What can I do to make my garden look pretty (pic attached)

[HelpMyGarden]

I’m going to go to the garden centre to get some bits to spruce up my garden. Any ideas on how to make it look pretty? I like a Mediterranean vibe - olive trees, lemon trees? and light colours. Going to sand and stain the garden furniture when the weather warms up.

Is it best to paint the fence?

Also getting rid of the patio heater and pots piled up in the corner from the previous owner 😬

I have no idea about gardening as you can tell

I would lose the fake grass. What’s underneath?
If you want a med vibe, and it’s concrete underneath, you could paint it and stencil some Mediterranean looking tiles. I’ve seen some lovely pictures of garden makeovers that have done that.

You can get stern on Etsy, here’s some with pictures of how they could look. A white background with a lovely Mediterranean blue, a load of terracotta pots with lush plants, it could look lovely.

www.etsy.com/uk/market/outdoor_floor_stencils

Those pots look good - are they plastic or ceramic/pottery?

Repair and paint the fence for a start. What is under the fake grass? What you will be able to grow will depend on the aspect and how much light it gets -- which may does it face? How much direct sun does it get?

Keep the heater and pots, or at least the pots. Pots are surprisingly expensive and you'll need some.

Scrub and re-oil the furniture, it will come up beautifully.

Yes, stain the fences. I'd go for pastel colours, my friend has done that and it looks fab, but if you prefer something more subtle you can use a more natural shade.

I have successfully grown jasmine in pots trained on wires on the fence, which looks and smells great and doesn't need too much watering.

Then I'd have hardy herbs in pots. Sage, thyme, lavender, rosemary, mint, oregano, bay, the ones you're most likely to use. Plus, once the frost risk is done, some pelagoniums, tomatoes and salad leaves.

The heater is broken unfortunately! But maybe we will keep the pots - this sounds stupid but how do you get rid of what’s inside the pots? It’s our first home and I really don’t know anything about gardening but keen to learn!

I love the jasmine idea! I’ll look into this although that fence is in the shade for the 2nd half of the day. It gets morning sunlight.

also really love the herb idea. Can you plant herbs in one long box that I could put along another fence? The garden is an L shape which goes back beyond where I’ve photographed.

Also re the grass - it was awful uneven and cracked concrete underneath which we laid the fake grass onto!!

Also how do I repair the fence 😅 I will definitely stain it. Do I need to sand it first?

Yes, that would be perfect for herbs.

You could use the "soil" in the pots to fill that, and add some fresh compost. Herbs don't want their soil to be too good anyway.

You're going to need either a compost heap or to use whatever green waste facilities your council has.

Get a trellis and some nice crawling plants to put on it too, this will break up the ‘woodiness’ a nice garden rug and chair cushions would add softness and colour also. Definitely paint the fence but nothing too crazy, keep it calm and simple.

I'd get someone cracking with a kangohammer and take up the concrete and see what's underneath, personally, but if you don't want to do that, what I would do instead of the awful fake grass, is to see if I could lever up areas of the concrete for drainage, and put a layer of light-coloured gravel on top. (I had to do this temporarily to an area of my garden while building work was being carried out, so I wasn't just slopping around in mud, and it's surprisingly attractive and looks great with my giant rosemary bush.

For any garden waste, you will need to see what green waste services your council offers. And/or a compost heap.

If you’re going to paint the fence be careful of it running through to your neighbours side, especially if they own the fence, this can cause all sorts of problems if the neighbours are difficult people

What's the light like at the back, it would be nice to get some climbers up those walls, maybe jasmine or wisteria or a clematis which may be a lighter load. Agree with PP, maybe varnish rather than paint if you're new to all this and there's a neighbour on the other side, you don't want paint running through the other side.

I wouldn't add sand, sounds fun, will get everywhere.

My overall take is to aim towards losing the fake grass longer term. Shorter term, scrub, lightly sand if needed (prob top surfaces) and oil the wooden furniture. I wouldn't add a load more man made stuff. Woody herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, the box idea would work great, or in the ground. They will flower and attract butterflies.

Get some spring bedding plants for some instant colour. Put the pot in view of a window from the house, and then every time you look out, you’ll see them.

