Page 2 | Help me plan my garden

Hopetogouni · 2023-03-04T11:04:12+00:00

Hello everyone I hope someone can help me plan my garden. It is a new build house, only 2 years old. South facing and gets plenty of sun except at the back fence which is overshadowed by huge trees from the neighbours garden. We have 3 fruit trees. I would ideally like to get a decking and a water feature and some shrubs. There are some scattered shrubs that I planted last year along the fence. Not too much maintenance. some ideas would be most welcome and greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

user1465390476 · 06/03/2023 09:35

@brambleberries She says not too much maintenance rather than low maintenance. There is is difference.

brambleberries · 06/03/2023 09:44

@user1465390476

from the OP
‘Yes true.. I don’t have much time right now but do enjoy gardening. So low maintenance is probably better for me’.

user1465390476 · 06/03/2023 10:01

Oh well fair enough. I only read the OP.

AlisonDonut · 06/03/2023 10:11

Before I do anything to any garden I'd need to know what you plan to do in it, how much time you actually have to maintain and I'd tell you to leave it as it is for a full year before you make any decisions.

And also budget, if you don't have a big one that will mean you have more work to do in terms of growing things on and you'll probably need a greenhouse to do it in.

TonTonMacoute · 06/03/2023 10:15

If you have already planted shrubs around the edge then they will need time to grow up and make an impact, so I would concentrate on sorting out your sitting area.

It would be nice to have an arch, which you could grow something up (rose, jasmine, honeysuckle) maybe a colourful mini acre in a pot with pots and containers around. A solar powered mini water feature trickling in the background.

You can then sit there and plan what you want to do next

There are loads of ideas on YouTube, I found this one to be a good starting point.

brambleberries · 06/03/2023 12:04

I was thinking something like this, OP, might suit your requirements of low maintenance - whilst still preserving the open area of the lawn and keeping the calm open feel of the garden.
It enables some flexibility in planting along the borders. The path between the borders and the lawn will facilitate much easier mowing without the shrubs spilling onto the grass, and also easy access to the end of the garden in wet weather.

longtompot · 06/03/2023 12:38

As the garden is south facing I would create a shaded seating area under the trees at the bottom of the garden.
Do you need the lawn for kids to play on? If not, I would have a winding path going almost diagonally across the lawn and then create borders off that to almost block off some views of the garden. It creates a bit of mystery about what is around the corner and almost makes it feel bigger.

I've found this sketch which gives you an indication how to create borders on either side of the path, but if you didn't want to do a path through the lawn then it would work just as well with creating interesting borders down the sides of the garden www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/garden-plans/entries/colorful-planting-around-an-arbor/

Original poster

Hopetogouni · 06/03/2023 18:10

Untrusting · 05/03/2023 22:43

Have a look at garden thirty three on Instagram they started off with a plain rectangle of a garden (albeit smaller than yours) and what they've done with borders and how they've divided the garden in to areas is stunning.

Thank you. Have made a note of the account on instagram😊

OP posts:

Original poster

Hopetogouni · 06/03/2023 18:16

brambleberries · 06/03/2023 12:04

I was thinking something like this, OP, might suit your requirements of low maintenance - whilst still preserving the open area of the lawn and keeping the calm open feel of the garden.
It enables some flexibility in planting along the borders. The path between the borders and the lawn will facilitate much easier mowing without the shrubs spilling onto the grass, and also easy access to the end of the garden in wet weather.

Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions/ useful links and ideas. Lots to look at and think about and plan. Thanks for the sketch and I do like the idea of arches and a pergola😊

OP posts:

Original poster

Hopetogouni · 06/03/2023 18:18

AlisonDonut · 06/03/2023 10:11

Before I do anything to any garden I'd need to know what you plan to do in it, how much time you actually have to maintain and I'd tell you to leave it as it is for a full year before you make any decisions.

And also budget, if you don't have a big one that will mean you have more work to do in terms of growing things on and you'll probably need a greenhouse to do it in.

Yes..I am going to make a list of things I want in the garden and make a sketch and see how it looks and maybe look at some apps to plan it.

OP posts:

Original poster

Hopetogouni · 06/03/2023 18:20

TonTonMacoute · 06/03/2023 10:15

If you have already planted shrubs around the edge then they will need time to grow up and make an impact, so I would concentrate on sorting out your sitting area.

It would be nice to have an arch, which you could grow something up (rose, jasmine, honeysuckle) maybe a colourful mini acre in a pot with pots and containers around. A solar powered mini water feature trickling in the background.

You can then sit there and plan what you want to do next

There are loads of ideas on YouTube, I found this one to be a good starting point.

Thanks for the link. Will have a look at the weekend. Also I would love to have an arch and an acer too!

OP posts:

Original poster

Hopetogouni · 06/03/2023 18:23

longtompot · 06/03/2023 12:38

As the garden is south facing I would create a shaded seating area under the trees at the bottom of the garden.
Do you need the lawn for kids to play on? If not, I would have a winding path going almost diagonally across the lawn and then create borders off that to almost block off some views of the garden. It creates a bit of mystery about what is around the corner and almost makes it feel bigger.

I've found this sketch which gives you an indication how to create borders on either side of the path, but if you didn't want to do a path through the lawn then it would work just as well with creating interesting borders down the sides of the garden www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/garden-plans/entries/colorful-planting-around-an-arbor/

Thanks so much. I was initially thinking of a sitting area at the back but felt it was a bit far off from the house and won’t be used much.. but time to revisit after all your suggestions!
will have a look at your sketch😊

OP posts:

Original poster

Hopetogouni · 06/03/2023 18:24

Does anyone know of any good apps for planning a garden? Thanks

OP posts:

TonTonMacoute · 08/03/2023 12:43

Another link for you to watch.

I know you don't want to do anything like this that takes over your whole garden, but I think it's fascinating to see how someone can transform a space.

It might give you some ideas for your sitting space too

Original poster

Hopetogouni · 08/03/2023 18:10

TonTonMacoute · 08/03/2023 12:43

Another link for you to watch.

I know you don't want to do anything like this that takes over your whole garden, but I think it's fascinating to see how someone can transform a space.

It might give you some ideas for your sitting space too

Thanks- it fascinating to watch the garden look so beautiful in a years time! Enjoyed it even though that’s not what I want for my garden.. have picked up a few things that I might want to do in my garden! 😊

OP posts:

Paranoidandroidmarvin · 09/03/2023 10:27

@LadyGardenersQuestionTime me too. I was looking at that thinking I could add pathways. Have different types of gardens. Add some trees !!!! 😂