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Garden ideas

sarahharmer2014sarahharmer2014 Posts: 36
in Garden design
Hi all
This is my garden, in the photo and if anyone good at garden design, can you help me with ideas on what I could do ? As you can see with the evergreen tree there is a thin boarder but I was thinking of making it bigger. 

The only thing is we might move in a year or two so don't want to go over board but still want to do something. 

Any advice much appreciated 🙂
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Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    You need to give us more information: where are you, what type of soil do you have, which direction does the garden face and what it is you would like and maybe more important, what you don't like.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • sarahharmer2014sarahharmer2014 Posts: 36
    punkdoc said:
    You need to give us more information: where are you, what type of soil do you have, which direction does the garden face and what it is you would like and maybe more important, what you don't like.
    Live in South East, England and it's a south facing garden with heavy clay soil. Like cottage gardens and anything that brings in wildlife, don't like anything tropical. Hope that helps ? 
  • sarahharmer2014sarahharmer2014 Posts: 36
    pansyface said:
    Do you have children? Dogs? Like to sit and eat outside?

    Are you a greenhouse person?
    Nope no children, no dog. We have a patio which is not shown in the photo so we have a place to sit and eat in the garden. 

    We have a greenhouse which is just shown in the photo long the path. 

    it's more what to do with the top part of the garden, more of a garden border design.  
  • clematisdorsetclematisdorset Posts: 1,348
    You could probably turn the patches of soil that are shown in the near left of the photo into a rectangular border, starting from where the conifer is and returning to where the photographer is. The width could be widened to be in line with the width of the conifer. You would lose a little bit of lawn, but you would have a more 'intentional' border with more substance, presumably closer to where you might be sitting/relaxing. That could be a start. Deeper borders tend to look better than meaner thin ones. A  rectangular shape would be stronger than something wavy that could be a bit wishy-washy. What sort of colours do you like? Maybe you could look for small hardy shrubs that attract pollinators that are suited to your soil.  Maybe something with fragrance. Some plants are more fragrant in the evening which is pleasant if you want to relax in the later part of the day. Maybe you would wish to amend your soil with compost or well-rotted manure, to make it more manageable. 
    Sorry to witness the demise of the forum. 😥😥😥😡😡😡I am Spartacus 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @sarahharmer2014 If you may be moving why not do as you say and create a border to grow the things you love. Personally I think if you wish to give the garden a new look it could be a waste of money. A beautiful garden can add value to a property but not sure if that would apply in the short term. Plants are expensive so any you choose could be lifted and split so that you take some when you move?
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    For relatively quick and cheap, dig out a border as described previously, rake the surface to a fine crumbly texture and sow some packets of hardy annual seeds. At this time of year you can usually get them from places like Wilko, B&M and so on. Check the packets to make sure they say hardy annual or HA, not half-hardy annual or HHA.The latter need to be sown indoors in the warm, pricked out, grown on and planted out in late May or early June, but the hardy kinds can be sown direct. Instructions and some examples here https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/annuals-biennials/sowing-spring
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • sarahharmer2014sarahharmer2014 Posts: 36
    clematisdorset said:
    You could probably turn the patches of soil that are shown in the near left of the photo into a rectangular border, starting from where the conifer is and returning to where the photographer is. The width could be widened to be in line with the width of the conifer. You would lose a little bit of lawn, but you would have a more 'intentional' border with more substance, presumably closer to where you might be sitting/relaxing. That could be a start. Deeper borders tend to look better than meaner thin ones. A  rectangular shape would be stronger than something wavy that could be a bit wishy-washy. What sort of colours do you like? Maybe you could look for small hardy shrubs that attract pollinators that are suited to your soil.  Maybe something with fragrance. Some plants are more fragrant in the evening which is pleasant if you want to relax in the later part of the day. Maybe you would wish to amend your soil with compost or well-rotted manure, to make it more manageable. 
    That's what I was thinking creating a bigger border in that place of the garden. as I have one already down the bottom of the garden with roses, foxgloves, salvias.
  • sarahharmer2014sarahharmer2014 Posts: 36
    pansyface said:
    I see that the next door neighbours have one of those abominable trampolines.

    I’d personally do everything I could to place a screen between me and that.

    Maybe something like this with a variety of climbing/rambling roses over it. Roses love clay soil. 



    In front of it you could grow herbaceous perennials in a wide bed along its length.


    Did think about putting a hedge in that area. The only thing is it will take years to grow to fully cover.
  • sarahharmer2014sarahharmer2014 Posts: 36
    GardenerSuze said:
    @sarahharmer2014 If you may be moving why not do as you say and create a border to grow the things you love. Personally I think if you wish to give the garden a new look it could be a waste of money. A beautiful garden can add value to a property but not sure if that would apply in the short term. Plants are expensive so any you choose could be lifted and split so that you take some when you move?
    Yep, thought of that idea to do annuals or take cuttings, so I'm not using up to much money. 
  • sarahharmer2014sarahharmer2014 Posts: 36
    JennyJ said:
    For relatively quick and cheap, dig out a border as described previously, rake the surface to a fine crumbly texture and sow some packets of hardy annual seeds. At this time of year you can usually get them from places like Wilko, B&M and so on. Check the packets to make sure they say hardy annual or HA, not half-hardy annual or HHA.The latter need to be sown indoors in the warm, pricked out, grown on and planted out in late May or early June, but the hardy kinds can be sown direct. Instructions and some examples here https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/annuals-biennials/sowing-spring
    Already done some, just waiting for better weather. 
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