I have a small, paved, walled,courtyard type garden and need help making it beautiful

[muppetgirl]

I have a courtyard type of garden but it is very bare. We have 3 raised beds full of plants but would like advice on a tree that is tallish that would be happy in a pot (or a bush that has height) also I want to attatch some pots that I can hang on the walls to put trailing plants in -what type would you recommend?

Also what plants actually do well in a totally shaded area?

I am aiming for a 'cottagey' feel, old fashioned plats and the like.

Help me please!!!

that should read plants of course!

Oooh, sounds like my garden! Am frustrated cottage gardener with a, er, townie's 'patio garden'.

Full of shade too

I think there are varieties of apple and crab apple that you can grow in pots. I've got a dwarf crab apple in my garden (not in a pot though) which is wonderful. Blossom in spring, fruits and coloured leaves in autumn. And means I can say, with truth, that I have a tree in my garden!

The ones that I've seen that I love have the walls painted, one with a feature bright colour like bright blue with a large mirror on a wall to increase depth, water tinkling in a small fountain or over pebbles, a shelf running round with lots of lanterns/tea lights on.

Built in seating - like those fab wickery sofas with squishy pads.

For plants I've seen those sunday supplement things with miniature apple trees (basically just growing up a stick) and thought they looked fab, ditto tumbling tomatoes/tumbling blueberries hanging in baskets. It will be sheltered so great for growing palms in

It's raining and cold here and I'm now sitting dreaming of a glass of rose in your patio garden

For the pot, how about a japanese maple? f you grow it ina pot it won't get too big. Or a standard rose bush?

Plants that do well in shade are hostas, lily-of-the valley, busy lizzies, nicotiana, hydrangea, dicentra, hellebores, foxgloves.

Was also going to say Acer (Japansese Maple) they are really beautiful, like the shade and do well in pots.
Hydrangea (including the climbing one which I cant spell), hostas, busy lizzies, hellebores, ferns, some clematis do well in shade, esp if they can grow to reach the sun.

Sorry just read your brief again, Acers and ferns not very cottagey.
Some climbing roses are good in the shade, as is ivy.
WOuld suggest using white and pastel colours generally as these are cottagey and good for brightening up shade. Also add mirrors to the walls (perhaps behind trellising) and some lighting to bounce light around and "blur" the boundaries.
Perhaps paint your containers/pots incream or white again to make it seem lighter.
Will check my climbers book once DSs are in bed and post back later.

My mum's got a twisted willow (not sure if that's the actual name!) in a pot, and I've got a couple of apple trees on a dwarf rootstock as you need 2 to pollinate (or a self pollinating one)...

Thanks for that!! It's very hard to see how it can be the garden I have in my mind as I to live in a new box of a house and have a walled (3 walls) garden. The brick is red and I am thinking of painting it and dh, surprisingly, has even agreed with me. Was thinking a whitey/cream colour but are worried it would look fab the first year and dirty the next...The apple tree sounds fab -would it produce apples (sorry if that's a daft question, I really have no idea!) I have a large bay tree that has followed me around for the past 10 years and it is tall and looks fab (in a pot) Ivy's are good any other ideas?

just to say it wont look dirty if you paint it white, otherwise all white houses would need repainting every year, water will hose down the bottom bit that might get a bit of dirt 'splashback'

I think paiting the walls is a good idea but add trellis and climbers so its not huge expanses of colour. Can you create borders as most plants do better that way than in pots?
Do you live in town as you might find that more classic type plants are more suited to a small walled garden than cottagey ones, just a thought?
Also check out here
www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/
and this is a good site
for design ideas, buying plants and you can choose according to conditions/style etc
www.crocus.co.uk/

Magnolia Stellata is lovely and good in a pot
www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/shrubs/magnolia-stellata/classid.4139/

Think about getting some scented plants, these really add lots to the mood of a small garden.

Is there any south facing wall? Maybe a fig or espalier fruit tree?

We have pots and pots of herbs, interspersed with herbs like thyme and rosemary in the flower beds or next to the path. Also a standard olive tree in a pot, which is very slow growing.

Hostas are nice but loved by slugs.

The Delphiniums did ok last year, geraniums and love lies bleeding (dicentra?)ditto. Ferns like shade and damp.

I have a fake castor oil tree and mahonia for some height.

Would a sludgy olive green paint on the wall work?

I quite like those obelisk things that you can train sweat peas and beans up.

Hth

box balls are lovely, although pricey.

give lovely structure to a cottage garden.

Unfortunately I live in a very new house surrounded by other new houses. No history, no cottages. I just wanted to recreate a cottagy feel as we are staying here for a few years...

DOnt want to sound bossy but how about a romantic rather than cottage feel? Might be easier to achieve with a new house surrounded by other new houses?
You might like Geoff Hamiltons Paradise Gardens book, you could prob get it at your library.
Did you look at crocus.co.uk, loads of useful info/advice on there....

If you've got walls ... how about trellis and honeysuckle (the 'ordinary' kind, not the Japanese kind which gets rampant) or rambling roses - then you get cottagey, scented AND they're not too fussy about soil.

we used to have a garden like this. honeysuckle did well in shade and if you plant on wall near house, the scent is really powerful. hostas were savaged by slugs (slugs and snails thrive in shady gardens unfortunately) but dicentra did well, also michaelmas daisies and hardy geraniums which are quite cottagey and flower all bloody summer if they get a little bit of sun. fuchsias also longflowering and do fine so long as there's some sun, you can get trailing ones for hanging baskets.