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Starting my first garden
Colin-Jackson
Posts: 31
I am just about to make a start on my very first garden and wanted to get some advice on my plans before I start digging.
The garden has spent the last 8 months under plastic sheet, which should have helped get rid of most of the weeds.
Green = hedges
Red = beds
blue = pond
I want the garden to be wildlife friendly so my intentions are:
Hornbeam hedging on both sides with a gap to get into the veg patch at the bottom of the garden. Being only a few hundred yards from the old brick factory, the ground is very heavy clay. I'm hoping that hornbeam will be able to establish where many similar hedges would struggle.
A decent sized wildlife pond in the middle of the garden, roughly 3m x 2m with wide 1ft deep shelves and 2ft deep in the middle. Was thinking of having Irises and rushes at the back, marsh marigolds and water forget-me-nots at the sides with a pebble beach at the front. Then hopefully a lily and loads of hornwort in the depths.
Not sure what I want to do with the 2 large side beds yet. Probably Anabelle hydrangeas at the back and roses scattered throughout. All my previous growing has been in pots, so creating flower beds is a bit new to me. I think I would like to go for mainly herbaceous perennials to keep the maintenance down a bit. I would also like to have lots of scented flowers to go alongside the Floribunda roses. Hopefully someone can give me advice on what plants would work that will grown in heavy clay.
I was thinking about using woodchip to cover all the pathways. Aiming for paths to be about 3ft wide (the image above is only a rough sketch, they are not as wide as shown).
Please let me know your thoughts, I want to get some advice before I start digging a huge hole in the middle of my garden.
The garden has spent the last 8 months under plastic sheet, which should have helped get rid of most of the weeds.
Green = hedges
Red = beds
blue = pond
I want the garden to be wildlife friendly so my intentions are:
Hornbeam hedging on both sides with a gap to get into the veg patch at the bottom of the garden. Being only a few hundred yards from the old brick factory, the ground is very heavy clay. I'm hoping that hornbeam will be able to establish where many similar hedges would struggle.
A decent sized wildlife pond in the middle of the garden, roughly 3m x 2m with wide 1ft deep shelves and 2ft deep in the middle. Was thinking of having Irises and rushes at the back, marsh marigolds and water forget-me-nots at the sides with a pebble beach at the front. Then hopefully a lily and loads of hornwort in the depths.
Not sure what I want to do with the 2 large side beds yet. Probably Anabelle hydrangeas at the back and roses scattered throughout. All my previous growing has been in pots, so creating flower beds is a bit new to me. I think I would like to go for mainly herbaceous perennials to keep the maintenance down a bit. I would also like to have lots of scented flowers to go alongside the Floribunda roses. Hopefully someone can give me advice on what plants would work that will grown in heavy clay.
I was thinking about using woodchip to cover all the pathways. Aiming for paths to be about 3ft wide (the image above is only a rough sketch, they are not as wide as shown).
Please let me know your thoughts, I want to get some advice before I start digging a huge hole in the middle of my garden.
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Posts
That will pay off when you do get your plants in.
If you're having a pond [which is great] you wouldn't need to worry so much about that area, but certainly - anywhere you intend having plants, regardless of type.
You mention having 'mainly herbaceous perennials to keep the maintenance down a bit'. They're far more work than shrubs. They need supporting, dividing, feeding etc, while shrubs need very little apart from pruning, depending on type.
I'm not sure woodchip is ideal either. It also may not look great, and it would need topped up regularly. It's mainly used as a mulch, or for 'working spaces' like allotments, or woodland areas. Gravel would be much better and will set off your planting areas.
Before you decide on plants, it will help to know the aspect of the garden, as one side could be much shadier than the other, and the house will also have an effect on the amount of sun and shade.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I would miss grass, I don't like gravel. It sticks to your shoes when wet and gets everywhere if too small and is hard to push a wheelbarrow on. I agree that wood chip is more for a mulch, though I have used it for paths in a vegetable area. It rots down after a bit then weeds grow in it, needs topping up.
I would rather have paving if not grass but it's expensive.
It all depends how much work you want to do. I like gardening, I enjoy weeding, deadheading etc. I love my herbaceous borders and roses.
I like hornbeam hedges. I've had them in 2 previous gardens, in clay. They need trimming end of summer and you have to clear up those leaves. Don't let them get too tall. When I got older I couldn't cope with being up a ladder to trim the top. Had to get a man in. Leave enough gap for you to walk between them and the fence. They keep their dead leaves through a lot of winter but you will have to rake from time to time.
