Tips for sprucing up my back yard (rental property)

[Copenhagen2013]

Hi all,

I'm a total novice with gardening so please bear with me! I've just moved into a rental which has a back yard, very untidy and full of dead plants in pots, leaves and spiders - yuck! I don't want to do much permanently as I expect to move in two years and don't want to shell out too much on a rented place, but would like a nice space to sit out in the summer evenings.

I plan to pay someone to tidy it up, as I really hate creepy crawlies(!) and then get some nice outside furniture and solar lights.

What can I put in these pots and window ledge boxes (or other pots) that will be easy for a non-gardener and require little attention? The garden is shady.

Thank you!

Here’s some shady container plant ideas.
www.gardenersworld.com/plants/container-plants-for-shade/

That trough in the first photo looks as if it may not have proper drainage holes in it.

Ferns are always good for a shady area.

I'd pressure wash the yard (borrow the washer/they are not that expensive or a handyman might have one)

Get lightweight planters from somewhere like B&M, Morrisons Garden Centre etc (much cheaper than most garden centres), & there is a lot of compact or foldable garden furniture out there that you can take with you

If you buy reasonably large pots you could potentially take the plants with you when you move

I'd look at getting some climbers on the walls (eg sweet pea, clematis), a patio sized fruit tree in a tub (Morrisons is the place for this), and some planters with bulbs in for next spring & bedding on top for this summer

As you say you don't want to spend too much - go to a local shop which sells plants & look at what is available at a good price vs planning in detail. The labels will tell you if suitable for shade or not

Can you give us a pic of the whole area and / or a diagram with north/south on it?
But yes I'd remove everything dead, sweep and clean up, plant some evergreen shade loving plants. Does anywhere get a bit of sun? You could plant bulbs in the autumn for next spring.

I have a shady balcony so can't plant anything in the ground but have lots of pots - bay tree, jasmine, fuscia, spring bulbs of all descriptions, geranium, campanula, something else I've forgotten the name of... Loads of stuff.

We'd need to see the size of the pots, but if they are 30 cm or wider, I would suggest a couple of blueberry bushes as they provide interest from Spring (flowers) summer (berries) to autumn (red foliage). You need more than 1 to maxmise that crop. Blueberry bushes will cost you £5-8 (obvously you can spend more), and will give some crop in first couple of years and would be good mature plants by time you move (& take with you). They don't need full sun, but need some. Also, they need a specific compost (ericaceous) to maintain an acid enviroment.

Otherwise look for a shrub that can tolerate some shade eg hydrangea or some others

Agree that trough has no drainage - so drill holes in the bottom. You could put lettuce/spinach or strawberries in (the berries need sun), or some bedding plants - maybe pinks or something else you like

How many hours of sun a day does this yard get?

If you get a couple more pots & a bag of compost you can mix the old & new compost too.

Thanks for all these. The yard gets no sun at all unfortunately. It's surrounded by higher gardens and back yards to 5 storey townhouses, so my little cottage is sort of tucked in.

For cheap and cheerful and thrive any where, I would go for annual seeds. nasturtium, California poppy,, calendula, Nigela and cornflower.
In late April shops will have bedding plants also quite cheap. Just beware that in a shady garden the slugs will be on the rampage. I know it is frowned on but I always put slug pellets in with bedding plants.

For long lasting and very reasonable prices, Wilko are brilliant. Things that you can take with you when you move are, heathers, holly, eunymous, and small firs and ferns.