Idiots guide to a new build home garden

[Stormyforcast]

We moved into our home in November.

We've never had a garden before and this is 5m wide, 10m long and it's south easterly.

We have a patio and then a sloping garden, sloped towards the house.

We literally know nothing except how to mow the lawn and dig up weeds. We're finding lots of stones.

Some questions for helpful mumsnet...

How do you weed the soil? Do you have to sieve the stones out?

Do you just put compost on top of existing soil or dig it out?

Can we add gravel straight into the soil to increase drainage or do we need a membrane underneath?

We've a toddler so need a runaround space but also want to grow some bits.

I am so excited to have a garden, but I'm overwhelmed with what to do. All help welcome with tips, YouTuber guides or Instagram accounts to follow.

https://instagram.com/new.house.home?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Is a great account to follow, they started off with a new build and in a year transformed it.

https://instagram.com/greenfingeredcityboy?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Does some really easy to follow posts on gardening too!

Do you know what type of soil you have? Usually you should mix some soil improver in with what you have.

Easiest way to start planting is to find some plants you like, and then you dig a hole, make sure it is twice as big as the plant pot. Mix the soil improver with the soil from the hole.
Place your plant in the hole (you can ruffle the roots of you want) then put your soil mix in around the plant, making sure it is the same level as it was in the pot.

It's always advised to water as soon as you have planted things.

Make sure you read the label on plants before you buy, they will let you know if they like sun/shade, how large they grow, if they are perennial etc.
Some plants like camelias and azaleas need special ericaceous soil. Just check the tag before you plant.

How do you weed the soil? Do you have to sieve the stones out?

I wouldn't bother unless they get in the way. Over time I have thrown the bigger ones into the corner, as I've come across them.

Do you just put compost on top of existing soil or dig it out?

Stick it on top. The worms will take it down into the lower layer.

Can we add gravel straight into the soil to increase drainage or do we need a membrane underneath?

You'll almost certainly never add enough gravel. It's really hard to change soil types without industrial sized actions. I'd instead look for plants that want your soil type.

Unless you are just trying to increase drainage in a small area (eg a veg bed). Then I would add gravel and soil on it to raise it up by 10-20cm and make that top layer the soil type you want.

New build gardens can be difficult as you have no idea what is there.

i agree with Grooveit, don't worry about doing anything major to change drainage conditions, just work with what you've got for now. Adding compost to the soil will help a lot anyway, put some on now, and another layer in autumn and it will keep getting better.

Plant a few things see how they go, perhaps have a few pots on the patio with supermarket flowers (Morrisons have the best selection I think - near me anyway).

Don't be overwhelmed about how much gardening stuff there is to know!

It's amazing what you can do with it. Here's our south/southwest facing newbuild. We've put in borders and raised beds, improved the soil a lot with compost and manure and grow lots of veg every year in a small space. These pictures were taken last summer.

Yes! Another example of how much can be grown in a new build garden.

Add compost every chance you get.

The first one of these is amazing.

Builders being what they are, they tend to just dump a layer of topsoil over the top of all the leftover building rubble, paint cans, planks, lumps of concrete and half-bricks. That's the sort of thing you might find if you dig down a bit. If you are doing some weeding, then just pick out the stones as you go. I've always thrown them down behind our shed. Anything like compost that you can mix into the soil will do it good.

I'm in a new build. Been here for 2 and a half years. We do have classic borders (kids and dog) and a badly placed shed... but we have tried to make best use of afternoon sun and varied plants. Check out my insta here. All done on our own. Still got to change patio but will do that in time. Terrible soil but put soil improver top soil down every now and then.
@ferns.androses

instagram.com/ferns.androses?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=