Novice gardener in new house - what should I put in my garden this spring?

[Startingagainandagain]

I bought my first house a few months ago (South East costal town) and I now want to tackle the front and back gardens after focusing on renovating the inside of the house.

The issue is I don't have a clue as to what to go for in term of small trees/plants/flowers.

There are also a few hanging baskets that are empty at the moment and I would like to fill those.

There are only a couple of bushes that I have trimmed in the gardens at the moment so I would be starting almost from scratch.

Could people advise me on some lower maintenance but still attractive plants?

Also is there a website that I could use to get the basics delivered?

I am really excited by the idea of working on the garden but it is hard to work out where to start...

What size is it and how much sun does it get? What is the soil like? Is it a new build or an established garden? So many questions!

For low maintenance I would go for ornamental grasses. If you google,Piet Oudolf you will see what I mean. If that does. On appeal ,The Parker’s and T&Morgan catalogues will give you ideas what appeals to you and also Pinterest.

Crocus are excellent suppliers and guarantee their plants. Stay away from Gardens direct.

There is absolutely no right and wrong when it comes to garden style. To find what works for your soil it is best to look around your local area. All gardeners have been seduced by a plant only to find that they dont have the right soil or aspect.

If it is an established garden do very little and wait to see what actually comes up, winter gardens may hold pleasant surprizes.

Ooooh, how exciting. I would love a new garden. My advice would be start from the top down. Height gives immediate impact. So, depending on the size of the garden, a couple of trees. Crab apples are excellent little trees for blossom and fruit. Then a few shrubs, flowering, berries, evergreen, to get a good all year round interest. Then you can fill in with under planting, perennials and annuals.

Crocus on-line is great. Pop in requirements in the search and it will give you some inspiration.

When you make beds, assuming there are none, or even if there are some, go big and curvy. Nothing worse than a straight 12" bed along a fence line.

Maybe not Pampas grass though. (innocent face smiley)

Don't plant bamboo - it is invasive even if it says it isn't!

I'd leave it until the Autumn, and see what comes through this spring and summer.

Try plant things for seasonal waves like what flowers in early spring, late spring, early summer, mid and late summer. For example crocuses, then tulips, then early peonies, bearded irises, late peonies etc

I agree with this entirely. One easy way to do it, is to go to the garden centre every fortnight or so, and buy a few bits that look nice. If you continue this all through the year, you'll have year round interest in your garden.

One note on the hanging baskets - they do look great, but they aren't low maintenance, you need to water them very regularly, daily in hot spells. I've given up on them now - I always forget and they always die, but you might be more diligent than me!

Agree with the pp who say wait and see what’s there. Take your time to get to know where the sun falls and what sort of soil you have, and look for inspo (other people’s gardens, online, magazines) to form an idea of what you like.

I would start off with a few shrubs and then use gaps for things like bulbs and annuals until it is established. We are coastal and garden is south east facing so a fair amount of sun. We are in the south west though which is probably milder weather than south east.

Sunny spots check out hardy geranium, buddleia, camellia, cistus or lavetera. Any reputable garden centre will give advice on your soil and maybe deliver if you have no car. Alternatively just go online. I prefer the small independent garden centres. Hanging baskets are great for trailing plants. Gardening is mostly trial and error and plants that don't do well in one spot can be moved. Check out some YouTube videos on planting out.

You'll need to know what direction the beds face, how much sun they get, and what your soil type is. Bear in mind you'll get a lot more sun in June than in January, so don't base it on where the sun falls now.

Personally I wouldn't plant ornamental grasses (as suggested by pp) until you know what your garden is like, as they don't suit everywhere. I have a fairly shady, damp garden with heavy clay soil and they don't survive for me. But I can grow beautiful roses. It's all about having the right plant in the right place.

To be honest I would wait until at least late spring to see what pops up - there could be all sorts hidden underground waiting to emerge. Or nothing, of course! If you want some colour in the meantime you could go to the garden centre and get some pots and bedding plants of whatever takes your fancy. Go to gardens this spring/summer, get some gardening books from the library, or there's a big gardening community on Instagram if you're on there, and just see what you like the look of.

Oh and hanging baskets are not low maintenance 😁I'm a keen gardener and I've basically given up on them. There's not enough soil to keep most plants sufficiently fed and watered for long, so as soon as you have a dry spell they die. In very hot weather they need watering at least once a day. Not for me. A nice big, deep pot will do much better.

My biggest piece of advice for those who are new to gardening is to do nothing [for about a year].

Go visit a few gardens nearby in the Open Garden scheme over spring and summer, work out what you want in there, research it to see if will even grow in your soil/aspect/light levels etc and then go and find a good supplier.

In the meantime, fill the blank spaces with relatively cheap annuals until you know what you have already.

@Turkeyhen

''What size is it and how much sun does it get? What is the soil like? Is it a new build or an established garden? So many questions!''

I realise I forgot to add all that info!

Medium size garden at the back and the front garden is a bit smaller.

