I am NOT a gardener - Pls Help

[ExplodingBananas]

I have quite a big garden, but all in little bits round the house so not much lawn just lots of weedy borders.

So I do want it to look all nice and well kept (like the neighbours ) but I am really not a gardener and I have a toddler so not too much time.

What plants can I put in that will not need much attention but will block out the weeds and make all these little bits of space look a bit more loved? Plus they would ideally not be too attractive to a 1 yo i.e. no bright red berries

Ok. We all like a challenge. But first you need to answer a few simple questions

1. What soil have you got? If it goes sticky in the rain and bakes solid in the sun it's probably clay. If it's always dry and powdery it's probably sandy. Anything in between is loam.

1. How wide are the flowerbeds?

1. Are the flowerbeds mostly in the sun or in shade?

1. What do you have more of, time or money? With time, you can grow things from seed or cuttings and save money. With money you can have instant results.

I would trim the edges of the lawn

pull up/hack back anyhting you dont like

plant some lavendar, box, rosemary, some climbers for fences etc, or other minimum attention shrubs

I would also recommend putting bark all around the plants, it makes a scruffy garden look tidier straight away even if theres not much going on in the beds

stops weeds too

see trowel is clearly a proffessional gardener, I'm a bung it in and see what happens merchant

hardy geraniums (cranesbills) grow in most soils and most situations and are good weed suppressors. They need very little care and produce lovely flowers too in pinks, purples, white etc... Plant lots of them in one place, gorgeous!! Example: here

Hebes are good shrubs, slow growing and don't need much care, they give a bit of solid structure.

Oh cyb, I'm not! I'm a not particularly gifted amateur. But when doling out my advice (FWIW) on MN I try to ensure that the recipient won't have as many dead and struggling plants on their hands as I do!

And let's think about ground cover. Pulmonarias, hardy geraniums, lamium and ajuga (bugle) are good for shade.

Trowel - I think it is loam, going on the little bits of weeding I have done.

We have one bed that is at the bottom of the lawn and about 6ft deep, but I would be happy for the lawn to take this over a bit iyswim.

Then there is a smaller bed in front of our living room, about 4ft deep and 12ft long. the only thing in here atm is a very narrow evergreen under the window with red berries which I am happt to keep, and I need something tall (10ftish) for one end to hide an ugly flat roof which sticks out, and other stuff to fill in.

We also have a 6ft deep border about 18ft long which has lots of tall things (damson, tree with very pink flowers etc) with weeds under. I think I need to give everything a good trim but then maybe something to go under/fill in between, but maybe bark would be the best thing?

All these borders are quite shaded, we only have one sunny area and that is just a sea of weeds, no borders/lawn but a few nice fruit trees which I do like.

Phew, if you can get me motivated to sort all this out you are miracle workers!

Oh and although money is limited time is more limited so I'm probably not going to do things from seed, toddler would probably also empty these out before they had chance to grow.

Jafina - I like the look of that but the link mentions lifting and dividing in the spring, would that have to be done each year? Sorry I am a TOTAL novice at this!

Is the tree with very pink flowers a flowering cherry?

A few more random suggestions:

For the 10ft requirement, amelanchier is very pretty. So is crab apple. Alternatively, could you fix a trellis and have some climbers? Clematis armandii is evergreen. Other clematis and honeysuckle would also provide plenty of coverage.

Shrubs are good as they fill the space and ensure there's something to look at in the winter. Viburnums are very easy - the guelder rose (viburnum opulus) is lovely all year round. Daphne has a lovely scent.

Astrantia is another fine plant for shade. So are hostas, if you can keep on top of the slug problem.

Annuals are ideal for filling space - nasturtiums, love in a mist and cornflowers are especially easy.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I'm trying to get my head round them all!

I like the idea of Clematis, this would be near my front door and I think these have a lovely scent so nice to come past on my way in. Does it take a long time to climb up to a decent height though?

I put a few hebes into my last garden, but after a few years they all died or looked scraggy so maybe not easy enough for me, oops.

Box - that looks nice but does it need to be trimmed regularly to keep it looking neat, I always see it in manicured gardens so assumed it was a lot of work.

I like the idea of some shrubs but do most of them come as 'dwarf' varieties, don't want to end of having to hack them back in ten years time when they threaten to take over.

Thanks again for letting me pick your brains, giving me loads to think about.

Honeysuckle is better than clematis for scent, on the whole, although clematis armandii is scented.

Box needs to be trimmed twice a year but it's a quick and easy job. Do you have an enterprising local teenager for odd gardening jobs?

Lots of shrubs do come in smaller varieties - have a browse around the BBC Gardening or Royal Horticultural Society websites to get some ideas. They both (I think - have never used it) got a facility where you can input your soil conditions etc and it'll make suggestions for suitable plants.

Thanks Trowel, twice a year is fine I can manage that when I do our hedges, had visions of being out there with shears every few weeks!

I am a terrible gardener, and have a strong tendancy to neglect my plants.

I have planted two pieris japoncina (smallish evergreen shrubs) in a shady area and ignored them for 2 years. They look great . My azaleas have also survived unscathed.

I have never lifted and divided my hardy geraniums and they have been there for a few years. They are definitely not what you would call invasive. HTH