Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Starting from scratch on a VERY limited budget how much can I get away with

kc.sdickc.sdic Posts: 91
in Problem solving
We will be moving to a new build next year with more land than I would have liked at our age (gardening isn't going to get easier ) and given our extremely  limited resources + there are banks too! I would have been happy with a patio to be honest! The land where the house is to be hasn't really got any soil, there only seems to be shale, so I think I will not plant there instead concentrate on the area that has just been carved out of a 14 foot mound of clay to give us a sloping  lawn/garden . (The area is 114 foot x 35 foot but some of that is bank on both sides). The area will only be fenced with agricultural fence and we are not going to be able to afford to do anything other. The land seems to be heavy clay. The developer is going to top soil it. So my Q is how much would I have to do around the edges to plant shrubs and create a shrub border? I don't intend to plant along the whole 114 foot. I think given our limited budget and physical condition as pensioners, I will give us say 60 foot of garden and leave the rest just lawned with agricultural fence. So would it be sufficient to just dig as big a hole  as is possible for me to dig for each shrub and plant shrubs  along the edge that will eventually (probably not in my lifetime)  create a shrub border? 
I can't see how I can dig out a trench that long and fill it with good soil to actually create a border before planting. So how little can I get away with? 

Ditto on the sloping bank. The bank along the road will be grassed but I was thinking the sloping bank in the garden I may plant up with some perennials so would cranesbills/penstimons / guaras etc be happy on a bank in clay that has has a bit of top soil put on it? 

See pic attached 

The bank on the right that actually drops down into the garden is very steep and I was thinking of planting ivy there to take over. The house is being built behind where the person taking the photo was standing. 

Thanks :O) 
«13

Posts

  • seacrowsseacrows Posts: 234
    My first thought is if that's in a dip, and you're on heavy clay, you want plants that will take long term wet conditions. If you're digging holes for each shrub, go with gravel in each hole as well as extra organic matter. The good news is clay is fairly nutrient rich, so once each plant is established, it's roots should manage the surrounding soil without you needing to replace the whole lot. I am assuming you aren't going to want to be doing annuals, or are happy to leave those to pots.

    How big a hole? I think the latest advice I heard was twice as wide as the pot it is in, and deep enough for a couple of inches of gravel/compost mix while planting at the same level as the plant is in the pot. If that makes sense.

    Similarly steep banks I see locally (disclaimer:Cheshire) tend to be grassed over - a little bit more likely to hold together. The wild banks start with primroses and cowslips, go on to a pinky flower (I'm told this is herb Robert or ragged robin), and end flowering midsummer with a white or yellow daisy like flower. The cultivated banks have posh grasses.

    When you say agricultural fence, do you mean post-and-rail or posts with mesh wire and top wire? In my experience, ivy likes the mesh, and will quickly provide more of a hedge effect.

    And importantly, where's the shed for the OH's ride-on mower? My husband would be SO enthusiastic about a nice big lawn, mostly for the mower. 😋
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    What you plant on the banks may be influenced in part by the compass orientation.  If it's south-facing, for instance, that clay will bake hard in the summer so you'll want drought-hardy plants in it.

    Ivy is a good choice for cooler and wetter banks, and it needn't be dull and gloomy.  I can recommend a nursery called Fibrex which has dozens of different varieties of ivy, very modestly priced.  I have seven in my garden; my favourites are a variegated one called Yellow Ripple, and a green one called Lalla Rookh with frilly leaves.  If you want a bit of colour on the banks, you could plant hypericum which is cheap and cheerful and will spread itself around.   Likewise crocosmia and/or montbretia, although with those the flowers all come at once and last about three weeks.  

    While waiting for the shrubs to grow, could you make some borders for hardy annuals which will self-seed?  There are lots to choose from on the Seed Swap thread.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited October 2020
    If the developer lays topsoil you can probably get away with quite a bit to be honest, especially if you concentrate on shrubs which tolerate poor soil, or poorly drained soil if that applies to your slopes. Creating a hole large enough for the root ball and loosening the soil around the hole (working in a bit of organic matter) would probably work. As you can say, you can concentrate a bit at a time. But you can establish a framework of large structure shrubs/small trees around the whole boundary ahead of any more 'finessed' shrub planting, so they establish and mature ahead of time; planting them as bare root stock would make sense and then just keep a patch of weed free soil at the base of them, perhaps with mulch mats.

    You could go for a wildlife friendly approach and establish deep wildflower meadow 'borders' with native shrubs like dog rose and hawthorn etc planted into it sporadically, which you can just slit plant into the soil as bare root whips. You could do the whole boundary like that as it's cheap and fairly easy to do. Wildflower meadows would need to be strimmed at least once a year and that is a fairly big task though (removing the cuttings is the hard part). You can create distinct spaces with the areas of mown lawn, mowing shapes into the longer meadow grass.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I think you're running before you can walk if the house hasn't even been built yet.
    You don't know what the ground is going to be like.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Poly-anthusPoly-anthus Posts: 155
    We also, as pensioners, moved into a new-build where the builders said they would lay topsoil.  I would take that with a pinch of salt!!  Our garden was solid compacted clay, full of builders' rubble.  We had to employ people to make it workable, but every time we tried to dig a hole to plant something, we were faced with digging out very large stones, and in some cases, boulders.  I wish you luck, perhaps your builders will be better than ours!  I think Fairygirl is right - you have to wait and see what you've got once the house built.
  • kc.sdickc.sdic Posts: 91
    seacrows said:
    My first thought is if that's in a dip, and you're on heavy clay, you want plants that will take long term wet conditions. If you're digging holes for each shrub, go with gravel in each hole as well as extra organic matter. The good news is clay is fairly nutrient rich, so once each plant is established, it's roots should manage the surrounding soil without you needing to replace the whole lot. I am assuming you aren't going to want to be doing annuals, or are happy to leave those to pots.

