Putting some life back in!

[Lovemybunnies]

The previous owners of our house did their best to kill everything and pave or fake turf over the whole garden. It is north facing so we will not be taking up the turf but all suggestions welcome. I need to keep the tiny patch of turf on the bank as I have two rabbits. They free roam which complicates things! I am thinking of a pond on the gravel, a flower bed where the red tiles are and a flower bed behind the basketball net. Under the red tiles is 4 inches of sand so I am thinking it will need to be a raised bed.

Just replace the green plastic with dandelions, north facing won't matter, happy bunnies ;)

Would you consider an alternative plant to a lawn? There are options such as thyme or moss that make bugs much happier than astroturf, that might be suitable for a shadier garden?

@Lovemybunnies I have a north facing garden, well north north west, but I have real grass so I would remove the fake stuff. Or maybe a clover lawn? I've been reading a post on Instagram where someone is having issues with their lawn and considering alternatives and many posts suggested clover.

It looks like you do have a good bones for a really nice garden. I would get lots of interesting borders in with shrubs for year round interest and have things that come up at various times throughout the year, like bulbs, which can pop up from early spring and even through winter (Nerine). I only heard of and grew Guara last year and I love it. It's come back again this year and looks even stronger, so I would recommend that plant to you. Low foliage with tall spikes of white flowers that look like little butterflies.

Our old house was North facing and I loved my hydrangeas in the shady border. Beautiful flowers and the dried flower heads add winter interest too. We also had astilbe and astrantia. Again, you leave the dried flower heads over winter for interest and to protect the plants. Just needs a good trim in the spring. I also put some cheap violas in the flowerbeds for colour in the winter and they grew taller as the foliage spread. The bees loved it. Best thing to do is see how much light you get and look up plants that thrive in the shade for inspiration. My local garden centre has an area just for these plants. We also found we had great success growing potatoes and even strawberries in the lighter part. You can actually buy flat pack raised flowerbeds so might be worth measuring up to see if one would fit in the space. I would perhaps go for a raised one where the basketball hoop is too.

I love guara and have just sown some which I hope to plant out in my new beds. I also love hydrangeas and astrantia and have them in my raised beds. I think raised beds are the way to go thank you and have been looking at the flat pack ones. In terms of growing a lawn we could have grass but the rabbits eat it down to the roots which rules out having anything like thyme. They also have very sensitive digestive systems so I have to consider that. All my beds and pots are either high up or fenced off.

The garden seems to have a good structure to build on. A few alternative suggestions for the features you mentioned...

Looking at your wooden steps with space underneath - it seems like a perfect spot for your rabbits to shelter in warmer weather or when it's windy?
I would be tempted to create a small grass quarter-circle lawn here with a hiding/sheltered area underneath the wooden steps. Leave a curved gravel path at the foot of the central steps which follows the edge of the artificial lawn. For interest, edge the path with some garden lights - solar ones if sufficient sunlight to power them.

I would turn the current sloped lawn into a rockery interspersed with alpine and drought tolerant plants and bulbs, or gravel flowerbed (I'm assuming the slope is south-facing as the garden is north-facing). I would also add a small tree at one side for wildlife cover - silver birch smaller variety, a dwarf crab apple, ornamental cherry or Amelanchier.

I would extend the patio across the red tiles and either create a raised pond, or a striking water feature such as a fountain or bird bath (If you were a fan of such things you could create an adjoining water fall on the slope. They can look a bit tacky if done badly or cheaply and do take some maintenance).

Add lollipop trees to the rabbit lawn in front of the balustrade. These seem to be the easiest to grow in pots if your rabbits might damage the bark at ground level, and are also the easiest to maintain at height and size so as not to block the light from the seating area at the far end. Bay; Olive; Chinese privet; Euonymus japonicus ‘Elegant Aureus’ or 'Bravo' if you like variegated yellow-leaved trees for a splash of colour;

Don’t plant any delicate flowers behind the basketball net, or they will get crushed 🙁

Yes I was thinking that! It is used quite a lot.

These are fantastic ideas thank you. I had not thought of seeding the gravel area but that’s a great idea thank you. They do like to hide under the steps. I have lots to take away from this thanks so much!