I can’t say I’m enamoured by the idea of squashes. You’ll harvest way, way more than you could possibly use (one plant would be an excess for me) and in the growing season there is nothing intrinsically pleasing about them. In the winter months it would then be two lines of bare soil that weeds would be itching to colonise.
My preference would be to keep it pretty much as it is with the kerb stones providing a clear divide between the drive and the lawn. It just looks tidy. However I would plant in the grass. Is it at Great Dixter where there is a famous planting of two lines of forsythia under planted with purple alliums? Or two lines of, for example, white ornamental cherries that would give two weeks of wonderment.
Alternatively, I would have three stands of trees, two to the left of the drive and one to the right. Each stand would have three or five silver birches under planted with snowdrops and daffodils. Another choice of tree would be liquidambar.
Meanwhile I would leave the back garden alone for a while and ponder some more. I would be tempted though to realign the shape of the plot curtailed by the terracotta tiles. The shape just looks odd to me, an imposed outline without much reference to what is around it. I would think hard about finding another use for the tiles.
What would be helpful would be a sketch on paper showing the outline of the back garden, the approximate dimensions, the trees on the border, the building, the terrace, the existing beds etc. Add a compass direction too and an indication of the slope of the land. Take a photo of your sketch, upload it here and maybe some more design ideas will be forthcoming.
I can’t say I’m enamoured by the idea of squashes. You’ll harvest way, way more than you could possibly use (one plant would be an excess for me) and in the growing season there is nothing intrinsically pleasing about them. In the winter months it would then be two lines of bare soil that weeds would be itching to colonise.
My preference would be to keep it pretty much as it is with the kerb stones providing a clear divide between the drive and the lawn. It just looks tidy. However I would plant in the grass. Is it at Great Dixter where there is a famous planting of two lines of forsythia under planted with purple alliums? Or two lines of, for example, white ornamental cherries that would give two weeks of wonderment.
I should have said earlier, planting in the grass beyond where the ornamental cherry is on that right side isn't really an option. We have a robo lawnmower, a lifesaver when this was our holiday home.
I would plant half a dozen squashes anyway, a couple of different types, and getting rid of any excess harvest of anything isn't a problem, I volunteer with a group that runs a foodbank and they'll take fresh fruit or veg. Maybe I'm odd but I find the leaves of squashes sculptural, but then I find a lot of veggies attractive, hence wanting to attempt the ornamental kitchen garden approach. And if it doesn't work I'll be the first to admit it.
I read your post when there was only 1 reply, but I was on my phone and I find photos rather small on it. This morning Internet disappeared, keeps doing that at the moment.
Others have now said what I wanted to say, especially @BenCotto. I agree that the drive needs trees. I think actual beds with plants and veg would be hard work in such a big long area. It would look strange and bitty unless it were something extravagant and therefore hard to manage. Beds near the house would be fine though. I don't think squashes are right for the side of a drive either.
I have some acers and a liquid amber along my drive in Dordogne and I agree with Ben that silver birches would be good. They are graceful and don't make too much mess with their leaves in autumn which should just disappear when you mow the grass. Maybe Cercis and magnolia too. I would plant lots of daffodils under them, maybe crocuses too.
I agree with @Lizzie27 about the garage that paint more the colour of the house would blend in better. I would then attach trellis to the garage, or wires (cheaper) and grow clematis and roses up it.
As for the back garden, I would dig some beds for flowers and veg and plants some shrubs and generally make it look more like a garden than a patch of grass. Like Ben, I'm not keen on the rather orange tile edging to the vegetable bed. I think I would plant the fruit trees in the back garden. I would also plant some shrubs to act as a wind break, not enough to spoil your view but enough to give some sheltered areas.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I don't know if the photo is making the drive look longer than it is, it's probably about 25m.
@Busy-Lizzie, they probably don't show but there are already wires and a clematis on the garage wall. I'm not sure it gets enough sun for many roses, but I'll have a look. That's the problem with beds nearer the house, the front of the house gets next to no sun.
Planting trees in the back lawn is tricky. There's the old sewerage system under there, and now a new one so there are pipes and goodness knows what everywhere, and we're not allowed to plant anything within, I think, 5m of the new pipework or chambers.
Shrubs in the back, yes, a definite possibility. I'll come and get some ideas from you all when we get to that point - probably more towards autumn I would have thought. And by then I'll have some summer photos so you get a better idea of what that sloping corner is up to (or not, as the case may be).
(I quite like my tiles , but I do also have the thought to plant thymes, sages, etc around it to soften it.)
I don't want to sound like I'm rejecting your ideas and am not appreciative, I really am, but some will work better for us in this location than others.
I think first and foremost you need to think how you want to use your garden @NormandyLiz and then work around that, ie hobby, food production, leisure etc. When you've thought that through you need to decide if you want all year round interest. If budget is tight for plants then think about market stalls, swapping with friends or grow some annuals for the fist year whilst you are deciding what to do. You have a blank canvas there and some exciting times ahead and as someone said, planning is half the fun.
I don't know if this will help, but a couple of Google Maps screenshots to give a clearer idea of scale, direction and situation, and where I am at the moment.
Firstly, this is how the house and garden sit in the landscape. I know that whatever I do will make it look different but it would be nice for it to be in harmony to a large extent
You can also see the slope to the wet area by the outbuilding.
This is the layout, marked with current planting and a couple of ideas.
@Uff, my aim is a productive but attractive garden, so with food growing among flowers and using companion planting to help things along. I visited the an ornamental kitchen garden at a nearby chateau last year and adored it (https://www.chateaumiromesnil.com/le-domaine/le-jardin-potager/). Clearly I don't have a walled garden or a chateau (or staff), but a tiny bit of that is where I'd like to get to, eventually.
