How do you plan your garden?

[Thatsajokeright]

We've had to rearrange our garden layout. Last year I had a 6x4 ft raised bed for veggies.

This year I've got a 12x2 and a much smaller bed (5x0.5) in front of the chicken run.

I'd like flowers and veggies but gardening is pretty new to me and I can't visualise how any of it will look!

Any hints? :D

I sow some flowers like calendula in among the veggies at my allotment, it's pretty and the bees like it. Also sunflowers and forget me nots.

For my garden at home that is mainly flowers and shrubs - I looked at a lot of pictures of small gardens to see to create some structure.

And I dug a couple of big beds in the grass where we don't have the table and chair in the sun to eat. And planted up in layers. It's all starting to come together.

Is that what you meant?

I'm trying to plan mine for the last 2 years and it's slow going! I've been getting ideas from Pinterest mostly.

One thing I've learned is to start and finish one area, rather than trying to tackle everything at the same time and having the whole thing look a mess at once. On the flip side of that, if you want to plant trees, get them all in as soon as you can, they're slow.

Decide what you want. Trees, shrubberies, lawn, lots of flowers, lots of scent, more veg, fruit? I've discovered in the last two weeks that clearing out lots of overgrown greenery and feeding it to the chickens (they're confined in a very secure run because we have a lot of foxes and buzzards round here, so while it's very big, there's not a shred of greenery left growing in it) is enormously entertaining for them and fabulous for egg quality and taste, so I'm going to have a look at giving an area over to all year round greens specifically for them. That's very much not something I would have learned from Pinterest!

Look at which areas get the best sun, and put what's most important to you there (unless it doesn't actually like sun, obviously). Will it be flowers, veg, a seating area for humans?

I know I love movement, height and a bit of big blowsy flowers in a garden and scent. So I've planted for that. It means it can look a bit flat in winter but fab in summer.

Take your time, there's no rush. The loveliest gardens pretty much plan themselves really. Just have a few lists of things that need to be in certain places, like the washing line, bins, etc., and keep an eye on the reduced corner at the garden centre. I visit about 6 in rotation and the sad corner is what I go to every time! There are always bargains and you never know what you are going to come away with.