New Build garden ideas - WWYD first? Photos included

[NewBuildGardenDreams]

Hoping to complete on FTB this month - fingers and toes crossed. This is an estate agent photo so makes it look bigger than it really is.

What would your priorities be if you were taking this on? Here's the low down:

• The property is 10 years old but the garden is as-new in layout so never had anything done to it. The shed will stay, everything else will go.
• I'm a single 38 yo female - I can manage most things but not particularly strong so big/skilled elements = pay for labour
• My priority I think is to break up the look for the fencing - I personally don't like the colour. I've been fortunate to live in really open landscapes for most of my life looking out onto fields etc, so this hemmed in fencing is a bit of an adjustment. So - climbers? Hedging even? Would you paint the fence first or just let it weather?
• I don't like the concrete patio slabs but I think replacing them is a long term goal for cost reasons- but what can be done to make it less right-angle-y in the mean time?
• I have LOTS of existing pots large and small I can bring
• I'm thinking maybe a small feature tree in the grass area? Something that flowers - I LOVE Magnolia but realise I'd probably move on by the time it was properly established. Ideas on that?

Also - what kind of mower for such a small area?

Ideas all extremely welcome! Thank you thank you!

Dear @NewBuildGardenDreams Friend of mine had a similar garden albeit in a little old cottage.

If it were me ( & it isn't so your choice ) - I would paint the fences with either paint or one of those water based things to make it a nicer colour. I did this once because I could not afford to replace the fence , but it looked pretty once done - I did Parma Grey ( F&B ) but sage green type colours ( or whatever you prefer ) also look nice. Personally I don't like that orangey colour ) .

So I painted it myself , with a roller and a brush to fill in. I was careful with the amount of paint so it did not leak into neighbour's garden , but it worked and looked nice. Took me longer than a proper painter but it was easy enough to do.

Once done I would grow some climbers up ( but you may need someone competent with a drill and the training wire for this , but essentially not a big job so would not be expensive for a handyman.

Re the patio - I see your point but I think that would be a much bigger job so I would just buy some pots to soften the corner & I would leave a tree and replacing the patio stones until you have done the fencing and climbers.

But just my opinion - I suspect you can make this garden very lovely without masses of effort

All best to you

Basilisk x

Firstly where's the sun? Base your sitting area around that. Next break it up by a winding path running through. Do you want grass to mow or do you want plants and gravel and water?

https://instagram.com/new.house.home?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

A choice of tree, you could go for a columnar fruit tree or an autumn flowering cherry. Or perhaps an amalanchier. What sort of soil? Clay, acid? chalk?

Rather than take up the slabs, you could remove one or two and plant the gaps with mound-forming flowering plants. It'll soften the edges without too much work.

I like the idea of wires along the fence, and flowering climbers.

If you can, leave a gap in the fence to allow hedgehogs to move around. And add a nesting box or two once you have something growing along the fence.

Lovely to have somewhere quiet and fragrant to sit, with a glass of wine. 😊

Where's the sun I.e. what direction does it face. Personally I'd be tempted to move the shed and build a pergola at the bottom, to make the most of those trees behind you.

We've a newbuild, and have planted a corkscrew willow, which has grown from a stick to a 12ft tree in 2 years, as well as a grape vine around the pergola and tall bamboo or eucalptus for screening. Olive or fig in a pot also make a nice addition. We've also got a magnolia but playing the long game. 3 years and it's still only 3 ft..

Currently trailing wisteria across a garage wall to hide it and regularly scour the sale section of garden centres for any bargain lucky dip plants..

The path on the left, I'd remove all but the middle line of pavers and plant flowerbeds to either side. If it works with sun, make the far corner your seating area so you're travelling through the garden rather than just looking at it. Be careful with painting the fences and leaking paint to your neighbours sides, instead I'd invest in trellis and honeysuckle. More planting around the edge of the lawn. You don't have kids so no need for a lawn actually, I'd probably plant the lot then no beer for a mower. Watch all the old episodes of Big Dreams Small Spaces for inspiration (and amusement with the episode where Monty Don gets pissed and does his closing piece to camera half cut.) You want to get some height into your planting to lift it all above the development flat plan feel.

Check who owns what fence before you start attaching stuff . I would put some biggish plants in pots around the fences to break them up - we’ve got clumping bamboo in large pots which is about 5’ at the moment . I think without wanting to do much hard landscaping that pots with colour grouped is the answer .

These are great ideas thank you so much! And for the insta link!

@BasiliskStare this is exactly the kind of info that's really helpful - I think this kind of step-by-step is really achievable thank you. I've googled fence painting to death and got myself scared about it seeping through (there's more than one post here on MN about victims of this happening!) but it is very encouraging to know it can be avoided!

Ah I forgot about the sun - yes, unfortunately it's pretty much North facing (so North is the shed) but it's not toooo overlooked and (admittedly I've only seen it once on an overcast day) wasn't as dark as some north-facers I saw in house hunting. I think I do still want some grass. Or at least likely live with that for a year or so to see how it goes.

@MintJulia It's on clay soil but I wouldn't be averse to prepping an area to improve it etc - autumn flowering cherry sounds lovely!! I am in such a Spring mindset at the moment it's hard not to just think of Spring&Summer.

@Treacletoots these are all excellent ideas - the willow sounds beautiful and I love wisteria - things like this help soften a space so well!

Thank you very much - I can't wait to get stuck in really!

I would get rid of the grass all together and make it one big bed with a path winding through it. I would also definitely plant a few trees, maybe espallier to go against the fence.

