That's really helpful @purplegerbil. I think you're better off without the grass at all, looking at the space and your needs. I'd gravel that instead. If you want some greenery, you could certainly make some planting areas down at 'this end' of the grass - in your 2nd pic. Or, along the path side. If you like curves, you could do something going from those paving slabs on the left, and shaped round to the path - in a semi circle. That would depend on where you need to move your scaffolding etc to, from your workshop, and what else is at the bottom end of the space - I'm assuming it's your house though. You can also use containers to break that left side up, depending on how much room you need for access, and there's also ground hugging planting which wouldn't mind you trampling on it now and again if needed Some planting could be put in around the corner of the workshop, into your patio area, and you could have a climber over it to disguise it a bit as well. If you draw the patio paving out a bit, towards the house [maybe linking it with the existing path ] and make it a bit more informal in layout, that will create a more organic shape to the space which can also make it seem bigger/wider, and take the emphasis away from the fence.
It really depends on how else you use the space as well.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you very much for your suggestions, I have not really considered any alternatives, I've been so fixated on getting the grass to take. We both lead busy lives and really want something that is low maintenance we can enjoy on the rare days off. Unfortunately my partner is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and I just want to get something she can relax in with the minimum effort in the short term, any major alterations won't happen this year at least. I do hope to lay the patio before the summer is over. The grass did use to be really lush, I only re turfed it because it was so uneven and full of shingle. I think the main error was after digging out a good depth of soil to remove the shingle, what I replaced it with is of an inferior quality, that was the reason for wanting to mix something in to improve it. That was before the tree issue, now I'm open to anything provided it's low maintenance. We do have some planting along the other side of the garden so it's not entirely barren. I will add a photo from upstairs to give a better idea of the layout. It's currently pretty simple.
Layout was intended to be path to continue to fence at rear with patio filling the rest of the space between the sheds. The overgrown patio in the foreground will be paved, the intention is to build an extension on this up to where the gate is but given my partners diagnosis this is potentially not going to happen. Ultimately we just have the grass area to try to sort out for now. I know it's not pretty but I can manage trimming the grass.
I'm so sorry @purplegerbil - your situation is very different from most people for their gardening projects, and you have to look at what suits you and your partner just now. That's far more important than any garden. I hope you can get time to do the alterations you feel will suit you for now The new pix are very helpful too. I think I'd still forget about the grass for future though. I love having grass, and I've always had a 'lawn' as they're easy here due to the climate, but in hotter, drier areas, they're becoming more and more difficult to maintain, especially with the water problems, so lots of people are ditching them and looking for an alternative. It's especially difficult when you add in large shrubs/trees because dry shade is always harder to deal with. Many people are opting for ground cover like thyme, or allowing clover and daisies to take over from the grass, and that can be very effective, but the shade is still difficult. If you need to access your workshop, and are moving stuff in and out, I think grass would eventually struggle anyway, so it's probably not the best idea in your site. As you're renewing your patio at the house end, it's probably a good idea to link it with the back area, and you can have some easy planting to break up the hard surfaces, so that it doesn't look too 'car park-y'. Lots of plants are very low maintenance, and less effort than getting a lawnmower in and out for cutting a small area, but for now, you may just want to get the hard landscaping done and then just do the maintaining of that When I moved into this house ten years ago, I set about altering it from a slabs and gravel, enclosed site, to a bigger space, by removing the internal fencing and putting boundary fences in. I added a little lawn, and enjoyed having that, but on a whim a few years ago, when I retired, I wanted a bigger pond, so I took the lawn out again. It's now a gravel garden with the existing plants round the boundary, but also lots in the middle along with the bigger pond. I have pots which I can move around when the mood takes me, as well using them for seasonal interest. This is from early June and this is from a few days ago, from roughly the same spot Various bits I can sit in, although I'm not very good at that, but a nice area of planting is very restful, and would probably be more pleasant for your partner - and you, when you do get a chance to just sit and have a cuppa, or have a meal etc.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you again for your comments. We have granite gravel along the side of the garage, (it can't be seen in the photo, it's hidden by the passion flower)and on the front garden. I seem to spend forever pulling weeds from it. How do you keep your shingle weed free ? Do have any issues with cat's? I like what you have done with your garden. Is that a rockery in the centre? I think I will probably avoid shingle though as we live very near to dungeness and see an awful lot of it. Mind you it would be easy to source some plants!
Endless problems with cats, but not in the gravel I have as it's larger- it's mainly on the grass or borders. There are people who will recommend all sorts of things and in my experience none of them work well long term. The only one I find works is a water scarecrow, but they don't work once it's frosty, as the joints all burst, so it rules out about 6 months of the year for me. I just pull anything that seeds in, but I don't get too much of a problem with that. If it's a few inches deep, it helps, but you can also just use a hoe if you get anything undesirable seeding in. The rocks are just a few individual ones that were around the plot when I moved in, or that I dug out when making borders etc. They're placed around the pond, with various logs etc, and some in it as well. This is from the other side of the pond - those are the main rocks in that group together on the right Using ground cover planted into the gravel is an easy way of making the gravel less prominent, and is easily maintained. Along the edge of the pond from where that pic was taken, are various things like Saxifrages and Arabis which also hide the pond liner edging. Evergreen and weed smothering too, so that's always useful for gravel. There are plenty of plants like that which will spread and do a good job without any input.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think you are on to something. I passed through dungeness yesterday and had a better look, I think it could work. Ironic that this all started because I levelled the area and went to great lengths to removed all the shingle, now I'm looking at adding lots more shingle than I removed and making it intentionally uneven!
