Advice Welcome on Terrace Garden Project Please!

Hi all,

Totally novice gardener here and looking for some advice on a weird terrace garden.

I have levelled the top part of my back garden and the plan is to add a lawn to this (as well as to the lower level) as well as eventually add some lovely creeper plants on both levels. I am based in Edinburgh and couple of pics attached to give you an idea.

Some questions I have as follows:

Can I lay turf at any time of year? I know winter is approaching but is it ok to lay in say Dec / Jan as long as no frost?

What is the best turf to get as an all rounder in terms of cost, aesthetics and robustness?

Can you please recommend a good mixed sand / topsoil and how much should I use as a basis given that I plan to grow plants? The soil I dug out is a heavy clay type.

In terms of creeper plants, any recommendations for good creepers that are quite tough to withstand wind but will grow quite quickly and get up to a height of ~ 4m? I am thinking of buying in some pre-grown plants to speed the process up a bit - any tips? Can I plant the creeper plants at any time of the year?

Many thanks in advance for any advice

 

Looking at the size of the top section there, it doesn't look like you've got more than about 8ft of top terrace. I'd honestly question whether grass is worth it there, given the size. Getting the mower up and down is going to be a pain, for not really much benefit.

You could make the back fence look less imposing with plants in front of it. A 3ft border with tall shrubs at the back will sort that out. Then paving on the rest. That'd give you a nice sun-trap for sitting out when it's sunny. (Or *if* it's sunny - this is Scotland.

My favourite plant for covering the retaining wall would be a wisteria. They're reasonably fast growing - you'll have most of it covered in 2-3 years - but not so fast that they take over. And they're fairly easy to prune. The downside is that they do need wires to grow along, and occasional training along those wires. But they're much easier to keep under control than things like ivy or Virginia creeper. You can also add clematis to grow through it too, or annual sweet peas.

 

Hi Graham,

Many thanks for your input and some good advice to consider!

Thanks again!

 

I agree with Graham B - if it were me, I wouldn't go down the lawn route .

I see that your neighbour has a small border at the back of their lawn - I'd tend to have the whole area as a border. I'm not a great fan of lawns in a garden - they do have their place - but IMHO flower beds are far better. Something to look at from your property, and if you choose plants carefully you can have a nice display throughout the year.

I also have a terraced garden on heavy clay soil - in terms of climbers - honeysuckle thrives and once established grows rapidly. Roses grow well in clay soil - if you wanted you could plant a climbing rose against the fence and some shrub roses in front of these.

The other tip is perennials at the back and annuals at the front - so you can have a change of colour each year - some trailing plants on the edge - Lobelia Crystal Palace and Alyssum Snow Princess look fab when displayed next to each other.

There's nothing wrong with using pots if you want to grow something that doesn't like clay soil - but try to stay away from plastic pots - use terracotta. Plants will grow better in terracotta as the pots are porous and let air get to the roots. Also be wary of over watering - too much water and the roots will be starved of air. More plants are killed by over watering than under watering.

Have a look on the 'Gallery' tab on this forum and you can see what I have growing in my own terraced garden .

In terms of when to plant - as a rule of thumb - as long as the soil is not frozen - then you can put plants in. Pot grown plants are available all year - loose root only when the plants are dormant.

Be interested to see some more pics as the garden develops .