Front garden gets a lot of sun and back garden is a bit more shaded.

I am in Kent near (between Dover and Sandwich) and not quite sure what soil I have...

1930 cottage, so the garden has been worked on for a while but the last owners did not do much to it, apart from adding some awful garden gnome type decorations, and it looks a bit sad right now :).

Thank you so much for the advice so far!

I definitely want tulips and I like the sound of starting with a few shrubs and crab apple trees.

I will also take the advice to wait to see what pops out in the Spring.

I think the previous owners literally dug up the best plants/flowers and took them to their new house...which is fair enough but left a lot of gaps.

Your soil will be London Clay mixed with loads of chalk.

Tulips and crocuses and other bulbs need to be planted in the autumn before frost, as they need a cold spell in the ground. If you want them to naturalise, I.e. come back the year after in the flower bed, you need to choose Darwin or triumph varieties of tulips, as the frilly double petal fancy tulips are just annuals more suitable for pots. Crocuses come back every year in both flower bed and pots. In pots, you could make a flower lasagna (google it for examples)

Your soil is likely to be London clay but may be a bit chalky. There is lots of advice about free ways to rest your soil. You can also contact the soil analysis website which covers all areas of the UK.

This time of year if you dig up a spade of earth and can make a mud pie out of it then it is clay. Really good soil for growing things so don’t deed much fertiliser. For new plant a bit of fish, blood and bone in the planting hole will give them a good start.

I planted some thyme plants in one of my hanging baskets a couple of years ago and they are doing really well. I made sure I put in some water retaining pellets to help with drying out too much. I just snip them back every spring so they are very easy to look after. There are lots of varieties and they have pretty little flowers on them. Apparently having thyme near windows helps stop flies coming indoors.

I am no expert but would do a combination of the things above.

I would definitely resist the urge to dig up too much, just in case. Herbaceous perennials die back in the winter, so you could actually have some quite well established hardy geraniums for example and not know it at the moment. So wait and watch, this will also help you understand which areas are sunny and which are shaded and at which time of year.

In the meantime, just in case there is nothing at all (so that you don't have to wait a full year for something to look at) I would:

1. Buy some potted bulbs and put them in the ground or in a pot. I got 12 crocus 'plugs' (so a few shoots per plug) for £6 from Asda. You could plant these in the lawn and over time they will multiply and put on quite a display. They also had daffodils and muscari. Garden centres will likely have tulips etc. This is an expensive way to do bulbs, so I'd just do a few now to get yourself started and then keep an eye on websites/catalogues in summer to pre-order your bulbs for Autumn.
2. Take the advice of the pp who said go to the garden centre every fortnight and buy something you like the look of/is in flower at that point in time. (Just now, it will likely be hellebores that catch your eye.) You could plant some of your finds in containers for this year while you watch the garden. This will give you interest now, but also give you a more established plant for next year.
3. Understand what is meant by a hardy perennial. I think an easy beginners mistake is to think all plants come back year on year. If they are not hardy, they will not survive the winter without protection (which does not fall under low maintenance). If they are not perennial then they are not supposed to survive more than 1 or 2 years (though many will self-seed).
4. Read up on mulching... you've mentioned low maintenance. There are plenty of plants, shrubs and trees that are easier to grow than others / need less TLC/pruning/etc etc. However, there will always be weeds. Knowing when and how to apply a proper mulch can really help to mitigate them.
5. Watch Gardeners World or similar. All of last years episodes are available on BBC iplayer and they watching them now will give you a great idea of what to do, when. Beechgrove Garden is based in Aberdeenshire so less relevant to you in terms of timing, but they did do a Back to Basics section throughout last year which might be helpful. Your Garden Made Perfect is also fun for inspiration as is (sometimes) Garden Rescue.
6. Subscribe to the Thompson & Morgan/Sarah Raven etc catalogues for inspiration (caveat, these are not necessarily the best or cheapest places to buy, but the catalogues are free and help you to understand what you like)
7. Start a compost heap/bin. If you have the space and inclination then this has the potential to save you a fortune on point 4. I can't tell you how much compost I have bought in the last two years... but 000's of litres worth! And the best time to start a compost heap is always last year!

Good luck. This time a couple of years ago I was also looking for a low maintenance garden that I could chuck a couple of shrubs in and leave. Now I am completely obsessed!

Beechgrove back episodes is a really good call. Yes, it’s based on Scotland but they really explain gardening well. Gardener’s World is more of a gardening magazine programme now, interesting but not a learning resource.
if you want something now, lots of garden centres and DIY stores have pots of bulbs which you can replant in the garden and then leave for the future. The suggestion for planting annual seeds or plug plants (Thomson and Morgan or Suttons are good, sign up for offers) is your best bet for this year until you see what has been left for you.

Last Friday, Gardeners World re-ran a package they did on some gardens in Whitstable. It mentions things to think about - wind, salt-laden air, clay, shade, etc - but also name checks some plants which the gardeners have been successful with.
Fast forward to about 50 minutes in. GW