Would anyone like to completely redesign my garden?

[CrumpetsandJammmm]

So, our now very untidy L shaped courtyard garden.

There is a patio in front of the living room and kitchen back doors. A big wedge of gravel in front of that, down a step, with trellising around two walls covered in very overgrown jasmine. Then the short part of the L has beautiful but overgrown honeysuckle and is viewable at all times from our kitchen floor to ceiling windows.

DH wants grass where the gravel is, but I’m not sure. Plus I hate mowing. I think we need to keep the trellis in some form as the walls of the garden are the walls of neighbouring houses and I’m not 100% sure from the plans where our boundary ends, so a trellis or fence a few inches from the house walls seems safer. We know we need a new patio where the existing one is.

What would people do with this space? We need places to sit (I’m thinking a sofa under some well trimmed jasmine) and eat but not for playing. Planters and pots are fine for some colour but we’re not the keenest gardeners so nothing that needs much work. If you could do anything, what would you do?

Could you draw a diagram to make it easier to see what goes where? Pots are harder to maintain than hardy perenials planted in the ground, just as an fyi

Does this work?

We can’t really dig much into the ground because of stupid restrictive covenants on the property, and I also don’t think there’s much soil down there. Also there’s only access to it through the garage so that limits the digging machines we can get in.

I think you need to go vertical.

Clean your walls and the existing patio- a gentle power wash.

Put some trellis up those red walls and grow some good climbers with seasonal flowering in mind. If there is not much depth then
it may be worth it to in vest in one or giant pots for planting- so the plant has room to burrow down. (Cut the bottom out of the pot - look up the queen Bunny Guiness).

It seems intuitive to have your dining at the kitchen side - is there enough room there ?

Outside the sitting room you have no weather cover. Some terrace roof along the length of the back of the house, or some pergola beams would frame and elevate that area. They can block light though so need to be high enough.

Always keep in mind what it would look like from the inside looking out. After all with our wet dreary winters that will be your view for most almost four months. So imagine what you would like to see in wet dreary weather - a few colourful bird boxes, interesting shapes and forms when the leaves are gone that will take little fairy lights etc.

Good luck. You have great things to work with there. Keep us posted??

I don’t think you need to do anything drastic or hugely expensive to make that really nice. I would build raised beds around the edge of your patio, and a couple of steps down to the gravelled area, and add a few big planters onto the patio to soften it up. You can get half wine barrels for about £40, they look nice and give you loads of planting space. Some pots on the gravelled area as well, and it could look lovely.

Planters along the wall of the house with trellis attached behind them would mean you could grow some climbers and break up that big expanse of brick.

Great tips, thank you. We’re willing to spend a bit to make it last. I agree we need more planters on the patio, and I’d like a black or dark grey patio instead.

Would panneling work at the back instead of trellises? I’ve seen some good ideas with shelves on them for plant pots.

I'm tempted to leave the gravel and not bother with grass but to do dark grey gravel, maybe with a big planter in the middle?

I like the gravel you’ve got, I’d just dig the weeds out and top it up a bit.

I agree that thee is too much brick! I think that it might be an idea to do something dramatic on the wall that the kitchen doors look out on. You could do all sorts of trompe l'oeil.
I'm not sure about OP's idea of dark greys, though. Am I right in thinking that the patio area doesn't get much natural light - I'd go for light, reflective colours to cheer the place up.

The little table on the gravel gets loads of light and is what we see from the kitchen. I’m thinking of leaving the honeysuckle after a good tidy and buying a colourful bistro table as that will make a good visual out the window.

We don’t see the enormous expanse of brick from inside the house but I agree it insanely boring. And no, that bit of patio gets no real direct sunlight, hence why we have proper table there. Again I think we’ll keep it like that, it makes it nicer to eat at in the summer.

That’s a no to too much dark colour then?

