Can you suggest good growing and easy to manage plants, flowers and shrubs for a back yard ?

[maltesers]

I am moving house in June and will have only a very small back yard. It has nothing in it at the moment and i just want it to look as green and colourful as possible. I am not green fingered at all. Any suggestions please are greatly accepted.

Hi,
I would suggest having a look around the local area and seeing what is grown by other gardeners, a plant you see a lot of is probably relatively easy to grow. For example I live in central london and when I first came here noticed lots of fatsia japonica, I found out this tolerates shade and high pollution, so I planted one and it thrived. Of course what you can grow will depend on the amount of shade/sun your garden gets. The bbc gardeners site has a plant finder, you can put in your requirements and conditions and it will make suggestions. hope this is of some help, good luck1

Are there flowerbeds or will you be planting everything in pots?

Fatsia japonica is indestructible, as onegiantleap says.

Ferns are good for greenery. Shrubs are also good, as they give you a background against which you can plant more colourful annuals. Look at viburnums, euonymus, choisya. Have you got a high fence or wall around the garden? If so, covering it in climbing plants (roses/honeysuckle/clematis) will add more colour and make the garden look bigger.

Yes

to add to madbads climbers, I put in a passion flower also went like the clappers,loves sun, easy to grow.

Sorry forgot to ask are you meaning yard like paved? Are you going to use containers?

I don't think you can beat penstemons. They are pretty hardy and remain green throughout the year. A bit of miracle gro and the odd trim and they'll repay you with a mass of colour all summer.

As the others say it depends if you will be planting in the ground, pots or raised beds.

Is it a town garden? Do you get heavy frosts there?

You need to think three things- aspect, seasons and height.

Are you planting only in tubs? If so, you could still train some climbers up the walls if you can put up some trellis.- clematis, winter jasmine, small honeysuckle perhaps,climbing rose. If you can plant in earth, you could add in some ivy. You could try a tree fern if you have more space but they can be too big.

You need to find out which direction your yard faces and how much sun it gets- and choose plants accordingly. Plants that love sun will not thrive in shade and vice versa.

You need to think seasons- so tubs can be planted with a mixture of spring bulbs for colour, small evergreens such as hebes, azalea and dwarf rhododedrum ( use acid soil not ordinary compost), small acers, hostas.

For summer you can either use annuals, the usual gernaiums, lobelia, fuschia etc, or buy pernennials that can go into tubs- small plants such as dianthus , all the hardy geraniums, dwarf roses, ...

have a look at www.crocus.co.uk for some ideas.

wow, thanks everyone,, you are all well clued up with your plants and gardens Well done, you know a hell of a lot more than me bout gardens and plants. I will jot down the names of all plants mentioned and get my back yard so colourful. Cheers !!

Maltesers - It took me a very long time to have a baby and so I needed a time-consuming hobby. Post some pictures once you've got your yard looking gorgeous!

It took my older sister a long time too and now i reckon she is the oldest mum in Britain. She is 52 and has a 2 yr old and a 5 year old. .. Thought i was old, my kids are 21, 18, and 8 years.