen, what has branches /coloured stems that look good in winter.

Through the year, keep notes in a diary. Notice which areas in which seasons are sunny or shaded; soggy or windy, visible by neighbours or secret and private.

Make a list of what your family want from the garden ( play space for toddlers/ ball space for older kids/ sunbathing spots / quiet shade . Do you need space for a dog, barbecue, washing line, mending bikes, out door hobbies,? Would anyone appreciate a sandpit, pond, watching wildlife, bird feeders, fresh herbs for cooking? Home grown vegetables or flowers? Would you rather sit out on a lawn, paving, or deck? Does anyone have difficulty on slopes or steps? Or visual problems?

Meanwhile, take note around local gardens, what plants do well in the area. There's an app which can put a name to a plant photo.

        The commonest problem novice gardeners  (and homeowners) make, is   rushing to   recreate something fashionable  on  TV   which doesn't actually suit their own   family or lifestyle or climate.   Better to take your time  observing.
Indecisivelurcher · 24/11/2021 18:14

I inadvertently put a shed in the best sunny spot when we first moved in, so familiar with those mistakes! We've been in 5yrs so know the garden pretty well now. It's pretty small. West facing. Right half gets sun, left half doesn't. The soil is the best I have ever seen, old river loam. We've got young kids so it needs to be interesting for them but isn't big enough to play football etc. We've already got a gauge tree, elm and 2 apples so if anything we're over treed for the space. We've got big shrubs too like cotoneaster, St John's wort, and a massive clematis Montana. I would like more flowers, wildlife and kid friendly, places to sit. I think what I'm struggling with is the actual design of it. Giving it structure.

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tootiredtobother · 24/11/2021 18:36

h my favourite subjuect
note all the above plus - decide how much actual garnening you can take on.
shrubs that just sit there and look after themselves, save you time then you could do a few seasonal pots for colour, remember the more pots you have the more watering will be required.
find your local independent garden centre who will help you choose plants. buy the biggest you can afford to instantly get going,
decide on your colour theme, and dont get too bity. less different colours in big blocks always looks lush.
think height too, use the fences
sort your feces out first, nothing so difficult as painting a fence covered in a rose..
enjoy, its the best bit of home ownership

brambleberries · 24/11/2021 23:26

I have found these YouTube videos very helpful from 'The Middle Sized Garden' (but also very useful for smaller gardens) for how to design....

How to design a garden - what you need to know

5 top garden design tips

12 garden styles - garden design ideas for your revamp

Indecisivelurcher · 25/11/2021 06:37

Oo great i'll watch those later!

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yamadori · 27/11/2021 11:27

Measure the garden out, get some squared paper and plot it on there. Put the external measurements and anything completely immovable, then mark on it anything you really want to keep where it is.

Once you've done that, think about things like eg: the best place for a seating area / barbecue. Would you like a herb bed near there, or near the back door? Herbs need a lot of sun, so you need to bear that in mind. Our garden is west-facing with no shade near the house and gets roasting hot in summer, so the last thing we would want is a seating area in the sunniest spot.

Go through all the things you'd like to have, and where would be the most convenient place for them.

And if the shed needs moving - move it!!

Indecisivelurcher · 27/11/2021 20:56

Thank you @yamadori!

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