    How big a hole? I think the latest advice I heard was twice as wide as the pot it is in, and deep enough for a couple of inches of gravel/compost mix while planting at the same level as the plant is in the pot. If that makes sense.

    Similarly steep banks I see locally (disclaimer:Cheshire) tend to be grassed over - a little bit more likely to hold together. The wild banks start with primroses and cowslips, go on to a pinky flower (I'm told this is herb Robert or ragged robin), and end flowering midsummer with a white or yellow daisy like flower. The cultivated banks have posh grasses.

    When you say agricultural fence, do you mean post-and-rail or posts with mesh wire and top wire? In my experience, ivy likes the mesh, and will quickly provide more of a hedge effect.

    And importantly, where's the shed for the OH's ride-on mower? My husband would be SO enthusiastic about a nice big lawn, mostly for the mower. 😋
    Hi thanks for your reply. Sorry for slight delay in responding but we now have limited WiFi in our temp accommodation. Yes posts with mesh wire not post and rail unfortunately. So you think that although I wont have dug an actual 70 foot  border and filled it with good soil etc., provided I dig reasonable holes and add gravel etc the shrubs should do OK and it will eventually start to look like a border. 
  • kc.sdickc.sdic Posts: 91

    josusa47 said:
    What you plant on the banks may be influenced in part by the compass orientation.  If it's south-facing, for instance, that clay will bake hard in the summer so you'll want drought-hardy plants in it.

    Ivy is a good choice for cooler and wetter banks, and it needn't be dull and gloomy.  I can recommend a nursery called Fibrex which has dozens of different varieties of ivy, very modestly priced.  I have seven in my garden; my favourites are a variegated one called Yellow Ripple, and a green one called Lalla Rookh with frilly leaves.  If you want a bit of colour on the banks, you could plant hypericum which is cheap and cheerful and will spread itself around.   Likewise crocosmia and/or montbretia, although with those the flowers all come at once and last about three weeks.  

    While waiting for the shrubs to grow, could you make some borders for hardy annuals which will self-seed?  There are lots to choose from on the Seed Swap thread.
    Thanks for your reply. Good point about the bank and its orientation. The bank that faces the house rather than the road is east facing but  will get a fair bit of sun and as you say clay is impossible to work in the dry! The large bank that faces S/E where I was going to grow ivy maybe a bit hot and dry, I hadn't thought about that. I just looked at what is already growing all along there naturally (ivy) and thought it might do the job! Hypericum is a great idea. I LOVE hypericum and crocosmia. I'll take a look at the seed swap thread thanks :O)
  • kc.sdickc.sdic Posts: 91
    Loxley said:
    If the developer lays topsoil you can probably get away with quite a bit to be honest, especially if you concentrate on shrubs which tolerate poor soil, or poorly drained soil if that applies to your slopes. Creating a hole large enough for the root ball and loosening the soil around the hole (working in a bit of organic matter) would probably work. As you can say, you can concentrate a bit at a time. But you can establish a framework of large structure shrubs/small trees around the whole boundary ahead of any more 'finessed' shrub planting, so they establish and mature ahead of time; planting them as bare root stock would make sense and then just keep a patch of weed free soil at the base of them, perhaps with mulch mats.

    You could go for a wildlife friendly approach and establish deep wildflower meadow 'borders' with native shrubs like dog rose and hawthorn etc planted into it sporadically, which you can just slit plant into the soil as bare root whips. You could do the whole boundary like that as it's cheap and fairly easy to do. Wildflower meadows would need to be strimmed at least once a year and that is a fairly big task though (removing the cuttings is the hard part). You can create distinct spaces with the areas of mown lawn, mowing shapes into the longer meadow grass.
    Started to do replies this morning then no internet! It's good to hear that I could well get away with just digging holes rather than trying to actually create a bed. Love the idea of a wildlife friendly approach but I do wonder about the level of work as we get older. Thanks for your encouraging  thoughts 
  • kc.sdickc.sdic Posts: 91
    Fairygirl said:
    I think you're running before you can walk if the house hasn't even been built yet.
    You don't know what the ground is going to be like.
    ...............................................................................................
    Kat's reply :

    Not sure why it wont let me type in the white bit rather than the grey! 
    The thing is NOW is when I have time to have a little think about this. Next year from about March I am going to be busy doing all those things you do when you move into a new home! So it seems sensible to have a little think now, not least to try to get some idea of future budgets when the money is tight. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    All I'm saying is 'developers and topsoil'. Rarely a good combination unless you're going to stand over them and oversee what they actually use. Ideas  and plans often have to be drastically altered :)

    It's easier to put replies in first as the cursor will naturally go there, especially if you want to edit the post. Or copy and paste rather than use the quote function  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Sign In or Register to comment.