As @Fairygirl says, you would do best and make things easier for yourself and the plants, if you improve the soil first. Dig in as much compost as you can, manure (ask a farmer maybe) bought sacks of compost. Homemade compost is good but you won't have any yet. Leave a place for a future heap. Then add a compost mulch every year.
If you are having Annabelle hydrangeas and roses they take up space so you won't have a huge amount of room for masses of perennials anyway. Perennials between roses look lovely. Bear in mind the sun and shade situation when choosing them.
Also be prepared for the amount of money you will spend. I've spent a lot over the years but I don't spend much on clothes and make up!
The design, being symmetrical, does emphasise the long shape of your garden. My instinct would be to offset the central path a little. Whilst you wouldn’t want a really complicated, winding path to get to the veg plot, a slightly more informal layout often makes the garden look bigger and gives more visual interest.
I would echo Fairygirl’s comments about ground preparation first, planting later. Aspect too. Would all those hornbeams end up throwing shade over the veg area, borders or pond? Hydrangeas can take some shade whereas most floribunda roses prefer full sun.
It will be tricky maintaining a full hedge hard against a fence and it will take up a lot of physical garden space (you really need access front and back to maintain). It would also take up more root space than it’s trimmed width and suck up water and nutrients in the ground - at the expense of the equally thirsty roses and hydrangeas nearby.
How about a hornbeam hedge just as an entrance to your veg plot, maybe with a decorative arch or gate for the entrance, but not hard against the side fences?
Instead, you could plant a tree or two suitable for a small garden, e.g. crab apple, amelanchier, plus a mix of shrubs, roses and perennials in your borders and beds. That would provide more benefit to wildlife than all hornbeam.
Apologies if I’ve just demolished your plan and not actually provided you with a new one but there are some very practical things it would be helpful to consider before getting stuck in!
Many thanks for the feedback, this has been most enlightening and I'm really glad I asked for advice before jumping in and digging the pond.
Up against the rear fence I have planted a buddleia hedge, while this is fantastic for the wildlife the main reason was due to bindweed creeping in from the property behind mine. With a butterfly bush I can virtually chop it down each year and remove or 'treat' the offending vines. The rear fence is south facing, the entire garden gets the sun (this means the patio to the rear of the house is always in shade, but I don't mind that).
Perhaps the thing that really jumped out is maintaining access to the fences if I plant a hedge up against them. This has caused me to reevaluate my plans. I am now thinking about using large shrubs instead of a hedge to provide privacy, these are softer and if needs be, they can be chopped back to access the fence. Not really sure what would be the right sort of plants to use, can roses and hydrangeas reach 6ft? Perhaps something like a mock orange?
A fair point about the symmetrical pathways around the pond. A single winding pathway would be easier, take up less space and let the wildlife get to and from the pond easier.
I intend to order in 4 or 5 bulk bags of spent mushroom compost and then rotavate this into the beds before winter hits. In subsequent years the beds will get heavily mulched but no more serious digging.
With regards to trees I would like to put in one or two Acers, I'm quite partial to the red ones (there is one next door that looks amazing). I also have a mock orange which with proper pruning should grow to a decent size.
So I guess the real question is what can I grow near the 4ft fences to give me a little privacy from late spring through to early autumn?
Hydrangeas and roses will certainly make five feet, depending on variety.
Acers do best with dappled shade, so the best method for placing one is simply to use a cane or something similar, and position that in a few sites until you get the one you like best, and which will suit it. They're perfectly happy in pots, so you can move one around for a long time until you get it right, and most are fairly slow growing, so bear that in mind too. The purple ones are happier in sun than the green, or paler, ones, but avoid having them in full sun in summer - that's where the pots are handy. Remember that if you have your hydrangeas/roses, they can provide extra shade too, although hydrangeas do best with some shade as well.
I expect roses are varied enough that you can choose suitable ones for a shadier spot.
Someone else will be able to advise you on those, as they aren't my thing at all. @Nollie and @Marlorena are the ones to ask for help with them - or ask on the dedicated rose thread. This is a link to the current last page, but you can scroll back through it as well for ideas https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1071462/roses-spring-summer-2023/p365
For your pond, wildlife need lots of cover and shelter, so consider planting that up with various shrubs, including a few evergreen ones, and perennials and bulbs to give you good seasonal interest, and to provide plants for pollinators etc. It's also a nice idea to have the pond in good view during winter, so that you can watch it being used by birds and other wildlife, so site your planting with that in mind if you can.
