Help with my Garden!

Hi All,

We have been completely re-doing my garden over the last few months. Weather hasn't been too kind but we are finally ready with all our hard landscaping, retaining walls and fence panels. Next step is planting and overall making the space green. I am attaching picture here and I welcome any ideas you have. I have listed a few questions I have but I am a beginner so please guide me in the right direction.

Garden has 5 levels.

I had to attach photo as a reply. Please see the second post below.

Level 1 = Ground level hard landscaped with sandstone as you can see. Not much to do here. There will be some garden furniture, a BBQ grill and some planters here.
Level 2 = This will be a lawn
Level 3 = Planting bed
Level 4 = Planting bed
Level 5 = Lawn + Shed + Kids play area

So keeping this in mind, I have the following questions

1. On the fence panels on both sides, we plan to put hanging baskets with flowering plants. Is that generally a good idea?

2. The walls are painted white and as much as I like the clean look, I think it looks a tad boring and too much white. Hopefully the plants will cover it to a large extent but is there anything else you would do?

3. How should I arrange level 3 & 4? Ideally, I don't want plants that are growing above the next level - to keep it looking clean. Looking for some recommendations around perennial plants. Something that will keep the place looking green all year round.

4. Just looking at the picture, is there something I am overlooking - or something that is obviously wrong with the garden? Not being paranoid but I really don't have any experience in this space.

Thank you taking time to read this.

R.

 

Below is a photo of the garden.

 

I think this will come down to personal preference and being a bit more specific on what you want and where you are situated,
1.I see no reason why you couldn't put up hanging baskets but what is the reason to do it? Do you want to hide your fence etc?
2.my personal preference would be to use trailing plants over the edge of each wall to break up the hard edges, but again some people like the sharp edges, and you could grow climbers on the wall to cover it, again personal preference.
3.I think you're right in not wanting to grow plants that are above the next level, looking green or having colour? Loads of great people on here who can give you specific plants for either.
4.there's nothing wrong with you garden, it's a bit like a blank canvas, I can guarantee it will always be a work in progress, you could maybe think a bit more about what sort of idea you're looking for, i.e. some people like structure, some like chaos (me) and some like inbetween, again personal preference, what's right for me may not be right for you, but I can tell you you are definitely in the right place for help.

 

Welcome traderblues.

My own thoughts of course....

1. Hanging baskets would be lovely but they will need to be watered and I'm thinking of you up and down those tiers during the summer months. Climbing plants may be a consideration.

2. White walls are quite harsh whatever the time of year and will glare with the sun on them. My own idea would be to paint them a darker colour, something that will blend better with the surroundings. Tall plants that when fully grown would stay at or below the tiers overall height, including evergreens, would help disguise them.

3. Similar planting suggestions to those I've given in '2'

4. There's nothing wrong with the design but it needs plants to soften the look of the walls. Pots or troughs of plants would soften the look of the bottom tier on the patio.

I've attached a link to an old thread below that may give you some ideas. It'll take a bit of reading through.

My tiered garden log.

 

Thank you for the feedback so far. I will try and reply to all questions.

1. The reason for hanging baskets is to sort of break up the area. You can see too many fence panels and we thought hanging baskets with flowers will soften the visuals. Can you please give me an example of the climbing plants? My OCD drives to towards symmetry in whatever I do so will need to see how this would look.

2. I think for levels 3 & 4, once the plants are there, the white wall will be less of a problem. For now, I will park this point. For level 2 wall where the lawn is, I was thinking of metal or ceramic wall art. please see attached images. Yay or Nay?

3. For level 3 & 4 planting - one thing I would like is symmetry so beds on either side would be similar. I like more leafy plants (green or any other colour) as opposed to flowering plants. But wife would like some flowering plants there as well. What would be better (a) A row of leafy plants and flowering plants on each level or (b) Leafy plants on level 3 and dedicate level 4 for flowering plants?

4. Agree with softening the place with planters. I am thinking of small topiary to keep it looking clean but add some colour.

Thanks

 

With respect OCD and plants are not a good combination, nature has it's own idea on how it wants to grow. Yes, you could prune most plants to keep them in the shape you would like but it's not a natural look. With any plants you will only get symmetry by the way you plant, an example is by buying two of the same and planting them as opposites, one against one fence and one against the other.

Wall art can be very attractive but personally I find your choices above a little 'heavy' looking and think something more open would look better, so that they don't dominate the over all look of the garden and plants.

Small flowering shrubs would be a compromise for you and your wife as they won't be flowering all year round. You could also make choices by what month or season you would like them to flower.

I understand why you would choose topiary but they aren't really plants that soften the look of an area. I see them as plants for a formal garden.