Help converting a creepy garden

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and do not have a clue about gardening. We recently have moved into a house with a small garden and I am desperate to create some kind of an outdoor haven without too much hard work (probably a big ask, I know)! Anyway, the area we live in is somewhat woodland so we have far too many spiders and creepy crawlies everywhere which I would like to get rid of. Any help on that would be great!

Also on one side we have a very narrow border 30cm x 6m, which borders a fence and concrete garden path. I have no clue what to plant in there without it overgrowing onto the path. I have temporarily filled it with some gravel to stop the weeds coming through and initially thought of buying some bay/olive trees in tall planters to line up along it but totally not sure if that will work. Please help!!

 

firstly


and secondly can you give a little more detail, soil condition, which way your facing etc and maybe put up some pictures

 

Welcome, No greenfingers

Hmm, creepy crawlies are all a part of gardening and many are very benficial; spiders are something I've grown to live with and respect

Bays/olives in planters sounds like a wonderful idea, but, as chitting kaz mentions, to get the best advice, aspect, conditions and perhaps pictures would probably get you more detailed advice

 

Hi chitting kaz,

Thank you!

The garden is south-east facing. I don't know much about the type of soil or even how to work that out but it felt very dry with lots of big rocks in it (if that helps!). I've attached a pic looking out from the house. There are two trees on both sides of the neighbours gardens that have lifted the paving/path and drop a lot of leaves into the garden. I am thinking of asking the neighbours to have these pulled out especially for fear that the roots will damage the foundation of the house. Is that something that could happen with them being only 2-3 metres from the house?

You can see the narrow border on the right hand side of the image which I would like to do something with. Ideally I would like something low maintenance and preferably with some interest in the winter also.

Thanks!

 

Hi Mum,

Well I don't mind them so much in the plants (!!) but they are building webs all over the windows and doors to the garden so would like them away from the house. As you can tell I'm not very green!

 

LOL, ok, windows and doors it is then

Daily brush/wipe down is the simplest answer.

 

Thanks, I'll give that a go! Any suggestions for that narrow border and the tree roots lifting the paving/path?

 

The distance away from the house would very much depend on the type of tree. From the photo, it looks like a Cypress of some kind? You may find this page from Garden Law an interesting read to give you the information on foundation damage, tree roots and distances.

 

Thank you Mum. That is really helpful. I shall go and speak to my neighbour in the initial instance to see if we can come to some kind of agreement.

 

Hi No Greenfingers

I'm new to gardening too, sort of (have always grown indoor plants and taken cuttings etc, but still not same as making a garden!). I don't know a great deal, but looking at your garden I wondered what you had decided to do re the fencing? If it were mine I'd definitely use a pale wood dye to bring even more light into the garden. Have a look at my garden on this link to Flickr. I too have made my garden from scratch. I used white cuprinol wood dye and its just THE best fence colour, I think!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/humilesspiritu/

Lesley

 

Very nice garden, light, open, airy, colourful, different! I hate brown fences too and paint is a fairly easy way to make a radical difference to how the space looks.

 

I've only recently got a garden (so I'm a beginner) and can see that in some ways you're really lucky. Those paved areas might be a bit uneven and haphazard but you can use them for cramming in a load of pot plants and chairs. First I'd want to sort out that triangular area on the right, the bare lawn patches and the right-hand bed. What with those trees you look like you've got nice shadey areas and an area which probably gets more sun. So there's the potential to have a wide variety of plants there. If you start with things in pots you can move them around until you find the place they and you like best. If I were to start my garden attempts over again I'd deal with the weeds that I know will come, first. So with that border on the right, I'd take away the gravel and cover it in weed-proof membrane, then plant through it. I would reckon that in the long run, perennials planted in the soil will need less attention than things in pots. Whatever you plant, you'd only have to shear it once every two years probably to keep it off the path. But at least you could get something interesting going on there. Well, actually, since the bed's not too big I'd turn over the top surface first with a spade. If you turn it over, you'll have better plants for longer. A foot down will do since it's already a bed. Were there plants in it when you bought it?

You mentioned the soil type. Things look pretty green round there so you could just add nice soil when you plant things. What you can do is check the drainage in the bed and on that near bit of bare lawn. You dig a bigger than spade-sized hole and fill it with water. Ideally the water should be all gone after three days. If it drains too fast it's probably stoney or sandy so you can stick some organic stuff under the surface, like manure or compost to keep the water around longer.

If water stays around longer than three days then it may be peaty or look like modelling clay. So you can turn over the soil deeper and put in something to let the air in and stop the soil getting compressed; like sand, compost, peat (if its clay) or straw. Or else just raise the bed with more soil.

You neighbour is certainly responsible for his tree roots. If the branches are touching your house then the roots are probably there too. To block the roots from reaching your house you could dig a trench to below the roots and insert a vertical polythene sheet to stop the roots growing any further. That fence would be nice with a trellis and some climbers.

 

Hello and welcome.

I'd agree that creatures is all part of gardening. You can't get rid of them. Your house will always be full of moths if you dare to open the door or a window at night, and in about a month or so's time your house will fill with spiders, as they all come in looking for somewhere to live through the winter

The trees would be my biggest concern. They are clearly depriving your garden of sunlight, and will be robbing your ground of moisture and nutrients. I would guess that's why your grass is patchy.

They are clearly damaging your property, as they've clearly lifted your path (you can see it in the photo). Your neighbour has a legal obligation to sort that with you. I'd suggest you get them to lower the trees to a sensible height (under 8 ft, preferably less). If it were me, I'd also set about removing some of the roots from my side by digging around them then sawing them off. Its hard work but it pays off.

The battle for water and nutrients can be helped by enriching the soil on your side with loads of well rotted manure and a good chemical feed.

I think all of this needs to be done before you spend too much money on plants, because as it stands, the trees are always going to win in the competition for water, nutrients and light.