Reminds me a lot of our back garden, which is very steeply terraced. Agree you should pressure wash the paving, and don't be too keen to rip it out. With the right plants and pots, it could look great. We rely on lots of evergreens and shrubs, otherwise we would be constantly running up and down the stairs with a watering can.
We found that pots and troughs were a great way of breaking up large areas of paving, including our paved stairs. These contains a mix of evergreens (variegated Privet, Pittosporum, Phormiums, Euonymus) and perennials (Eucomis, Echinacea, Nerine's, Alstroemeria, Geraniums, Canna, Dahlia's, Calla Lily), but we don't bother with annuals any more (although they are cheap and great for instant colour).
Troughs on our paved patio (Euonymus Green Spire and Ligustrum argenteum)
Pots on our stairs
This photo shows how steep the terracing is. Hard to squeeze into one photo. Our paving is concrete, faked to look like stone. Looks OK once cleaned up. Good luck!
Wow. This is an absolutely wonderful garden. I have shown pictures of it to my Dad who is going to help us and we all agree it's just the feel we would love ours to have. The different zones are just great. Thank you so much for taking the time to post some photos. We appreciate it and also details of the planting. We would love to see more! It's beautiful.
Could we know a bit more about you . Rough age,do you work, tolerate or love gardening. Style of garden you want. South facing back, be mindful of watering task. Anyone asked about soil type. Yes,Keen, absolutely fabulous garden!
Could we know a bit more about you . Rough age,do you work, tolerate or love gardening. Style of garden you want. South facing back, be mindful of watering task. Anyone asked about soil type. Yes,Keen, absolutely fabulous garden!
Thanks for your reply Nanny B. We are in our mid 40s and healthy and happy to do garden work. I enjoy it very much and we are best described as enthusiastic amateurs. My husband prefers the harder 'work' side of the garden and I like everything but the on going care and maintenance is my arena - so it works out very well! I would happily spend at least 5/10 hours a week in the garden once it's established and can dedicate much more time to get it to where we want to be. We envisage 2023 being the year of hard work inside and outside!
We inherited 3 large water butts with the garden and with it being south facing I know there will be watering, which I am diligent with and find therapeutic. I have a large number of house plants so if we holiday in the summer family/friends usually house sit for the plants so they are all watered. We live in Somerset near the Jurassic coast and enjoy decent summers here.
I have always hoped to have a colourful cottage style garden with flowers for cutting. I am not sure about the soil but the hydrangeas are pink!! We visited Monet's garden in Giverney this summer and loved everything especially the riot of colours. We would like to invest in evergreens to keep interest in the winter months and have a LOT of barren fencing (which will be replaced) but evergreen screening and climbers would help break it up once installed. It's a large garden, about 60ft square so we need some areas to be relatively self sufficient! We have bought some large pots and two massive jardiniers we would like to plant semi established ornamental trees in. The patio at house level is quite small and would like it to be very busy with pots and colour. There is a lot of paving front and back and realistically no budget to do much about the front for a few years so pots on the north facing side of the house will be key!
Hello MrsH, I saw someone already asked about soil type. Boring as it is,yes,get the fencing sorted out.... check responsibility of owners for fence. Otherwise it's a pain later. Slabs could be cleaned. I cannot see the Hydrangea, but they prefer shadey conditions, LOTS of water,(hence the name) the budget..... grow annuals from seed early next year, I start mine off February onwards,north facing kitchen window,then into the green house,sweet peas (give them a bit of shade) Perennials, I have a cutting bed,roses, chrysanthemums, Dianthus. Bulbs, gladioli.
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In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanks for your reply Nanny B. We are in our mid 40s and healthy and happy to do garden work. I enjoy it very much and we are best described as enthusiastic amateurs. My husband prefers the harder 'work' side of the garden and I like everything but the on going care and maintenance is my arena - so it works out very well! I would happily spend at least 5/10 hours a week in the garden once it's established and can dedicate much more time to get it to where we want to be. We envisage 2023 being the year of hard work inside and outside!
Thank you!!
Perennials, I have a cutting bed,roses, chrysanthemums, Dianthus. Bulbs, gladioli.