I wonder if you would consider sinking the trampoline into the ground, if that's possible? https://www.capitalplay.co.uk/pages/in-ground-trampolines (I've no connection to this company, it's just as an illustration). Obviously it depends on your budget and logistics, but if it's something that's going to be in use for several years it would be incorporated into the garden and not stand out when not in use.
Especially useful if you want your garden to be a multi purpose space and not look like a young person's playground. I appreciate that having the boys means that you possibly don't have the luxury of waiting too long. l would suggest turfing as much of the area where you know you will definitely need grass, and working out where you want the path to go. Straight paths may look boring, but most people take the direct route. Do you have a rotary washing line to consider ? A path to that is something to think about.
The worms are definitely a good sign ! A good start for wildlife gardening 🦔
I know it can seem overwhelming, especially when you have already had 3 responses with so many comments and ideas, some contradicting each other ! As l assume this will be your home for many years , there's no need to hit it all in one go, tempting though it is. I would concentrate on getting the hard landscaping in, and making sure there's plenty of grass for the boys to play on. I can see you getting many years of pleasure from it.
Thanks for the idea of the trampoline being sunk into the ground AnniD, I would love to but sadly budget with works on the house required and on the garden means I can’t justify it, the boys won’t be here for too many more years so the trampoline is not permanent. A good point about the neighbours though as they both seem lovely and we don’t want to spoil relations!
I shall try and be sensible on the path, and yes we do need a rotary washing line - something else to find a place for.
It's probably best to get the landscaping works done before you start planting because things will get trashed, so the first thing is to decide where you want your patios and paths. It's probably better to have some kind of path down the garden along a route that will be used - it can be curved but not too much or people (particularly children) will cut across and wear a track in the grass (you already have one unless that pale strip has had something covering it, so the existing path is in most likely in the wrong place and not very inviting to walk along).
Maybe expand the lower area so that it's big enough for the trampoline as well as the shed. That way it will be less intrusive to neighbours. Heads popping up and down over the fence can feel very intrusive, even if the children aren't really looking over.
Expanding the lower section for the trampoline is not something I had thought of at all so thanks for the tip.
Good spot on the pale strip, that is when I was avoiding the stupid slippy decking in the ice getting to the rabbits. The door is on the right of the house so we’d need a path that side but it would need to cross to the patios on the left I think. Hmm one to look at.
All great advice, it’s always good to start from the house and work outwards, hard landscaping first, the rest to follow. BTW if you do sink the trampoline into the ground out the way at the back, when the boys grow out of it you are halfway to creating a wildlife pond in a perfect, sheltered location!
I love that thought 😂, def would like some kind of water though.
Always do the hard landscaping first. Then see how the site looks. That's a basic of any garden design Doing some sketches is the best way. If you can do a plan of your site - to scale [very important] that will make it easier to play around with ideas. Make sure to mark the aspect too. The scale is important because not doing that means people think they have room for a table and six chairs, then discover the space they have is actually only big enough for one chair and nothing else It's always tempting to rush into getting plants in etc because of the time of year, but it pays to take a bit of time to get the feel of the space. A few pots for some colour will tide you over, and you can then make your borders and get the soil in good shape. That's as important as anything else.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hello everyone, so I took fairy girls advice and tried to draw a plan. The rectangles by the house are two raised beds for salads / some veg surrounded by gravel with a bench for morning coffee. Then sun loving, clay tolerating planting (tbc) behind the patio and a final patio / arbor / something for evening chilling. The two squares in the top left are compost bins where it is currently lower where the shed is now (not sure if we keep / replace this yet). And a football goal or something at the end of the garden as we have a hedge so less likely to loose balls / annoy the neighbours that way rather than side to side where balls will sail over the fences. I know this makes the goal rather a feature straight out of the windows but it can be replaced by planting when the boys move on and I have more gardening time 😁 Any feedback from the experts please?
The north facing fence has nothing planned as yet as I don’t know what could cope with the lack of sun and large conifer? There are some violets under the apple tree at the moment and keeping that a bit more wild / woodland ish might be nice?
That's fine @Harriet-. The best thing to do is to trace it - greaseproof is fine if you don't have tracing paper. Before you do that, put in the things that you absolutely can't alter [trees, patio etc] in pen. This kind of thing: Then you can either print a load of copies of that basic layout, or trace several copies, but leave the printing out, so that you can then sketch all sorts of ideas. You can play about with all sorts of layouts, according to your needs - washing line, siting the rabbit hutch etc, and include your new patio, as well as some layouts for planting, depending on the aspect. You can screen off the things you don't want to see using planting, but it's probably worth giving yourself a bit of time to see how the sun tracks round, and how it affects different areas, and what room you actually have. Don't worry about shade - there are plenty of plants which will work in it.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
From experience, if you have energetic children don't plant anything which either costs you a lot of money or requires a lot of mollycodling. There is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing all your efforts trampled underfoot by a goal scoring celebration. Some plants won't mind too much but it's amazing the damage that can be done by little feet and flying footballs.
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I shall try and be sensible on the path, and yes we do need a rotary washing line - something else to find a place for.
Good spot on the pale strip, that is when I was avoiding the stupid slippy decking in the ice getting to the rabbits. The door is on the right of the house so we’d need a path that side but it would need to cross to the patios on the left I think. Hmm one to look at.
Doing some sketches is the best way. If you can do a plan of your site - to scale [very important] that will make it easier to play around with ideas. Make sure to mark the aspect too. The scale is important because not doing that means people think they have room for a table and six chairs, then discover the space they have is actually only big enough for one chair and nothing else
It's always tempting to rush into getting plants in etc because of the time of year, but it pays to take a bit of time to get the feel of the space. A few pots for some colour will tide you over, and you can then make your borders and get the soil in good shape. That's as important as anything else.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The rectangles by the house are two raised beds for salads / some veg surrounded by gravel with a bench for morning coffee. Then sun loving, clay tolerating planting (tbc) behind the patio and a final patio / arbor / something for evening chilling.
The two squares in the top left are compost bins where it is currently lower where the shed is now (not sure if we keep / replace this yet). And a football goal or something at the end of the garden as we have a hedge so less likely to loose balls / annoy the neighbours that way rather than side to side where balls will sail over the fences.
I know this makes the goal rather a feature straight out of the windows but it can be replaced by planting when the boys move on and I have more gardening time 😁
Any feedback from the experts please?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
This kind of thing:
Then you can either print a load of copies of that basic layout, or trace several copies, but leave the printing out, so that you can then sketch all sorts of ideas.
You can play about with all sorts of layouts, according to your needs - washing line, siting the rabbit hutch etc, and include your new patio, as well as some layouts for planting, depending on the aspect.
You can screen off the things you don't want to see using planting, but it's probably worth giving yourself a bit of time to see how the sun tracks round, and how it affects different areas, and what room you actually have. Don't worry about shade - there are plenty of plants which will work in it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...