Can I do this in my new build garden?

[pumpkinNspice]

Hello clever gardeners.

I have recently moved into a new build with an atrocious garden (I posted about it here before) which is pure clay, on a slope, and completely waterlogged after 5 mins of rain. We do intend to have the garden done but it won't be for a year or two. As such, I'm only planting in containers (as large as we can carry into the garden!). And lots and lots of hanging baskets along the back fence.

In the meantime, I have two enormous planters that were made for me as I have a bad back and find bending difficult. I want to move them along to the left fence, but I'm thinking they need to be sat on something. Or it's going to look scruffy with the grass growing wild below.

I'm thinking to get the OH to dig away the top layer of grass, cover it in some kind of fabric to stop weeds, and then maybe cover the whole thing with stones. We'd probably need a delivery of a ton of them. I also want to put a tree in the corner in a giant pot.

Is this a good idea? What else could I do? Pics of the planters, the boring garden, and a brilliant drawing of my thoughts.

Thanks!

now is good.

I have an almost fully gravel garden now because of drainage issues and dog digging. But if you put weed membrane under your planters the roots won't get through.

IGNORE - I hadn't seen that your planters are on legs!

Look up gravel gardens on Pinterest.

Ok glad now is good. I'm on it for tree buying this weekend! Definitely getting an Acer or two; they're half price in Dobbies this week. And hopefully a cherry tree.

Don't put them so close that it affects your neighbour's garden. Unless they are south of you.

@PrimalLass ok, how close is too close? I'm not going to get anything that grows too big although our fences are 6 foot and they have a wooden cabin outdoor thing taking up half of theirs, you can see it on one of the posts I did, so I'm not too worried about putting a fairly big one in front of that!

How big is too big though? You mentioned a cherry - our neighbours planted one on the boundary 3m from our house 20-odd years ago. Last year it was as tall as our house.

It made me tearful and stressed because it cut out so much sun and I knew we'd have to address it with them.

That wooden cabin looks like it might be above planning regs height so I can see your point though!

We have a cherry - had it 11 years in the garden, was about a metre high sapling when we got it. DH prunes it every year in autumn & it's only about 10-12ft even in full leaf. They can be controlled if you are a considerate gardener.
OP - maybe look at dwarf stock for your trees? Tree cuttings that have been grafted onto dwarf varieties meaning they won't get as big - they'll still require pruning etc, but won't turn into a 30ft monster.

What's under that 3inch of soil where your grass is? Is it just rubble? Will you even be able to dig under it for a tree eventually?
I would leave your planters where they are.
Get some long lengths of decking wood (or nice timber if you have the money) and make some full length raised planters and have that around the edges of your turfed area. They aren't particularly difficult to make

How will the garden be used? If you don't need the Turf, I'd take it up, build a pond (use the soil to fill those planters) and a french drain system with nice pebbles. I'd then buy a hammock to lay on in the middle.

But if you need the Turf and space for football or garden gymnastics perhaps not.

My garden used to flood after rain, the soil under the turf was compacted clay with huge chunks of concrete and builders waste in it.

To begin with I dug out two pits of clay (about a 1 tonne bag per pit) and backfilled with normal soil to give a place for water to drain away.
Years later when I could afford it I had a guy come and dig out the whole garden and lay new topsoil and landscape it. Don't give up yet on it being able to be a garden and grow stuff!

My DM has a stretch of garden by a fence which doesn't get much sun. Over the summer she sorted it (with help) with mesh and put down lovely stones and now has planters on it. It looks really lovely and is much easier for her to look after.

https://www.scotplantsdirect.co.uk/?gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD24RNk7BZT9278AkvWJRUqIGyccd&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt9aetIfbiAMVK5lQBh141geOEAAYASAAEgKHpPDBwE

based in Glenrothes, excellent advise available and great selection.

Why don't you hire a rotavator and churn up the grass and clay, it will help with drainage at least for this winter and then you could get a few tons of top soil to put on top? Means you would have a blank canvas to start with too.

Unfortunately, you don’t have a right to sun in your garden.

Neighbour has a beech right on our boundary. It’s almost certainly been there before they were - the place wasn’t built till the 1940s.

"What's under that 3inch of soil where your grass is? Is it just rubble? Will you even be able to dig under it for a tree eventually?"

@Singleandproud this is an excellent point. It's just clay and rubble from the building of the house, it's shocking shit. So I don't even know if I could a) dig deep enough for a tree or b) if it would survive.

Arghhhhh!

Might go back to the giant pots idea.

Thanks for that - I had no idea 🙄

Being a good neighbour means not being a selfish one. Planting a tree 3 m from someone house that will grow to the height of their house could definitely been seen as selfish. Thankfully our neighbours are lovely and let my partner take it down to a decent height. We know when it was planted because they told us, and it was just 6ft when we moved in.

The right tree in the right place is key.

I'll definitely try to make sure they're not big trees @PrimalLass

Apart from anything else that means it will cost you less to maintain them. We inherited two eucalyptus in a small garden and planted a third (that was supposedly dwarf stock as above but would grow enormous if left) as we had no idea how big they could get.

They are so robust we can just saw through them so keep the height in check. They are totally inappropriate for our tiny garden though.

There might be technically hundreds of willows but you won’t find many in garden centres! They are notoriously thirsty.

Small Japanese maples are ok if you are prepared to dig a hole and fill it with soil. They won’t cause a problem to your neighbours.

A sloping gardens means it’s draining towards the house. Without spending money, the section near the house will be wet if it’s clay. You cannot make this garden work well without money and effort.

@TizerorFizz I know that! I said we'll do the garden in a year or 2 when we've saved up the money (all gone in the move). It's a soaking wet bog at the bottom half of the garden where it slopes towards the house, yep.

I'm just trying to make the most of a shit garden until then!

Maybe not throw any money at it then unti you can do it properly. You really need a plan and a budget. Start on the plan now. Most trees won’t ultimately thrive in containers. Not in awful ground conditions.

If you get the big fabric pots they can last a good while.

There might be technically hundreds of willows but you won’t find many in garden centres! You will find Kilmarnock willow. Also widely available are a contorted willow (prettier in leaf than the contorted hazel) and various species grown for their coloured stems, which you coppice every year like you would the coloured stemmed Cornus. They are notoriously thirsty. which is why they work in wet soil.