Design ideas for small garden on a 1k budget (pic attached)

[Asvan]

Hi all,

Please see attached pic of my small gatden. I live in a terraced house so I have neighbours on both sides.

I am not into gardening at all but I would like to make the garden look a bit nicer and maybe spend more time in it in the summer. I was thinking that i could add some solar lights, plant pots and seating, as well as give it all a lick of paint. I also need to put a small shed in one corner for storage, which i have already ordered.

I have a 1k budget to sort out the garden, what can I do to make it into a low maintenance, inviting space? All ideas would be appreciated, I am totally clueless.

Thanks you.

Try Chat gpt

How much sun does it get? Given it's small/terraced/trees at the end I'm assuming not much but I could be wrong.

How much watering are you prepared to do? Pots can be lovely but can need daily watering in the summer. Do you know what's under the slabs? One option could be to lift individual or small groups of slabs to create a couple of planting pockets - this should ultimately be lower maintenance, but that depends what is underneath!

Which corner are you planning to pot thr shed in? Maybe think first about which would be the nicest area to sit to suit your preferences (sun/shade/time of day) and work from there.

why bother with human interaction at all, eh?

This is what I got from chat gpt

Deweeding first! Then clean the slabs (pressure washer,) create flower beds around the edges - loads of bedding plants. (petunia, pansy, viola, primrose, etc,) Yellow marigolds in pots, and some big pots with some small trees in them. Begonia (bedding plants) grow quite big and will fill the flower beds well, but plant others too, so it's not all the same.

Some nice garden furniture - maybe wooden. Maybe one of those swing-couches (IYSWIM.) Some nice ornaments. B & M have some very affordable prices. Big mushrooms, a well, concrete animals, various statues, maybe a concrete fountain. So much you can do! It's like a blank canvas.

Oooh, maybe plant some sunflower seeds, Little Leo and Little Dorrit are easy maintenance and look lovely! Plant them in little pots for 5-7 weeks, then transfer ro big planters (or pop them in the beds around the side if there's room.... 🌻)

Have fun!

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Lovely cherry tree! I would consider putting the shed to the right near the house to keep your view of the blossom. Leave space around the shed to get round for painting and other maintenance. Borrow a power washer to sort the slabs out. Lift a few at the edges and see what the soil’s like.
Sort your boundaries out first, looks like the fence is in good nick. Painting it green will blend in with planting and make the space look bigger.
what do you want to use the space for? Entertaining? Growing veg? Do you have pets?
Look on Pinterest and pick a style. Second hand, charity shops for garden furniture decorative items containers etc.

Thanks for all the replies. If I was to put furniture out there how do I protect it in the winter? The garden doesn't get much sunlight.

I'd use pots or maybe raised beds.

If the garden gets a good amount of sun I'd grow fruit trees in large pots, figs and apricots, and have a table and chairs closer to the house, and a bench or perhaps a sunlounger further away, with planted pots around it. Good to have a tiny pond too.

Somewhere to socialise with friends, and somewhere to relax quietly with a book and a drink.

Maybe get metal or plastic furniture if you have nowhere to put it in winter.

Something like this ...

https://www.pricerunner.com/pl/499-3458981416/Garden-Outdoor-Furniture/B-Q-Casima-Grey-Metal-4-Seater-Patio-Dining-Set-Compare-Prices?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cssx&ref-site=google-css

Jet wash the patio stones, paint the fence with weatherproof coating. Planters with green plants in.

It looks like you’ve got beds around most edges. I’d probably DIY a wire trellis along the fences and put up climbers. I’m not good at DIY at all but I did this in my last flat and added a wisteria. It looked lovely. If you don’t get too much sunlight, maybe jasmine? Lovely smell too.

An idea that I added to chat GBT. As for storage I got myself a metal framed shed with waterproof covering last year for £80 on wayfair. It’s not very pretty but I attached a bamboo screen around it and it looks better, done the job too.

I’d lift up a couple of slabs and put one big plant in each hole. At the back, do a crab apple tree or cherry tree. On the east side, do a camellia (they like sun from the west). For any other space, grow clematis up that fence. All these will need care and water in year 1 but then no further maintenance and will give you flowers at all times of year. Shrubs like this are a bit more expensive but last a long time unlike bedding plants.

And please ignore all those AI gardens. None of them are budget or low maintenance.

House before this one we ran out of money before it came to the garden . If you are careful and the fencing is sturdy , just not attractive , you could get a weatherproof paint and paint the fencing. I did pale blue , sage green might look nice but whatever. It made a huge difference. A shed painted the same might look nice - it doesn't need to be an expensive shed. Definitely a jet wash of the stones and once fences painted if you do have beds, even if narrow , grow something up there to get some vertical greenery. If you are going to get pots - the bigger the better for watering reason as a pp said & some nice garden furniture which can stay out all year round.

I actually think (although I have never used it ) @PolkaDotPorridge 's picture will give you an idea of what you can do , even if you don't like particular details / colours / furniture.

