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Problem area behind garage,ideas please?

madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
in Garden design
I have this paved area in my garden that has never had any real 'purpose'.
It is shady and can be a bit damp but gets sun usually in the afternoon.
I tried using it as a seating area but it didn't feel 'right',plus I sometimes see rats from under next doors decking round there so not a place I fancy a sit down.
I am thinking maybe I could use it as a work  area but it is seen from most parts of the garden (but not the house) so don't want it to look unattractive.Tried hanging baskets but they don't do well.The water butt is already there.
Maybe I could hang old garden implements on the wall for 'decoration',a small fence to the side to back the under cherry tree bed,a let down shelf/bench on the wall for cuttings.
Any ideas please?

“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
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  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Some sort of wall decoration would be nice, old tools or maybe one of those you see in GCs, if that's your taste. What about ferns in pots ?
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited October 2018
    I think that area is half way to looking very interesting but needs some oomph.   Go to a car boot sale or 3 and see what you can find to hang on that wall and decorate it then get some decent pots or old containers such as galvanised laundry boilers, kitchen steamers and colanders, metal veg hanging baskets, hat racks etc and use them as they are or painted up and fill them with plants.  

    I'd also swap those two teeny wall hanging planters for something much bigger if you can.  Scale it all up.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Looks a lovely "secret"  spot. I'd get a fatsia japonica or similar bush in a very large pot to go in the corner, then smaller pots with ferns as already suggested in front of the big pot. A fancy iron work chair would also look good - you don't have to sit in it! 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Screen it off from the rest of the garden with trellis and flowery climbers, and use it for compost bins and leafmould heaps.  Works for me.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    I think I might go for a lowish fence at the garden edge ,maybe 3ft or otherwise it could be a bit gloomy.I have a lovely Clematis 'Justa' on the fence trellis so that could be trained along it.I already have a couple of ferns in pots there that do well so could put those in bigger pots.I used to have a compost bin there a few years ago but it used to leak over the slabs and was a bit unpleasant at times,it is easier for me to buy in the small amounts of compost I need.
    Got some ideas now to mull over,thank you.
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm slightly late to this mpenguin, but that low wall is crying out for some pots to display things in.  :)
    A screen, with a climber of some kind, is probably the perfect solution at that end where the border is, and then you can hide the working area a bit. That can be decorative too, as the others have suggested, while still incorporating all the stuff you need for potting on and taking cuttings etc. I'd ditch the hanging baskets and either put something much bigger on the wall, or have a couple of big containers with seasonal planting. They would help to hide all sorts of less attractive things. 
    I'm currently doing a similar, but smaller, project beside the back door where I have a space about 6 feet square, with the outdoor tap and hose. I don't have a potting shed, so I bought a timber storage box which I've raised off the ground, and painted to match the other timber riased beds nest to it. That gives me the top to do the potting on, and room underneath for extra storage. I'm doing a shelf above it for little clay pots of differing sizes, which will have bulbs and small plants in them. I can ring the changes with the seasons, and also put little cuttings in the pots, and they'll still look nice. It's fully on view, so it means it can be relatively attractive.
    That might be an option for you on your wall too  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    The fence idea seems to be a good idea by most of you as I think it will define the space as a specific area rather than 'just that bit behind the garden'.
    Shall start there and then see what to do next.
    Probably an old table or potting bench.
    I have had pots on that little wall but cats tend to scrabble over the fence just there and kept knocking them off.Have to find a way to secure them better.
    Have all winter to get something underway!
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Try putting ine big, rectangular planter on that wee wall or along the front of it so it can be even deeper.   Much more stable than individual pots and you can grow shade loving plants in it.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Some chicken wire, or netting, along the top , sticking up, might help prevent that m.penguin. I know only too well how annoying that is. 
    I've got a lip going right round the edge of my shelf [to prevent pots being blown off in windy weather  ;) ] so that might be worth doing on your wall too. You can use metal angle brackets or similar to attach it.
    Obelixx's idea is great too, and these ideas needn't be expensive either. There's always a way round it.
    You have a really useful space there - especially that wall. Using vertical space is something many of us forget to do, but you can make it decorative as well as useful if you think about it for a while.
     Good luck with it, and remember to update us with pix   :)  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    Obelixx said:
    Try putting in a big, rectangular planter on that wee wall or along the front of it so it can be even deeper.   Much more stable than individual pots and you can grow shade loving plants in it.
    I like the planter idea,I know ferns would love it there.
    Looking on Amazon 2 of these troughs would look good and being plastic would not mind the damp.
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stewart-5122031-Centimeter-Versailles-Planter/dp/B01MDPDEO3/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540113313&sr=8-2&keywords=rectangular+large+plastic+garden+planter
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
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