To clarify, along the drive what I'm currently thinking is not just a line of squashes. I'm thinking more of grasses (I have some seeds already: Lagurus ovatus, Panicum elegans and Agrostis nebulosa, not all necessarily to go in the same place), and flowers/other attractive veggies (Emerald Ice kale maybe), to have some contrasting foliage but with some colour as well, and then maybe 3 squashes each side coming over the edging.
Have you ever seen videos of or books by Geoff Hamilton who used to present Gardener's World years ago? He made an ornamental kitchen garden and wrote a book about it.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I've got it on order, although I'm starting to wonder if it's got lost in the post or just delayed because of the strikes. I can't wait to get stuck into it though.
Just arrived - looks like I've got some reading to do! Do you know what's daft though? I ordered it through Amazon UK, €6.45 inc p&p. Available on Amazon France for €177
Posts
My preference would be to keep it pretty much as it is with the kerb stones providing a clear divide between the drive and the lawn. It just looks tidy. However I would plant in the grass. Is it at Great Dixter where there is a famous planting of two lines of forsythia under planted with purple alliums? Or two lines of, for example, white ornamental cherries that would give two weeks of wonderment.
Alternatively, I would have three stands of trees, two to the left of the drive and one to the right. Each stand would have three or five silver birches under planted with snowdrops and daffodils. Another choice of tree would be liquidambar.
Meanwhile I would leave the back garden alone for a while and ponder some more. I would be tempted though to realign the shape of the plot curtailed by the terracotta tiles. The shape just looks odd to me, an imposed outline without much reference to what is around it. I would think hard about finding another use for the tiles.
What would be helpful would be a sketch on paper showing the outline of the back garden, the approximate dimensions, the trees on the border, the building, the terrace, the existing beds etc. Add a compass direction too and an indication of the slope of the land. Take a photo of your sketch, upload it here and maybe some more design ideas will be forthcoming.
BenCotto said: I should have said earlier, planting in the grass beyond where the ornamental cherry is on that right side isn't really an option. We have a robo lawnmower, a lifesaver when this was our holiday home.
I would plant half a dozen squashes anyway, a couple of different types, and getting rid of any excess harvest of anything isn't a problem, I volunteer with a group that runs a foodbank and they'll take fresh fruit or veg. Maybe I'm odd but I find the leaves of squashes sculptural, but then I find a lot of veggies attractive, hence wanting to attempt the ornamental kitchen garden approach. And if it doesn't work I'll be the first to admit it.
Others have now said what I wanted to say, especially @BenCotto. I agree that the drive needs trees. I think actual beds with plants and veg would be hard work in such a big long area. It would look strange and bitty unless it were something extravagant and therefore hard to manage. Beds near the house would be fine though. I don't think squashes are right for the side of a drive either.
I have some acers and a liquid amber along my drive in Dordogne and I agree with Ben that silver birches would be good. They are graceful and don't make too much mess with their leaves in autumn which should just disappear when you mow the grass. Maybe Cercis and magnolia too. I would plant lots of daffodils under them, maybe crocuses too.
I agree with @Lizzie27 about the garage that paint more the colour of the house would blend in better. I would then attach trellis to the garage, or wires (cheaper) and grow clematis and roses up it.
As for the back garden, I would dig some beds for flowers and veg and plants some shrubs and generally make it look more like a garden than a patch of grass. Like Ben, I'm not keen on the rather orange tile edging to the vegetable bed. I think I would plant the fruit trees in the back garden. I would also plant some shrubs to act as a wind break, not enough to spoil your view but enough to give some sheltered areas.
@Busy-Lizzie, they probably don't show but there are already wires and a clematis on the garage wall. I'm not sure it gets enough sun for many roses, but I'll have a look. That's the problem with beds nearer the house, the front of the house gets next to no sun.
Planting trees in the back lawn is tricky. There's the old sewerage system under there, and now a new one so there are pipes and goodness knows what everywhere, and we're not allowed to plant anything within, I think, 5m of the new pipework or chambers.
Shrubs in the back, yes, a definite possibility. I'll come and get some ideas from you all when we get to that point - probably more towards autumn I would have thought. And by then I'll have some summer photos so you get a better idea of what that sloping corner is up to (or not, as the case may be).
(I quite like my tiles
I don't want to sound like I'm rejecting your ideas and am not appreciative, I really am, but some will work better for us in this location than others.
When you've thought that through you need to decide if you want all year round interest.
If budget is tight for plants then think about market stalls, swapping with friends or grow some annuals for the fist year whilst you are deciding what to do. You have a blank canvas there and some exciting times ahead and as someone said, planning is half the fun.
Firstly, this is how the house and garden sit in the landscape. I know that whatever I do will make it look different but it would be nice for it to be in harmony to a large extent
You can also see the slope to the wet area by the outbuilding.
This is the layout, marked with current planting and a couple of ideas.
@Uff, my aim is a productive but attractive garden, so with food growing among flowers and using companion planting to help things along. I visited the an ornamental kitchen garden at a nearby chateau last year and adored it (https://www.chateaumiromesnil.com/le-domaine/le-jardin-potager/). Clearly I don't have a walled garden or a chateau (or staff), but a tiny bit of that is where I'd like to get to, eventually.
To clarify, along the drive what I'm currently thinking is not just a line of squashes. I'm thinking more of grasses (I have some seeds already: Lagurus ovatus, Panicum elegans and Agrostis nebulosa, not all necessarily to go in the same place), and flowers/other attractive veggies (Emerald Ice kale maybe), to have some contrasting foliage but with some colour as well, and then maybe 3 squashes each side coming over the edging.
That's sort of where I am at the moment. I think.