With a limited budget I would keep what you can and tart it up with paint , cleaning , install the shed ( I would paint it that too ) & then see what you are left with for furniture / plants etc. If not much sun - climbing hydrangea , star Jasmin will cover quite quickly

Good luck - it actually looks like quite an exciting project ( I speak as one whose "garden" - I use the term loosely is about 1/3 1/4 of the size of yours. ) 😊

Not worth owning a lawn mower for that.

I like the chat gtp gardens, no need to be so down on thr poster making a real effort to help.

My first question is - how much effort are you prepared to put in?

Because if you are prepared to do all the graft (lifting and dumping slabs, digging, bringing in top soil) you can do it at a fraction of the cost. Especially a small garden.

I'd

• lift most of the slabs
• add trellis to all fences
• add grass in the middle and flower boarders around 3 edges
• add hooks and bird feeders to the trellis
• you could get a couple of carefully chosen trees in that space, plus 3 or 4 5ft ish large shrubs. Go for evergreen where possible. Then dot smaller shrubs, perennials and bulbs around.

Would make a nice cottage garden

You can get waterproof covers. B&Q do various sizes. We have plastic rattan look sofas in beige. They look like rattan. They were out ( we put cushions in the shed) with the cover all winter and were fine.

Don't paint your fence grey, in the winter or on dull days it is soul destroying. My neighbors fences are grey and they look awful, especially a few years down the line. Mine are all sage green as I like a fence to disappear into the background.

Decide what theme you want your garden to be: cottage, tropical, etc. My neighbour has a lovely gravel Japanese garden with a few well placed acers. I went full tropical in mine as I wanted to sit in my garden and feel like I was on holiday. If you want fast growing bush hedge along any side of the fence then Photinia Red Robin is evergreen and looks brilliant when the red tops come in the spring.

Aldi have some decent garden furniture sometimes: their egg chair is great. I've also seen some lovely garden furniture in Homesense. I have a light colored fake rattan sofa set which is 7 years old and still looks nice. I have a cover for the sofa and all cushions live under that when it rains/in winter. Get some bright cushions and throws to add - makes even a cheap sofa set look good. B&M and the Range have loads.

Aldi also have a Moroccan garden theme in store this Thursday with really nice big solar lanterns and a water feature - might be worth a trip.

I got my solar staring festoon lights from Sainsbury's and they are in their third year. I have some flickering ones from B&M which were £12 for six and they really work well around the seating area.

For instant wow, get some big pots - B&Q have a great selection at the moment for very good prices (I got a huge green pot for £26) - and put hardy palms in them with bright trailing geraniums at the sides. The palms will still look good in the winter and won't need protecting unless you're far north. If you want a really fast growing climber for the fences, bee jasmine is ridiculous and I have to hack mine back every year.

See if you have a plant nursery near you or a local market where they sell plants as you will get lots more for your money. My local plant nursery sells 10 decent size potted geraniums for £15 whereas the same sized ones in B&Q were £4 each.

If I were you I'd jet wash those slabs, get a stencil and use concrete stain/masonry paint to disguise them and make them look more luxe. I have some not very nice concrete steps that I am going to do this exact thing to. There are some fab project pictures here:
www.royaldesignstudio.com/blogs/stencil-ideas/decorating-concrete-patios-stencils?srsltid=AfmBOop91rsf1TtYlJ9MyF2X5_7VttXnt1vhigquVrLE4uEBxvko5p--

Enjoy creating your garden - I find it very addictive and great for mental wellbeing.

Paint the fence a green colour and I agree about the shed to the side, you are very lucky having those trees as a back drop.

I love acers, they are not cheap but really gorgeous, great in pots, plus some bamboo, go for variation in height to add interest when planting. I would go with a raised bed at the end just like the chat Gpt garden but I would also like some pots along the long wall opposite the sofa. We have a very large garden sofa, we remove the cushions and store in the loft from October to April and cover the actual furniture with their own covers and an additional tarpaulin.

How about the OP asks some real life knowledgeable gardeners and garden designers instead? Oh, wait - that's what she's doing on here.

Doh.

Wow some very angry gardeners .Thought it was supposed to make people more chill. My suggestion to try AI is because it’s easier to get a visual that the OP can choose depending on whether she wants a tropical theme, a cottage garden or whatever. Just my suggestion, you make yours. Try a few deep breaths.

Problem is, the result is often completely unrealistic and unachievable. And when you are a novice gardener you probably don't know that. So you spend £1k on landscaping and buying completely unsuitable plants which die and then OP is worse off than before.

To put in my tuppence... Please don't use lights that are always on in the evening, have ones with a switch or motion sensors. The always on solar lights are awful for insects as they are attracted to them (because they think they are flowers reflecting moonlight) and so don't feed and starve. Which then has a Knock on effect for bats, birds etc

The problem with painting the fence is that it may drip through to the other side and look a horrible mess. Your neighbours will not like this.