Advice/tips on our front garden…

[Tinks15]

Really need some tips/advice with what to plant in our front garden…gardening experts we’d appreciate any advice please! To give a bit of back ground we live in a new build bought our house 4 years ago brand new & our front garden was all bark & had grasses planted throughout.

We now want to re do it all as it looks a mess. We both work full time & have a young family so want something very low maintenance. My partner would like to lay black ice gravel & have plants/flowers scattered throughout.

The thing is we have no idea what flowers/plants to buy what it suitable & what isn’t? Please could we have some suggestions?

Thanks

Shrubs are pretty much the lowest maintainence thing you can buy. However, if you want low maintainence, then you need to buy the right plant for the conditions you have. So how much sun does the area get and what is the soil like? I am guessing as it's new build it will be rubble with some top soil on the top?

@Geneticsbunny thank you. The area gets a lot of sun so that’s not too much of an issue. I don’t think the soil is that great to be honest I think it’s pretty much what you said rubble & some top soil. Just want it to look nice without spending a fortune if that’s even possible.

I think a Mediterranean garden would probably work there. Before you decide what colour gravel it would be worth checking the colour of the soil, the colour of the house and surrounding houses and buildings etc. in other words, it looks best if it fits in or works with the landscape around you and near you.

https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/mediterranean-front-garden-ideas-and-designs-phbr2-bp~t_10323~s_2209~a_38-250

Also see RHS fir front garden ideas and Mediterranean garden ideas.

Make a plan, and carry it out in sections as you can afford it.

Shrubs and bark is pretty low maintenance tbh. Why does it look a mess? Is it a case of the shrubs needing pruning? Or they've died? Do you want to keep the bark?

Hot sunny position, crap soil and low maintenance makes me think of lavender tbh. Just keep on top of the pruning (once a year) or you'll end up with massive bushes or ones with bald patches

Thanks @marmaladeandpeanutbutter & @Butterflyfern

I’ll take a look at RHS to get some ideas.

Mess is probably the wrong word @Butterflyfern it’s just very bland & dull & the bark has all disappeared although we usually replace it every year. We ripped out a lot of the grasses last year that were originally planted by the landscapers the grasses ended up growing into one big mass & just didn’t look very nice. I’m blaming it on the landscapers planting them too close together but it could have been something we didn’t do 😂

I don’t mind the bark but partner hates it & wants rid. He also suggested lavender like you.

mexican fleabane goes beautifully with cream gravel in a sunny garden

Bark eventually rots down and you end up with compost instead of weed-surpressing bark chips. Which might be handy if the soil is poor but not so good if you're trying to surpress weeds. Even if you lay it on weed surpression fabric, you eventually end up with weeds growing in the compost on top of the fabric.

If you put gravel down you'll eventually get some weeds growing, so I'd advise using something that won't be onerous to move around in future, eg avoid sharp edges on slate chips.

Also a big immovable pot might look nice.

Does the garden get sun most of the day? If so, it’s probably south facing in which case a Mediterranean garden would work well.
We have a south facing very small front garden bed on our newish build (it’s 13 years old now).
we have herbs - lavender, rosemary, thyme & oregano; also roses, salvias (a type of sage), a jasmine & lots of spring bulbs.
The herbs love the sun & warmth from the house - previously we just had lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme & oregano - but the lavender, sage & rosemary got too big & unruly, so I pulled them out last year & started again.

How big is the space? Could you put a diagram up if you don't feel happy to add pics?