No, don't get dark grey gravel or chippings, it looks really depressing when it is wet and on cold, dull gloomy days, and let's face it, the UK has about half the year like that! The best plan is always to go with a surface that blends in with surrounding buildings, so ordinary gravel would be fine. Really pale or white gravel is a no-no for a similar reason. It looks very unnatural and goes green if wet for any length of time anyway.

Maybe do some Googling of images of courtyard gardens for inspiration?

What about planting a low edging hedge of lavender along the side of the gravel. It's very tough and will like the dry conditions and cope with the shallow soil. The end hedging needs cutting back a bit but I would also keep the honeysuckle.

Some sort of feature at the end will draw the eye down and make the garden seem larger and more interesting.

This is what I would do, if you're not keen gardeners - A very simple and easycare design. I personally wouldn't keep the climbers as they look too dark, heavy and overwhelming for your space, and in my experience they are one of the plants that make the most work. The trellis could be painted and decorated with some garden solar lights.
Dwarf trees with a light canopy need very little maintenance and provide the most interest for the least amount of care and effort. They would provide year round interest - particularly if they bear winter berries and spring blossom, such as crab apples; (other ideas - dwarf silver birches for winter bark; or flowering cherry for a stunning spring display). Underplant with bulbs and heucheras.

@brambleberries thank you, I like that a lot! I agree most of the climbers need to come out, the look great when they are really short but very quickly look dark and messy

I'd wash your patio for a start will give it an instant face lift

Is this somewhere you've moved to? Or been for a while? I'm just trying to gauge the level of upkeep you are really going to be interested in doing long term...

Definitely avoid dark colours, it already looks quite dark and oppressive with the climbers. If you keep them, you need to keep on top of maintaining them imo. Dark gravel sucks the light out of dull days, gets hotter in the direct sun. Whereas lighter gravel helps make a space brighter, inviting and bigger. Personally though, I would do something like a clover lawn, but if you aren't going to want to maintain it, don't bother.

@brambleberries design is lovely. You can get planting design "rolls" if you are unsure where to start with what plants for the beds. They provide a design, map and plants to fill the space to give you an effective design. But do make yourself aware of the maintenance requirements. Gardens can be low maintenance, but never no maintenance! Keeping on top of it in small amounts each week in spring/summer is much easier

Also agree with pp to give the patio a good jet.wash, will look loads better clean.

That's a link to Bunny Guinness' design for her non gardening sister. Good tips about hiding an ugly fence by painting it a dark colour, and covering with light coloured trellis, and the paving with brick bits adds interest. The "door" into the garden next door is a nice touch. Though that garden redo was likely quite expensive; the video doesn't mention costs. Still, you can pinch her ideas for free!
Be aware that plants in pots do take a bit more looking after, particularly with regard to watering, so larger pots rather than lots of small ones would be easier. Having said that, in summer I put hanging geraniums and stuff like that in pots that hang on the trellis. Obviously they can't be too heavy, so the pots aren't too big, mine are about 15 cm pots I think. They look so pretty I don't mind the extra faff in watering them.

Plants that I have found impossible to murder (unless intentionally!) and will all grow well in pots. I do not spend much on plants these days, that way if I kill them it's not such a big deal. I often buy from Lidl, particularly summer geraniums (pelargoniums) and Fuschias. I bung them in the ground over winter, and they often pleasantly surprise me by coming back next spring/summer, so much so I'm running out of ground for them.....and if they don't come back, I haven't lost much. Others are -
Photinia Red Robin - as seen in the Bunny Guiness video, and you can get mini ones for pots, though you'll have to keep them trimmed.
Herbs - sage, marjoram, mint, thyme, Thai basil. Mini lollipop style bay trees, mini lollipop style olive trees. Figs - lovely architectural leaves too. Trachelospermum jasminoides - an evergreen climber.
Campanula portenschlagiana -can be a bit thuggish in the ground but behaves well in pots. And I grow tomatoes, courgettes, strawberries and raspberries in pots too.

Raised beds and climbing roses on the big expanse of wall for colour and scent? If they can get their roots deeper that would be better. You can get some types that are shade tolerant although you might have to research.

