Help! Garden Novice and weird garden

[khamps]

We will shortly be getting the sloped areas in our garden tiered into a few flat, stepped areas and all the horrible fake grass removed, the sleepers will all be replaced and the tiers made using sleepers.

We are not green fingered at all but really want a bit of nature in our garden, so am looking for suggestions for shrubs/bushes/anything that can grow on fairly shallow soil, as the stuff under the fake grass right now is mainly sand/rubble etc and we are going to dig down a bit and add some soil.

We plan on putting stones down to deter cats as there are loads that like to poop all over our garden if any soil is exposed and we have a toddler so not ideal.

Any gardening wisdom much appreciated, the garden is quite shady in areas but does get some sun in the warmer months.

If the soil is crap then you could do a gravel garden? Google them. Lots of grasses and prairie typed flowers and mediteranian plants like herbs. The only issue is that the cats might think it is a huge litter tray and the toddlers are likely to distribute the gravel liberally around your house and garden...

Oh. Just had an idea. How about a wildflower border? Pictoral meadows sell really lovely wildflower seed or even perrenial turn if you want something permanent which will only really do well on crap soil. The slopey bits would add a bit more interest. I would keep them if I were you.

It would be relatively low maintaence and give you flowers for most of the summer months. Also be great for mini beasts for the kids to watch.

Have you seen this other thread? Lots of suggestion to vary the height - grow climbers up and trailing plants down.

If your fake grass was installed properly, there should be a membrane under the sandy layer. A faff to remove, but you may have decent soil underneath. (In my case, there was no membrane or sandy layer, but I suspected that as weeds had been growing through it when we moved in.)

Also, before you turf, make sure it's an area where grass will actually grow (eg not too shaded).

You mention not being green-fingered, but you've identified two essential considerations for garden planning - the amount of sun, and soil requirements, so that's a good start.

You plan on stones and encouraging nature.
So I would build on these ideas to create several shady rockery areas with larger pebbles and rocks, interspersed with a few dwarf or small deciduous trees, some shade tolerant evergreen shrubs, and spring bulbs.
The rockery stones will provide some focus and interest to the garden as well as shelter for a wide variety of insects and bugs, and will add a sense of cohesion with the ground cover stones.

The advantage of using deciduous trees is they will not be troubled by the shady conditions in winter. Similarly with spring and autumn bulbs - they can garner their energy from their leaves in sunny weather in summer.

A couple of ideas for trees that might be suitable -
Silver birch Trinity College is a small growing, graceful, upright silver birch tree. It's white, exfoliating bark develops from an early age, giving it year round interest. It has shallow roots so might be suitable for the site. Fine feathery leaves in summer and striking white bark in winter.

Dwarf Crab apple varieties - especially those that develop smaller berry-like apples, as they are likely to hold them all winter and provide valuable food in times of scarcity for birds.

Witch hazel - slow growing large shrub/tree with winter interest and scent, and a food source for many species of moths and butterflies

Amelanchier - the June berry tree - it comes in a variety of sizes so a smaller variety - perhaps Amelanchier Canadensis. It can be pruned into more of a tree shape rather than shrub if the space is limited.

Shrubs such as Amelanchier, Skimmia, Daphne, Aucuba Crotonifolia (Spotted Laurel) with berries, Sarcococca (Christmas box), Viburnum in a smaller variety, Spirea, Cornus (dogwood).

In an area of shade, you could also consider a small patch of moss lawn.

I have a garden on a west facing red sandstone and granite outcrop slope with very little top soil. All of the plants that Brambleberries mentions grow well, although some are dwarfed by the conditions. But also, low, prostrate conifers look good and grow slowly, the blue one look particularly lovely.
in the shady areas ferns thrive between rocks.
For smaller plants and bulbs I either dig (hack out) pockets or back fill between decorative rocks.