Newbie gardener with good space to play with

Hi Everyone,

Another newbie to the forum here!

We purchased our first house last year, and we've finally got round to working on the garden, which was overgrown to say the least. We decided to clear it and start a fresh. (before & current photos below).

Although you can't see it, there was a pond in the middle of the garden, which we removed and filled with stone & brick. We still need to cut down the trees at the back, or at least try and get rid of the dead parts.

Having said all of this, we're learning as we go and would love any ideas for what we could do with this great space. The sun is on the back of the garden in the afternoon, so we're thinking of removing the grass section & replacing with patio/decking. We want to keep it as low maintenance as possible, so maybe a raised flower bed on the left? We're really unsure of what to do, so would really appreciate any ideas or observations.

Thanks!

 

It seems to have doubled in size

Slabs probably less maintenance than decking - "pressure wash once a year" compared to "paint with protective stuff" and in years when not needing to do that then same "pressure wash" as slabs

Decking on legs means that getting level is easy. Slabs means getting some hardcore down, level, and then laying the slabs. None of the Slab Work will be be light ... but if you cancel your Gym membership you will a) look a lot more trim and b) £-for-£ probably the same

Cover the soil. Woven (that is important) weed suppressing membrane (cut a "+" and "plant through") will have next to zero weeding requirement, and will help retain moisture.

Can do the same with cardboard (old delivery boxes, cut around the plants) and then spread compost / bark mulch over the top.

Is that a Leylandii / similar hedge at the back (with brown dead old branches at the bottom)?

Is it your side of the fence? If so getting rid of it would be good, they are a major nuisance. Fair bit of effort to replace it though, but you get the choice of whatever-you-want for the replacement ... cutting it back would be a good first step. Do NOT cut it back to old wood, it won't recover, so whatever you cut back must leave some Green Leaf on it. Taking all the dead branches (if indeed they are) off the bottom is fine (if that leaves you with 4' of bare-trunk they will probably look quite nice). If you are quick (i.e. don't leave it too long) you will be able to get the top down to fence height, and still have "green" left

If its on the far side of fence then get your neighbour to do something about it (and/or offer to help perhaps). When they get out of hand they are a huge problem. Darn things grow 3' a year ... people think that is handy if they want a 6' hedge, but they don't stop growing 3' a year just because they reached 6' :(

Some close up photos to see what they actually are, and what state the "brown bottom" is in, would help

 

A nice greenhouse and a tool shed

 

Welcome to the forum @Steer_Elite !

 

How exciting! A beautiful blank slate to plan.

How would you like to use the garden?

Eg.
- wine time on the patio in the afternoon sun
- growing food
- lawn for kids to play
- shed for tinkering?

And what type of plants are you drawn to?

Welcome to GC

 

Pave the whole area ...

Raised beds the whole area

Grass the whole area

Blinking big shed covering the whole area full of essential Man Cave stuff ...

Yup, I think I have it sorted Multi-storey garden ...

 

They're our side of the fence - no idea what they are! But here's a photo:

Thanks for the tip on the soil and membrane, there are a lot of weeds that we've spent the last few days getting out!

 

Thanks

We're thinking patio at the top of the garden, and then currently where the soil is in the middle of the garden, laying grass there, however it's currently more dirt than soil, so not sure whether compost and grass seeds are best, or purchasing lawn? We're thinking of moving the current shed to the top left of the garden, and eventually purchasing a new one. We haven't really thought about growing food in it to be honest.

 

They look like Leylandii to me. Unless they happen to be Thuja none of that dead stuff is going to regenerate (except where there is some Green on the end)

I would cut back anything that you can, but only to the point where you leave some "green" on that branch. (You may find that next year some buds have create new green further down the branch, and then next year you can cut back to that and thereby, year-on-year, work it further back.

I reckon you will be able to get the straggly stuff up the top into a reasonably "hedge shaped" format.

Choose a height for the top (maybe have a chat with the neighbours to see if they mind if you want it above 2M?), cut the "trunk" to at least 6" below that (it might need 12", I'm not sure) to provide enough height for the resultant upward growth to "fan out" to give you a properly joined-up top when you cut it at "final height" in future. When you cut out the trunk-tops try to do so at a point where you leave upward-growing branches just below that point, so that they immediately give you some "top" - if they are tall enough, in their own right, you can trim them level with the finished height. I reckon it won't look too moth-eaten if you can do that.

That brown dead stuff at the bottom has had its chips though ... bare trunks up to fence-height may look quite nice ...

If you like bare-trunks on the right you could do the same on the left (assuming fence panels available behind, all the way along)

I have a rejuvenated Thuja hedge here. It sprouted from the trunk all the way up ... except the bottom 5-8', and I have inter-planted some new ones to provide that the owl-down-green-hedge. Leylandii won't do that "sprout from trunk", but inter-plant at the bottom might work. The new ones will need a lot of water, and food, to grow and fill in the gaps.

Or you can take the whole thing out and replace . But even if you want to do that I would suggest trying to "tame" them this year and see how they start to fill out and improve (or not!) for next year.

When we moved in there was a Leylandii front hedge. I started off with taming it (left of ladder is done ...)



it was still bog-ugly, and had basically been let-go for too long



so I took my saw to it:


and then a spade:


Replanted:


Now it looks a bit like this:

 

This is the hedge I tamed. Nearest to camera are Leylandii and behind them (which you can barely see) is a row of Thuja. My guess is that the Leylandii were planted, sacrificially at the outset, to provide protection for Thuja, with intention of clean-felling them after 10 years ... but they had been there 40 years :( There's an ordinary sized bloke to the right, to give you an ideas of how massive the blessed things were



The Leylandii had completely overwhelmed the Thuja, this is how the moth-eaten Thujas looked when we got rid of the row of Leylandii (bar one ...)



The Thujas regenerated (on the Leylandii side) from their trunks (Leylandii won't do that ...)


but not at the bottom, which is where I have inter-planted new ones to fill-in

But the tops look very smart now (a few years later ...)

 

(Wow Kristen - a big job!)

So Steer you would have (from back door to back fence), a paved area, a lawn area, and then at the back a patio and shed?

In that case maybe some borders along both side fences with some taller plantings or climbers to catch the eye/break up the fence panels?

The back patio could also be nice with a trellis of climbers, row of taller planting or arrangement of taller pots screening it off from the rest of the garden so when you are down there you feel surrounded by green.

What about a path leading down the back?

Or a small feature tree somewhere in the middle for interest and shade?

For lower maintenance plants, choose climbers that aren't too vigorous (less pruning) and hardy perennials that are perfectly suited for your conditions (walk around your town - notice which plants are growing happily in every second garden). Bulbs like daffodils and muscari are a low maintenance way to get some spring colour.

Did you have any plants in mind?

 

Sadly, yes. People who plant Leylandii just want a quick hedge. If it is cut regularly (probably 3 times a year) it will make a very smart hedge ... its when they get ignored, even for a season or two, that they are a problem ... and taking them out is a big job. I'm fortunate to have the space and funds to get equipment in ... my post was tongue in cheek, but gives an idea of what is involved to either replace or try to tame one that has been let go