Forum home Garden design
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Year round colour without gaps

124»

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I can see the fields in one of your pix. You do seem to have quite a lot of shelter though, and the fence will help with that as well, and will also dictate what will work best in that area. That part will be quite shady, especially if the trees are evergreen, and the shade will be quite noticeable through summer. If they're deciduous, that can affect the conditions too - it can be much wetter in winter, but drier in summer. I think you're in one of the many drier parts of the country, so you'll have to choose plants with that in mind as well, especially for summer.
    Some sturdy structural planting helps with filtering wind, within reason. It's easier to do that when the plot is large though. Not so easy in a smaller one. I'd need twenty foot hedges right round the garden if I wanted to keep the wind at bay, so I work with it most of the time to get a reasonable balance. 
    I see you want to have a pond, and if you start your plans with that in mind, that will help. Do a few sketches, to scale as much as possible [very important!] to work out the general shape and size you'd like. Ponds are best with a good amount of sun, and you can tailor the planting to fit in with that, because a wildlife pond needs some good planting for giving protection to the creatures using it. You can easily plant around a pond without making a defined border, and as you have grass, you can leave that as an access path around it all. If you want more plants, it's fairly easy to lift a section of turf and plant something else, as long as the soil is ok. I've done something similar in the last few years, as I removed the lawn that I'd put in, and gravelled the whole back garden, making a larger pond in the process. I plant around it, and still have access behind, and around it, where the fences and boundaries are. That also has the effect of softening those straighter boundaries. Pots can be fitted in and swapped around for seasonal interest too.
     
    If you take a bit of time to decide on the general look you want, that also helps. Many people like a formal geometric look, and others like a looser, cottagey one. The time you have for maintenance is another factor - perennials and annuals take more work in that respect, because of staking and dividing etc. to keep the plants healthy and productive. Look at photos anywhere you can - and we have a Garden Gallery thread which has lots of different plots and planting on it, so have a look there too.  https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1070382/garden-gallery-2023/p1 
      
    What else you add to any area will also depend on how you want to use the space. It's easy to forget about washing lines and storage or utility areas, so try and think about those too. The bit down the side of your house would be ideal for all sorts of storage for example, especially if you aren't using it for much apart from access.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • @Fairygirl Thankyou for your reply. I have a lot to consider!

  • RoseVillaRoseVilla Posts: 44
    edited October 2023
    Temporary hold maybe in maybe some of the planting!! Where I had visions of a nice big long bed we have lots of wildlife! Frogs, caterpillars, possibly a newt in our Nettle area and turf pile so I think we might have to leave them until the spring, although we can work around them!!
Sign In or Register to comment.