First time buyer. My first Garden.Needs modernising.Where to start!:-)

Hello,
as per the title, ive just moved in and lucky enough to have a quite a large garden.
Im a complete gardening novice.
ive put a few pictures up.

Id like to modernise the garden- on a shoestring budget.
Things id like to do include 1) turn the old and brick wall plant bedding into smooth textured white planing bed.
2)put edging on the lawn ( some of the lawns edges are curved)

3)paint patio stones . Is this possible?

4) turn raised multilevel patio area into decking (funds dependant)

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Badflaw. I'm sorry but your pictures aren't big enough for us to see properly and give you any help.

 

Thankyou, Ill go on an I.T forum and work out how to use s pc , then ill get back to the gardening !

Hello all

 

I really like that, it's got lots of potential. Is that a veg bed next to the patio? What are your plans?

 

Oh that is a great space! First of all, take your time! We all rush in and regret it afterwards. Read lots of books, research online. Watch gardening programmes. Keep a diary, note down ideas you like.
I really wouldn't get decking! It brings all sorts of problems, gets very slippy and is difficult to clean.

 

Try visiting any open gardens or stately homes/national trust sites with gardens as you may get some good ideas for design and which plants go well with each other.

Rusty

 

You have a lovely space to work with. I'm waiting to move into my new home and really wanted a garden but it just didn't fit my budget
I definitely agree with @Oldtyke . Take your time! Your garden has lots of potential and the best way to save money is to plan things, rather than make decisions and end up regretting and changing them in the future (something I'm very guilty of!)
Make sure to keep us updated- I'd love to see some progress

 

I think this will help quite a lot with stuff. Yeah, it's old, but the principle still remains.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+be+a+gardener

@Oldtyke is definitely right. Take your time, plan how you want things to be and organise them in to what you want to do first, and what can wait. Don't worry if things don't get done right away, or even at all, and don't worry if things need to be changed at a later date.

With regards to purchases, impulse buys are a no-no. Don't go round a garden centre to buy some cool stuff. Go around them to have a look around and use them as inspiration, even if it's just looking at the picture on a packet of weed&feed. If you see something you really feel you must buy, remember, it's a garden centre, it'll still be there in about a weeks time. Your memory of it may not be, in which case you didn't really want it after all.

I also agree on the decking comment. Decking on paper is fantastic. A brilliant way of making an effective raised and level area. In practicality, if you have it in the wrong place you could have a seating area that is cold, windy, and cause you to be falling over. A fast track to the waiting list for a hip replacement.

 

Hi Badflaw, lucky you to have such a good sized garden, it will be lovely over time and as all the others have said - don't rush in and don't buy any plants ....yet! Decking I'm afraid is a bit of a pain, not only can it get really slippy in our climate, it also can become a wonderful safe have for unwanted furry friends who feast on the food bits that drop through the gaps - and then it's really hard to get rid of them.

With a bigger project like this take time to plan - you have a prebuilt seating area anyway, around that you need a few strategic plants for some privacy from neighbours. Always round your patio have lots of scented plants, but nothing too shrubby (ie spiky).

Some of the borders are really too narrow, so I would remove those and turf to start with, it's cheap and easy to maintain whilst you begin to rethink the garden.

Then, stand by your window that overlooks the garden and open you eyes, what do you see first...and is it nice to look at?If the answer is no, then this is your starting point. Sit on your patio and think how do I feel, exposed, enclosed, it feels homely or barren - and how do I want to feel when I sit here. I know it sounds strange but gardens make you feel something, and that will determine the style, colour, format and plants you have. Me, I'm a kind of willowy, wafty softy wafty type who loves to smell scent, so I like my plants to move around without being dense 'statues' and I have plants that have scent from winter all year through.

Hope this leads you somewhere, but if you need any further advice...happy to help.

 

Hi, i'm a fellow gardening newbie also attempting to spruce up a garden. I was really intimidated at first due to knowing so little (and my garden is much smaller than yours!) so I decided to just keep things neat and tidy until I felt confident enough to get going (about 6 months later). In that time I just mowed the lawn, pulled up any obvious weeds and tried to identify what was already there. So the advice you're getting here of not rushing into things definitely worked for me! Good luck!