The Acer would look good in a site there too. Perhaps you could ask your neighbour about siting it, in terms of aspect etc - that might be easier if you're on good terms, and especially if you can't see it from your plot. It's what else you put in conjunction with it that's important. I have one that's still potted, and I have it near my pond most of the time, but I moved it recently when we had a very long, hot spell here as it's one of the finely dissected types, so is more easily damaged by wind and sun
Remember that although you've covered the site, that won't necessarily have got rid of all the weeds either, and the most important thing is to do the big, structural bits first, and then add the other stuff later. It's a long term project and you can always move plants if they aren't doing the job, or aren't happy
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
There are all sorts of shrubs you can grow or structures such as pergolas and panels to erect for screening. If you mainly need privacy when sitting on the patio place taller structures or shrubs near that.
If you want privacy throughout the whole garden you could attach long trellis panels horizontally along the top of the fence to give you an effective 6ft high fence. If the side fence isn’t yours, ask permission or knock in your own support posts.
Every garden, even the smallest, needs at least one tree - for height, structure, useful to block an overlooking window and allows birds to perch safely away from the neighbourhood cats!
Lots of shrub roses can easily get to 6ft but often have a girth too. Tall, slim ones like hybrid teas tend to only flower at the top and need other plants in front of them to hide the bare legs. A higher fence with the trellis would give you plenty of scope to espalier rambling and climbing roses horizontally and along the top and these would take up much less ground space. Roses do need particular care but some are far less fussy and more disease resistant than others. Single or semi-double blooms are best for bees and other pollinators.
As to what small trees/shrubs, it’s really personal choice, but maybe a weeping cherry or pear, one tall and thin (a ‘fastigate’ habit), the aforementioned amelanchier or crab apple, nandina domestica, sambucus, berberis.. many of these offer really good value to wildlife with flowers for pollinators, berries and fruits etc. as well as being attractive to look at. Whatever you choose, choose to suit your soil, climate and sun/wind exposure plus a mix of form, colour and leaf shape looks more natural.
Shrubs planted about 1 - 1.2m away from the fence are a couple each of eleagnus, buddleia and an inherited yellow euonymus (that is currently still only about 1.2 m high). There are also 3 inherited hazel trees which are heavily coppiced in rotation every couple of years. None of these mind being cut back really hard if we need to maintain the fence (had to replace some fence posts last year). There is also a shed next to the fence.
Dotted through the border & abt 2m away from the fence I have a couple of multi stemmed amelanchiers, a Rosa glauca (allowed to grow to the size of a very small tree - abt 2.5m), Sambuca Black Lace which is pollarded back to a metre each spring but easily makes small tree size (3m) by mid summer. That has a couple of pale clematis twining through it to relieve the black. A Roserie de l'haie (sp?) which is about 2m tall and a couple of Cotinus which have been allowed to grow tall. There is also a crab apple tree.
It makes for quite a shady border and they are all underplanted with perennials - mainly brunnera, epimediums, some slug munched hostas, aquilegias, aconitums and lots of hardy geraniums. Bulbs don't do well in my heavy soil.
I do also have smaller roses and sun-loving shrubs and perennials but the whole border is about 5m wide so I've mainly concentrated on detailing the 2.5m width band which is used for screening.
That might give you some ideas of plants to consider to suit your own taste
Thanks for the feedback and for pointing me to other posts on new gardens.
I would like to add some trees for wildlife, so my current thoughts are:
- A compact Rowan (either Sheerwater Seedling or Autumn Spire)
- A Hawthorn (either Paul's Scarlet or Crimson Cloud)
- A red Acer (perhaps Bloodgood)
The Acer is mainly for aesthetics (next to the pond), but the Rowan and Hawthorn should provide loads of blossom as well as insects & berries for the birds. I did think about a holly tree until I saw just how big they can get. All of the trees will be planted at least 4-5ft away from the fences.I am hoping to grow a pair of Daphne Eternal Fragrance in large containers on either side of the bench. This should make it quite a pleasant place to sit with a glass of wine while watching the pond.
I have marked out the pathway and where I want to plant the trees with pots. I then used a blow torch to cut out the plastic from from the pond area. My intention is to use the huge amount of removed topsoil to level some other areas of the garden while retaining the sub-soil to go back into the pond (wild your garden style).
Can't say my back is looking forward to shoveling a ton of clay, but needs must.
Once the garden has been roughly leveled I will break out the rotorvator and see if it capable of sorting out 40 years of compaction. Then I can order in a few bulk bags of manure to either mulch or mix in.