Front garden ideas please

[TweedyneeCole]

I no absolutely nothing about gardening, I'm afraid, so please be patient with me.

We have a front garden that was planted years ago by previous owners of our house. Apparently the soil is alkaline (so neighbour tells me). It is planted seasonally (is that the right phrase) so at the moment we have a few daffys rearing their heads. There is a large azalea at the very front of the house that flowers beautifully (apparently it is very old as adult neighbours remmeber it from when they were kids). There are various mature shrubs I cannot identify. There is lots of rosemary and currymint.

Anyway, we have a 'gardener' who comes and maintains it, but it's a basic maintenance job, really - he is an oddjob man, really and he just prunes and stops it from getting out of control.

It is starting to look a bit worse for wear. There are gaps between plants where he has removed weeds and I'd like to plant stuff to fill it, but have no idea what to plant or how.I like herbs and smelly stuff. I'd like to plant more bulbs (the daffs are divine when they come up, but there aren't many of them). I'd like to experiment a bit, but am a complete novice and don't want to disturb the hard work of the previous owners or bidge the whole thing up!

Any ideas? I might post a pic or two later if I can find my camera!

It sounds lovely.

You can get around the alkaline soil in your border by replacing with a good compost from the garden centre, ask their advice.

Have a look at the perennials on the crocus website www.crocus.co.uk and see if there is something you like.

If you want plants that specifically like alkaline soil, you can have a look at plants specifically for chalky soil here. Otherwise, use compost.

A picture'd be helpful. Always nice to have a nose at someone else's garden!

There was a 'Front Gardens' book out by Gay Search a few years ago, think she might have done another one since. They've got plenty of ideas in.

What sort of thing do you like to see in a garden?

It seems odd that your azalea flowers so beautifully as they usually prefer an acid soil I think. Also, you don't mention which direction your garden faces - does it get a lot of sun? And how much time do you have for gardening? If you want something low maintenance, you'd be better off with more shrubs, but if you have more time, herbaceous perennials might be abn idea for filling gaps.

Bulbs - for this year, you're too late for spring bulbs, whichg should go in in autumn, but could plan ahead for these and have a lovely display next year. Purple crocus, muscari (grape hyacinth) look nice against daffodils. You could also try some summer flowerin bulbs like lilies.

Personally I love snowdrops too, and it's actually best to plant these 'in the green' ie not as bulbs, but after they flower - you can buy them in pots at the garden centre and put them in now for next year. When the bulbs finish flowering, don't cut back the stems, just leave them to die back, because that helps nutrients to get into the bulbs for next year.

For that reason, it's a good idea to plant some perennials too so that the new growth comes up and covers up the dying back leaves of the bulbs - perhaps something like alchemilla mollis, which is very easy, japanese anemones, which will flower much later in the summer, or perennial geraniums.

agree with midnight express, put in lots of bulbs later in the year, so that you get a really good display for spring next year. Bulbs are incredibly cheap and you don't need to do anything once they are in.
Plant in groups rather than dotting them about, as they are more striking that way.
Then add some perrenials - you need to give some thought to how much sun / shade you get and also the type of soil. I know it is always tempting to buy the flowers and plants that appeal to you the most, but if they are not suited to your site, you will just end up disappointed when they don't perform and lose heart.
As someone else said it is surprising an azalea is doing well in alkaline soil as they prefer acidic soil. You can buy soil testing kits quite cheaply if you wanted to find out, it sometimes helps avoiding costly mistakes whenit comes to buying the plants.

Agree with the others, if the Azalea is thriving you prob dont have alkaline soil.
Get a soil testing kit from B&Q and see for yourself what it is.
What you plant depends on aspect, soil pH and type, conditions (windy/polluted etc), space you have to fill, maintenance etc.

Perhaps getting a proper gardener in, even if only for a one off, to tell you what you have in terms of the above, if you aren't unsure/confident.

I have both Gay Search Front Gardens books, mentioned by Uriel, I think the later one is much better (More Front Gardens)

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=front+garden

This is also a good place to start, covers the basics with lots of good photos and planting suggestions

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=front+garden

And yes please to a pic...

i agree with the people above.

don't be afraid of changing it. plants out grow their space and get leggy over time so if there's something u don't like, take it out and put something u do like in. preparation is always the key, make a plan, think about what u want it to say about u, look up wat plants will suit the soil and aspect and just go for it a bit at a time. groups of 3 or 5 perennials look better than odd dots of things that caught ur eye at the garden centre. good luck, be brave