I know exactly what you mean @purplegerbil. That's what I did - changed it and then changed it back again. The old gravel I inherited were the horrible red chuckies that are very popular here, as they're the cheapest solution for large spaces. Fine for a parking area/driveway, but not very attractive in a garden. You might also consider the slate chippings. I'm not keen on them because we get a lot of grey skies, and I think it could be pretty depressing after a while. Possibly fine in a small space with lots of plants though. Would be better re those cats too, and weeds may not seed in so readily.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
If you want some greenery, you could certainly make some planting areas down at 'this end' of the grass - in your 2nd pic. Or, along the path side. If you like curves, you could do something going from those paving slabs on the left, and shaped round to the path - in a semi circle. That would depend on where you need to move your scaffolding etc to, from your workshop, and what else is at the bottom end of the space - I'm assuming it's your house though.
You can also use containers to break that left side up, depending on how much room you need for access, and there's also ground hugging planting which wouldn't mind you trampling on it now and again if needed
Some planting could be put in around the corner of the workshop, into your patio area, and you could have a climber over it to disguise it a bit as well. If you draw the patio paving out a bit, towards the house [maybe linking it with the existing path ] and make it a bit more informal in layout, that will create a more organic shape to the space which can also make it seem bigger/wider, and take the emphasis away from the fence.
It really depends on how else you use the space as well.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
We both lead busy lives and really want something that is low maintenance we can enjoy on the rare days off. Unfortunately my partner is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and I just want to get something she can relax in with the minimum effort in the short term, any major alterations won't happen this year at least.
I do hope to lay the patio before the summer is over.
The grass did use to be really lush, I only re turfed it because it was so uneven and full of shingle. I think the main error was after digging out a good depth of soil to remove the shingle, what I replaced it with is of an inferior quality, that was the reason for wanting to mix something in to improve it.
That was before the tree issue, now I'm open to anything provided it's low maintenance.
We do have some planting along the other side of the garden so it's not entirely barren.
I will add a photo from upstairs to give a better idea of the layout. It's currently pretty simple.
The overgrown patio in the foreground will be paved, the intention is to build an extension on this up to where the gate is but given my partners diagnosis this is potentially not going to happen.
Ultimately we just have the grass area to try to sort out for now.
I know it's not pretty but I can manage trimming the grass.
The new pix are very helpful too. I think I'd still forget about the grass for future though. I love having grass, and I've always had a 'lawn' as they're easy here due to the climate, but in hotter, drier areas, they're becoming more and more difficult to maintain, especially with the water problems, so lots of people are ditching them and looking for an alternative. It's especially difficult when you add in large shrubs/trees because dry shade is always harder to deal with. Many people are opting for ground cover like thyme, or allowing clover and daisies to take over from the grass, and that can be very effective, but the shade is still difficult. If you need to access your workshop, and are moving stuff in and out, I think grass would eventually struggle anyway, so it's probably not the best idea in your site.
As you're renewing your patio at the house end, it's probably a good idea to link it with the back area, and you can have some easy planting to break up the hard surfaces, so that it doesn't look too 'car park-y'. Lots of plants are very low maintenance, and less effort than getting a lawnmower in and out for cutting a small area, but for now, you may just want to get the hard landscaping done and then just do the maintaining of that
When I moved into this house ten years ago, I set about altering it from a slabs and gravel, enclosed site, to a bigger space, by removing the internal fencing and putting boundary fences in. I added a little lawn, and enjoyed having that, but on a whim a few years ago, when I retired, I wanted a bigger pond, so I took the lawn out again.
It's now a gravel garden with the existing plants round the boundary, but also lots in the middle along with the bigger pond. I have pots which I can move around when the mood takes me, as well using them for seasonal interest.
This is from early June
and this is from a few days ago, from roughly the same spot
Various bits I can sit in, although I'm not very good at that, but a nice area of planting is very restful, and would probably be more pleasant for your partner - and you, when you do get a chance to just sit and have a cuppa, or have a meal etc.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
We have granite gravel along the side of the garage, (it can't be seen in the photo, it's hidden by the passion flower)and on the front garden. I seem to spend forever pulling weeds from it.
How do you keep your shingle weed free ? Do have any issues with cat's?
I like what you have done with your garden. Is that a rockery in the centre?
I think I will probably avoid shingle though as we live very near to dungeness and see an awful lot of it. Mind you it would be easy to source some plants!
I just pull anything that seeds in, but I don't get too much of a problem with that. If it's a few inches deep, it helps, but you can also just use a hoe if you get anything undesirable seeding in.
The rocks are just a few individual ones that were around the plot when I moved in, or that I dug out when making borders etc. They're placed around the pond, with various logs etc, and some in it as well.
This is from the other side of the pond - those are the main rocks in that group together on the right
Using ground cover planted into the gravel is an easy way of making the gravel less prominent, and is easily maintained. Along the edge of the pond from where that pic was taken, are various things like Saxifrages and Arabis which also hide the pond liner edging. Evergreen and weed smothering too, so that's always useful for gravel. There are plenty of plants like that which will spread and do a good job without any input.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I passed through dungeness yesterday and had a better look, I think it could work.
Ironic that this all started because I levelled the area and went to great lengths to removed all the shingle, now I'm looking at adding lots more shingle than I removed and making it intentionally uneven!
The old gravel I inherited were the horrible red chuckies that are very popular here, as they're the cheapest solution for large spaces. Fine for a parking area/driveway, but not very attractive in a garden.
You might also consider the slate chippings. I'm not keen on them because we get a lot of grey skies, and I think it could be pretty depressing after a while. Possibly fine in a small space with lots of plants though. Would be better re those cats too, and weeds may not seed in so readily.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...