Mine is not dissimilar to yours. ( Mine is tiny, - about 5m x 3m) I have fake grass because there was no alternative (used to be a garage, no soil at all) and actually I don't mind it. I have a lot if plants in pots, including trees ( cherry, apple, olive and crab apple, although you do need to keep on top of watering and feeding them.
I had narrow raised borders added and they are full of roses, clematis, hardy geranium, potentilla and other things!
On the other side of the garden I have a wider, deeper border, with a couple of camellia. Grow some big things, as well as small.

The photo is earlier in the year, before stuff got growing. In the summer it's all green.

How sunny does it get in there, the plants you choose may be sun lovers so think carefully about if they'll thrive or not.

i'd agree with the other posters, give the fence a makeover and the table and chairs as well, everything will look so much better for that. pots can be reused so if they're ok keep and use again.

If you're on facebook join the group the Yarden Garden, it's a group for small garden /yard owners, you'll get loads of inspiration from there

Initial thoughts..

What's your budget? I'd look into some nice paving (high budget) or pea gravel (lower budget). You could add some "stepping stones" or paving stones into the gravel for interest (either round, or rectangular/oversized for a modern look). You can often find this kind of thing on FB marketplace if you want to keep costs down. Secondhand bricks can also make lovely paths and/or "focal point" seating areas (I found some on FB marketplace and did this, for free)!

Then get some troughs/terracotta pots (again, look at FB marketplace for second hand if you're on a budget, you can get some great value bundles).

Tesco recently had some good value olive standard trees, so it would be worth checking them out.

Citrus trees generally need to be protected over winter in a greenhouse, so I'd steer clear.

I wouldn't varnish the fence (it can flake, particularly when applied to an old fence); I'd carefully stain it but do so very sparingly so that it doesn't bleed (and as others have said, establish whose fence it is first and speak to your neighbours, especially if the fence isn't yours... also might be nice to offer to refresh their side if it is yours - saves worrying about bleeds on the other side too)!

If you can afford to, don't be afraid to go big! Some large pots with large plants or trees would look great (keeping everything miniature can actually make a space seem smaller instead of enhancing it).

As others have said, climbers would be wonderful. I love jasmine trachelospermum as it's evergreen and has gorgeous smelling flowers. Be aware that you'll need a fairly decent sized pot as it won't be easy to repot it once it's climbing on the fence! Also reduces the need to water so often... I've recently moved away from using anything less than medium - large pots as the need to water frequently annoys me (and isn't great for the environment, but not so bad if you have a water butt - on my to do list this year)!

Edit to add... on the watering note, think Mediterranean. Olives, lavender, Mediterranean herbs, pelargoniums, some grasses, etc... this will suit your theme, look fab and be low maintenance on the watering front.

Don't bother with lemon trees. They are not hardy in the UK unless you have somewhere frost-free they can go in winter.

There are some hardy banana plants though.

By the looks of it, the fence does not belong to you - it looks like you’ve got the back of your neighbour’s fence - the more attractive side is facing their way. You need to check with them before you attempt any repair, sanding or painting as that is their property.

i just spent the last two days sanding and restaining a very similar table (and only two benches, as opposed to your six lovely chairs). It makes a huge difference, I would start that as soon as possible as there isn’t that much gardening you can do yet. There are YouTube videos that explain the steps if you’re not sure. They make it sound like a five minute job, but it’s many hours of work. You will need a palm or orbital sander and lots of sandpaper in various grit grades.

Definitely keep the pots, or I can come and collect them from you if you wish 😊. Large pots are very expensive and you need large pots if you don’t want to have to water constantly. Even plastic pots are useful, they keep cooler and retain moisture a lot more than terracotta.

You can revive the soil in the pots by emptying them completely (no cheating! this is to fix compacted soil at the bottom), mixing the soil with fresh multipurpose compost 50/50, and adding a generous sprinkling of slow release fertiliser. Then refill the pots and you’re good to go.

Your garden looks very shady from the photo. Is it like that all day long? If so, you need to look for plants that perform well in the shade. A Mediterranean planting scheme isn’t going to thrive in all day shade.

Definitely paint the fence. Pea gravel and potted create a softer, more aesthetic backdrop than the AstroTurf, which is looking a little bit sad in the picture.

That looks lovely!