What a lovely sized garden and the trees behind are great too. I'd move the shed as if the garden is north facing the shed is taking up a lot of the sunniest spot. Painting a fence very dark e.g. dark grey will make it recede and the garden will look bigger...also, plants look fabulous against a dark background.

This may not appeal to you but it's what I would personally do:

In year one I'd leave just a circular patch of lawn in the middle of the turfed area. Lifting all the other turf to create flower beds around the small circular lawn which would soften the whole area. A circular shape and curved edge beds would also soften all the rectangular edges in the garden.

I'd paint the fence a dark grey and plant wall shrubs/climbers against it..... lifting the odd patio slab to plant into if needed. If you haven't seen it, watch Gardeners World from Friday night as Joe Swift visited a garden where they'd painted the walls and fences black/dark grey to help the boundaries recede and show off the green of the plants, so you can see an example of how that works.

In year two I'd probably get rid of the lawn and plant a tree in that circular patch, but that could be a project for further down the line.

Check out The Rose Press Garden on Instagram. Full of advice and tips for newbie gardeners, such as myself! 😊

I would consider one if the Makita lawn mowers that runs off 18V batteries - the batteries are not cheap but the mowers are light and cut impressively - depends how much you are prepared to spend. The one I have may be a little expensive for such a small area bit there are other more compact models. I bought the Makita DLM382Z 36V Li-Ion LXT Cordless 38cm Lawn Mower from Screwfix (£200) and a couple of batteries (£150!) and a battery charger (£25) so quite an investment but I have 2 much larger lawns but I'm impressed with the mower.

I would certainly get a long pronged garden form and have a prod around - IME builders are lazy ?uckers and bury all kinds of rubble in the garden and cover it with a thin layer of top soil - the unused cut ends of bricks and breeze blocks, unused bits if drain pipe, buckets of plaster, cement, hardcore, all sorts. Everytime I go into my garden to plant something I end up digging out rubbish the builders buried - my lawn had barely 2 inches of top soil over several inches of crushed bricks and the borders are full of bricks. I hope you have something better - I'd ask about what you should expect.

I would consider a manual, push a long mower for such a small lawn. They aren’t hard to use, take very little maintenance and best of all, I think, are quite small so store easily.

If you are on instagram there's a page I follow called happy.newbuildhomemaking who has done wonders with her bare new build garden. It might give you some ideas

If the garden is north-facing then the part nearest the house will be in shade. You therefore don't need that existing patio and should think about having the seating area down at the furthest end, with suitable privacy screening. You will need some sort of path / access to it, make it winding and interesting.
This means that you can do more planting in the ex-patio area, the area nearest the house, the area which has most impact.
As your seating / relaxing area will be at the far end, don't forget to bear in mind what the (reverse) view will be like. One tends to think about the view from the house windows but you will need to also think about looking back at the house from the seating area.
It is tempting to design along the length of the garden but it looks more interesting if you think about designing something across it.
I'm thinking maybe a small feature tree in the grass area?
This could be part of your across design. It could also blot out that view of the neighbouring house, leaving only the mature trees in the 'borrowed view'. The garden definitely needs height.

One quick point @NewBuildGardenDreams - I do like the idea of taking up some slabs to plant in but take one up first and check underneath. I know people who have had similar and there is no soil underneath , it is where they stashed the rubble ,so I would take up one slab and test to see how big a job it is to plant underneath. If it is just rubble you could have some raised beds built or large troughs. Not exciting but a practical point.

A push along mower will do that nicely. It's the same size as my garden.

Can you lift a couple of slabs along the fence and put a forsythia and buddiea in? They'll give you colours and something for the bees next spring and summer. Both are easily pruned and don't get too high.

Brilliant suggestions and ideas from everyone - too many to tag! Enormous thanks - I am really grateful to you all!

I think everyone has made fantastic comments - esp points around direction of the garden so moving the shed will probably be on the cards I think, I hadn't really thought about doing that.

Lifting the slabs for planting along the fence - brill. And yes - somewhat cautious as a new build the ground may have some ... unexpected treasure...

Lawn mower advice also top notch! And yes to making curves, screening, interest to soften and make it less grid-like - I have ideas popping galore now!

What a wonderful thing MN can be, this has been immensely helpful :)

Paint the fence a dark sage green or dark charcoal/green. Space will look so much more elegant.

Saw a little opening at bottom of fence in a couple of places, for hedgehogs.

You could get away with just a string trimmer instead of a mower. Especially if you take up part of lawn with tree, pond or beds. Try it before you invest.

I got my sister one of these and she loves it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/BLACK-DECKER-BESTA530CM-GB-Strimmer-Pieces/dp/B079H21K4V/ref=mpssa1122?crid=F98DIBYX1PO1&keywords=mini+mower+string+trimmer&qid=1680587650&sprefix=mini+mower+string+teimmer%2Caps%2C240&sr=8-22

Lots of containers will soften the look, too.

You could remove patio slabs here and there and add plants in each gap - that would soften the look of the patio, especially if you choose some that would trail over the patio and spread a bit.

I'd also think about keeping a small seating area near the house (or temporary shading options like a big umbrella etc, or movability of the patio furniture) for the far end, as we do seem to now have chunks of the summer when you'd be glad to hide in the shade.

Just in terms of space and taking out some of the slabs, I think I would be tempted to take out two on the fence side rather than one each side, as when the shrubs you put in mature they may encroach on the path pretty fast.

I have a lovely orange blossom (Philadelphus) which grows quite vertically which might work to break up the hedge.