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Help! How do I add interest?

velvet_rose1980velvet_rose1980 Posts: 26
edited May 2023 in Garden design
Our garden was completely blank to start with, so I guess anything is an improvement, but now I'm stuck. I have no vision, so I went for basic straight beds.

I'd like to put an arch in the middle and maybe stepping stones down towards the concrete at the bottom. 

But what I really want is screening from the neighbour on the right. There are some shrubs, but it will take time before they reach the top. How can I introduce a small tree in a way that adds interest?

Any advice on reshaping beds, on paths, on borders is greatly appreciated. Indeed, anything to help it look a bit less boring.

Thank you!!
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Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    The biggest problem, imo, is there is no mystery, you can see from one end to the other.
    If you made bigger, more curved borders, you could have hidden areas, by planting some taller plants at the front. You could also split the garden horizontally, to give rooms, maybe using pergolas.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I agree - screening across, either horizontally, or on the diagonal, always helps with creating a useful barrier that has interest.
    It can be as simple as you want - posts and trellis with climbers, or something more substantial as @punkdoc suggests. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    I agree and also there is a lot of green , a pop of colour here and there would help perhaps.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    I inherited a garden without interest in a previous property.  These before and after photos might help you.  Dividing the garden in half with an evergreen hedge and arch helped create the mystery mentioned by @punkdoc:


    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    That is exactly the sort of thing I had in mind, or the use of curved borders giving a similar picture.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - and some borders with shrubs/trees can do exactly the same thing as a solid, more permanent structure, so there's various ways to get a result. It's always a better idea than having everything on view.  You already have that little bench/pergola at one side, so you can build on that idea too @velvet_rose1980.
    Another design trick is to add something just out of view, once you have some screening, and that can be a specimen shrub/tree, or a statue or very large container, birdbath etc.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Alfie_Alfie_ Posts: 456
    @Plantminded beautiful transformation. It looks like a professional team like ground force have been round 😆 
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Thank you very much @Alfie_, I’d probably do it differently now but it was a good place to experiment!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • Alfie_Alfie_ Posts: 456
    Oooh that’s interesting @Plantminded what would you do differently if you could then? 

    I think that’s a great piece of advice from you all to separate out the garden into different areas and not be able to see from one end to the other. One YouTuber I like to watch from
    time to time is Darren Harwood as he has so many roses in his garden that when I’m looking to buy one I can see what it’s like in his garden as he is bound to have it. He has a standard mid terrace garden but all his garden tours take you on a mystical journey with weaving paths, tall trees, lots of height from trellises, abour /arches etc giving it such a grand look. 

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Letting you in on my trade secrets @Alfie_ , I would not have any shed or greenhouse on display, even visible from an upstairs window, as I think they disrupt and dictate the flow of the planting.  Also I didn’t know many of the plants well and planted too densely in some areas, now I would give them more space.  

    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


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