Monkey Puzzle trees. I'm no expert but I do have one and can tell you how tricky they are to deal with on a diy basis. They're not only viciously prickly, they're also very tough to cut through. Any bits you do manage to cut off weigh a ton and are impossible to dispose of, ie they don't compost down or go through an ordinary domestic shredder. If you do pay someone to help you out at some point, at least get them to cut off any lower branches so the children can't reach them.
Just trimming back the hedge etc would give neat shapes and open it up a lot. Top up the gravel maybe add some bigger stones for texture, a little bistro table and a couple of chairs and a few strategically placed colorful pots. Once a year cost getting someone in to trim evergreens.Make sure you find a gardener who charges by the hour not the job. I got a quote for £200 to do conifer hedge and to dispose of cuttings,whereas another gardener charged £20 an hour did it in half that time and got all the cuttings into my garden waste bin! Either rake the gravel or use weedkiller on it ,again a once a year job. Look on line for your local Freecycle it's suprising how often garden stuff comes up or you could ask for pots etc. Car boot sales are another good source. Good luck
This is the view from the upstairs. Thank you for all the replies and advice, it is very much appreciated. I talked to my husband last night and we came to the conclusion we would ask a gardener we know to come out and completely cut it back for the winter. Then see what we can do from there. It's not a big space really but at the moment I just want to get it to a point where I can keep on top of it, and have somewhere to sit out too.
remember to factor in privacy before you start cutting back. It's very easy to get carried away then , perhaps, regret it afterwards. Cut a bit,stop, look at from ground level, from indoors and out, go upstairs, then decide if you need more off. Might take longer, but you may avoid making a mistake.
I think you're absolutely doing the right thing. I know how depressing it could be when you don't know where to start, and then it just gets abandoned. It's not a big space, and you can make it far more usable if you get it cleared, especially the shrubs in the middle. Keeping a basic boundary hedge is all you need. As Hosta says - take a little time to ensure it's not hacked too far back initially. It'll make you feel better instantly once your man gets a bit of that cleared away. If you want extra privacy, for your seating area for instance, it's far easier to put a bit of trellis and a climber in. It also takes up very little room compared to shrubs which will constantly need pruning and trimming to stop them filling the entire plot. That's the problem you currently have! It doesn't take a lot of effort or skill either, to make a simple screen. As you have 3 children, it makes sense to have as good a space as possible just now, which doesn't take you ages to keep on top of. Once they're older, you can develop it and put other planting in there if you want. A couple of pots near your seating will cheer it up, and a reasonably clear area otherwise really makes sense. A couple of bird feeders will [possibly] interest the children - especially if they can watch from the window, and is another simple thing you can add. Good luck with it, and perhaps take a few pix as you go along. It helps enormously with motivation. Put them on here too so that we can see how get on
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Here is a key subconscious thought for you. Sometimes garndeing is about "killing your darlings". I take this phrase from writing circles, where you create some amazing text, and then find its irrelevent to hte narrative. You have to kill it off. In the same way, in order to get the "narrative" going, in your garden, you may well have to kill off a few plants in order to get the story you want. # thnok about this, but don't be too hasty
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Either rake the gravel or use weedkiller on it ,again a once a year job.
Look on line for your local Freecycle it's suprising how often garden stuff comes up or you could ask for pots etc. Car boot sales are another good source. Good luck
Cut a bit,stop, look at from ground level, from indoors and out, go upstairs, then decide if you need more off. Might take longer, but you may avoid making a mistake.
It's not a big space, and you can make it far more usable if you get it cleared, especially the shrubs in the middle. Keeping a basic boundary hedge is all you need. As Hosta says - take a little time to ensure it's not hacked too far back initially. It'll make you feel better instantly once your man gets a bit of that cleared away.
If you want extra privacy, for your seating area for instance, it's far easier to put a bit of trellis and a climber in. It also takes up very little room compared to shrubs which will constantly need pruning and trimming to stop them filling the entire plot. That's the problem you currently have! It doesn't take a lot of effort or skill either, to make a simple screen.
As you have 3 children, it makes sense to have as good a space as possible just now, which doesn't take you ages to keep on top of. Once they're older, you can develop it and put other planting in there if you want. A couple of pots near your seating will cheer it up, and a reasonably clear area otherwise really makes sense. A couple of bird feeders will [possibly] interest the children - especially if they can watch from the window, and is another simple thing you can add.
Good luck with it, and perhaps take a few pix as you go along. It helps enormously with motivation. Put them on here too so that we can see how get on
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
In the same way, in order to get the "narrative" going, in your garden, you may well have to kill off a few plants in order to get the story you want.
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thnok about this, but don't be too hasty