I'd be tempted to remove the trailers outside the kitchen area and put up a pergola there into the corner, maybe one with a roof then have a sofa style seat in there, nice lighting too. it is the most logical place to sit. I'd leave the trailers on the other gravel and like PP idea of trees in there, like a flowering cherry or drooping pussy willow
On the patio it is very bland , maybe put a 4 seater table and chairs on there with nice umbrella and lots of pots. If you want low maintenance then get huge pots or even raised beds down one side. I have a pieris in a massive pot, always looks lovely. Can get other hardy perennial shrubs. Invest in a 2 or 3 large ones for now and bring others on. Raised bed would give you chance to have sone annuals, bedding plants , summer colour etc. I do think that a display of pots needs to be generous, ie lots of different ones , different sizes. I stick to terracotta then when I pick one up it all blends,

I work in landscape design. A really key point for making a garden look tidier is thinking about edges. You either want them to be hidden using raised box planters or with plant volume, or make them neat with a clean edge. Timber, paving, steel according to taste. Having proper edge will also reduce maintenance as plants won't encroach as easily, provide a mowing edge if you have a lawn.

I would soften most of your boundaries with ground level planting. The edge of the patio looks very untidy with that timber edge so I would remove that and use planters or more ground level beds along that edge.

I’m with your husband, that gravel is horrible and I say that as someone who had exactly the same when I moved into my house. I moved the whole lot and put down grass, I don’t have side access either so had to carry it through the house and got a small skip, but it actually wasn’t that bad just did it gradually and as we laid the grass ourselves it wasn’t an expensive job. I would be tempted to keep the circular stone section in the centre and maybe have pockets of planting round the circle with some low maintenance plants, some David Austin roses are very hardy, perhaps some geraniums, potentilla also very low maintenance. Maybe a hydrangea. In the centre of the circle I would have a feature plant, possibly an ornamental Cherry in a pot - you can get these grafted so they don’t grow too big. Would need a very big pot and as a pp said some care. Love the idea of a pp of raised beds around the edge. I can see it now op, it could look amazing!

It could be amazing. With pots go large, lots of little pots on shelves are hard work unless you like pottering about. Pittosporum in big pots, or other evergreen like bay, are easier to keep going. Just remember to feed them in the growing season as well as water....and every few years empty them out and refresh the compost. You can also scrape the top level of compost off and replace a bit.

https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/products/mme-alfred-carriere?srsltid=AfmBOop0099OsD7fI5ULuun9nby3H4F5LSirE-Dx8abfV-73kIcXD8pQ
looks stunning against red brick

However I’d start by a huge tidy up of what I had if I was you. I couldn’t bring myself to destroy a huge honeysuckle and jasmine so would just trim them back and keep them under control going forward.

An afternoon weeding would make a huge difference as would a clean of the patio. If you can’t summon the inclination to do that then it does tell you something about how low maintenance you need a plan to be!

For outdoor furniture I’d prioritise low maintenance and comfort so I’d probably go for something like this to eat at despite knowing there are prettier sets available
https://www.gardenfurniture.co.uk/product/kettler-cassis-4-seater-2

My personal choice would be to go for lots of pots with colour and scent and attractive to pollinators. Agree with the keep them terracotta comment and I’d cluster multiple shapes and heights but I am a maximalist gardener!

Thank you all so much. We’re here until the retirement property so we’re willing throw money at this and get people in and make it amazing.

As much as the jasmine can look lovely I think we’ll take that down and leave the honeysuckle. But I might ask them to patio that bit between the honeysuckle and kitchen windows so we can put a really nice table set there and some pots for a visual. Definitely get the point about the edges, I think planters - our neighbours have them as I suspect there’s not enough soil to dig down a bit and plant. Then some sort of panel or fence against the brick walls that will become visible when the jasmine is gone.

I want as low maintenance as possible, some weeding and watering and trimming is about all we will manage without getting back into this position again!