how to get a beautiful garden

hi iam new on this site just bought a house with 2 acres of garden and land, the question is i don't know what to do with...

any tips pls

p.s i would like a dream looking garden no expenses spared.
thank you

 

Hire Dan Pearson.:wink:

 

Your not Prince Charles are you? :D

Welcome to the forum your Royal Highness. :D

 

Wouldn't we all lol.


Hi, welcome to GC. That is a big question................

First piece of advice is to wait and see what you have got there already, and then go visiting open gardens, they come in all shapes and sizes and give you plenty of good ideas.

 

Good advice from Claire. My advice, buy no plants yet. Get book, garden mags. and get to know what grows in your area. Spend the winter looking through the materials, make lists, draw diagrams.
And yes, go visit other gardens in your area and take notes. Any great garden takes--YEARS & YEARS to get great. Can't rush it.

 

My garden is a fair bit larger than yours, but I have been gardening for years, so have some knowledge that I have been able to use. Unlike you I have a tight budget!!, so mine is taking time to develop. (If you have time see My Blog which is the story of the projects we have started so far)

My DW and I have a folder of pages / pictures from magazines of things that we like, and I take photos of things that I spot - I went to a house-contents auction the other day, and they had a home-made pergola (something we have been wanting to construct to hide a part of our garden) and it has given me the idea for how to make ours. I took loads of pictures, and measurements, and we have friends coming to stay for a few days soon, so I'll get some wood in and put them to work!

Our neighbours don't know the name of a single plant in their garden, but it is truly fantastic. They spent money on a garden designer, and had the whole thing "built" for them, and it was definitely money well spent.

A bit further away from us some friends bought one of the Chelsea Flower Show Gardens! That's a VERY serious investment, but gets you an instant, mature, garden.

If you want large plants "instantly" then you can buy things that are semi-mature, or even fully-mature, at a price. For example, small hedging plants (say 2' tall) probably cost around £5 / metre and will be 5 - 10 years before they form a tight "mature" hedge. I have compromised and bought plants that are 5' tall (i.e. the tip is 5' from the ground, they aren't fully-formed to 5' :( ) and they were about £15 / Metre - I expect to have a "nice" hedge in 2 years and something that looks like it has always been there in 4 years. At the other extreme Practicality Brown do fully-formed tight hedges for £200 / Metre - you can plant them today and your visitors tomorrow would think they had been there forever!

Similarly with Trees. I am creating a Pleached Hedge (a hedge using trees that will be on clear stems about 2M tall, and then the hedge will be a further 2M to 3M tall above that). I bought baby trees (6/8 std which has a clear 6' stem, and then about 3' or 4' of branches above that, but they are only a few years old). They were about £30 each, and will take 5 years or so to form the "pleach", whereas "trained" plants start from around £150 for basic trained plants up to £300 - £500 per plant for mature plants

If you want a herbaceous border then that can be planted quite cheaply - say £2-£3 per plant on average, and depending on the final size of the plants they will probably be about 18" apart - so say about £4 - £5 per square metre. Those plants will give a reasonable showing in their first year, and be "mature" from year two onwards. However, they die down in the Winter, so there is no "show" during the winter.

If you plant Shrubs you are probably looking at £10 per plant, on average, and say about 1.5M apart on average - so about £3 - £4 per sq.M, but they will take 5 - 7 years to make a mature bed. Shrubs can be mixed so that some are evergreen, or flower in the Winter, and thus you can have colour and interest all year round.

In an area of 2 acres you may well be able to fit in some "woodland", which can be fun to walk through with friends and a glass in your hand! if you can design in a path with some "surprises" along the way - maybe an Arbour at the far end where you can stop, sit and sip!

You may want some "toys" too - have you got kids? 2 acres would give you room for a tennis court / badminton / croquette , swimming pool, football area if you have Boys - but not much else [depending a bit whereabouts within the plot the house is] other than a few nice borders to showcase it all.

Finally, growing your own vegetables would require an area dedicated to that.

 

" football area if you have Boys "


Kristen, I'm telling your DW that you said that lol, but by the by, excellent advice from Kristen there, and it's the way to go if you are interested in learning gardening-if you aren't buy a garden from a designer, it just won't ever be truly "yours" though, but I see the appeal if you have the wonga.

 

"I'm telling your DW that you said that"

Don't you dare ... I don't want to get involved in any more of that child-rearing malarkey!