I want to make the garden and surrounding fields, woods as wild life friendly as possible, part of the long term plan will be to turn all the fields back to meadow, talking with the local farmer who is using the land in he can't remember it ever being used other than as grass for sheep and cattle even when my aunt farmed it.
To answer a few other questions that I'm quit happy to answer
I have no intention of selling it thank you.
The nearest town centre is within 2 miles and provides a good selection of shops and recreational facilities!!
The station is about 7.5 miles and is ideal for me to get into London and I do drive, Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne are about 15 and 18 miles respectively.
I know what you mean by anyone offering old furniture / tat etc I had that when I brought my flat in London(which I intend to keep) just a good way of getting rid of your old rubbish
The tenant is on short term repairing lease and the property as it stands is actual worth over £2 million on the open market so no I would not accept £1.5 million
I knew my legal training would come in useful but no quite this soon lol
As regards the garden, definitely cut the grass and get rid of nasties like brambles etc that are near the house and may be causing damage, but it's early in the year so there might be things that haven't popped up yet, and shrubs/trees that are hard to identify until they come into leaf/flower. Also, as it's pretty big and you want wildlife, bear in mind that brambles etc are't completely bad - in a wild/naturalistic area away from the house where they won't they are great for wildlife.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I think as you suggest I might just do a little tidying around and leave it for a year maybe to see what materialises in the way of what I think are plants and mark there positions.
Once I have done that can I dig them out and move them, replant in a temporary position and then move and use at a later date?
There are also big straggling roses on the house when is the best time to deal with these? no idea what kind.
I can see I'm going to be asking lots of questions in the next year or two
A good idea to leave it for a year or so to see what the seasons bring, l think you are an instinctive gardener. With regards to the plants, generally speaking you can do exactly that, obviously it depends what they are, but post photos and you'll get answers. Can you please post some photos of the roses, just so we can get some idea of the scale? There are several rose experts on here who can advise.
Herbaceous plants can be moved, and split into smaller pieces too, and most will benefit from it. Moving large shrubs is more of a challenge but can be done - ask on here when you know what you're dealing with and I'm sure you'll get great advice.
Generally speaking now is a good time to prune roses but I'm no expert as the soil here doesn't really suit them so I only have a few, and no climbers or ramblers. The rose expert on here is @Marlorena - maybe she can give some advice.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I'm back in London now but will try and get some pictures next weekend, I have been reading and I think I might cut them back really hard and the wait to see what happens during the spring and summer as I have no idea what colour they are or if they have any scent.
I assume its easier to identify them from the flower and leaves.
The whole situation comes under the heading 'nice problem to have', I think. Get the house comfortable so you can wait and watch the garden a while. There's no hurry
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
@Dovefromabove , taken on what you say about the roses so will just leave alone and see what happens.
Having slept on this and the advice I received yesterday, I have decided that maybe I was getting a bit ahead of myself so I'm going to leave most of the garden for the next year and see what happens.
One thing I would like to do this year is to have the hard landscaping around the house done while the builders are on site.
My idea is to have boarders that wrap all around and up close to the house with wide paved paths and a large terrace on the south side with smaller seating areas on the other three sides.
I thought the garden and paths would be approx 1.5 mt wide with a single paving stone at the back tight up to the house wall to allow access for maintenance both on the house and garden.
I want this area to be very linear as the inside of the house will be very minimalist, modern and open plan, the gardens next to these paths will be a mix of cottage and architectural planting the idea being that as you move away from the house the planting will become more cottage garden eventually leading to the woods, pond and meadows.
Posts
I have taken on board all of the information.
I want to make the garden and surrounding fields, woods as wild life friendly as possible, part of the long term plan will be to turn all the fields back to meadow, talking with the local farmer who is using the land in he can't remember it ever being used other than as grass for sheep and cattle even when my aunt farmed it.
To answer a few other questions that I'm quit happy to answer
I have no intention of selling it thank you.
The nearest town centre is within 2 miles and provides a good selection of shops and recreational facilities!!
The station is about 7.5 miles and is ideal for me to get into London and I do drive, Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne are about 15 and 18 miles respectively.
I know what you mean by anyone offering old furniture / tat etc I had that when I brought my flat in London(which I intend to keep) just a good way of getting rid of your old rubbish
The tenant is on short term repairing lease and the property as it stands is actual worth over £2 million on the open market so no I would not accept £1.5 million
I knew my legal training would come in useful but no quite this soon lol
I think as you suggest I might just do a little tidying around and leave it for a year maybe to see what materialises in the way of what I think are plants and mark there positions.
Once I have done that can I dig them out and move them, replant in a temporary position and then move and use at a later date?
There are also big straggling roses on the house when is the best time to deal with these? no idea what kind.
I can see I'm going to be asking lots of questions in the next year or two
I assume its easier to identify them from the flower and leaves.
Let us see some photos ASAP and we’ll be able to suggest a course of action 😊
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
@Dovefromabove , taken on what you say about the roses so will just leave alone and see what happens.
Having slept on this and the advice I received yesterday, I have decided that maybe I was getting a bit ahead of myself so I'm going to leave most of the garden for the next year and see what happens.
One thing I would like to do this year is to have the hard landscaping around the house done while the builders are on site.
My idea is to have boarders that wrap all around and up close to the house with wide paved paths and a large terrace on the south side with smaller seating areas on the other three sides.
I thought the garden and paths would be approx 1.5 mt wide with a single paving stone at the back tight up to the house wall to allow access for maintenance both on the house and garden.
I want this area to be very linear as the inside of the house will be very minimalist, modern and open plan, the gardens next to these paths will be a mix of cottage and architectural planting the idea being that as you move away from the house the planting will become more cottage garden eventually leading to the woods, pond and meadows.