Recently bought my first home, I’ve limited knowledge on gardening/lawncare (pretty much mower makes grass short). And looking on any advice on next steps for the garden or where to go next.
Pics 1-3: where I started & where I’m currently at. Honestly I’m happy with what I’ve done so far and it’s definitely much better than it looked, but the areas at the edges really bug me.
Pics 4 & 5: the main problem areas, the bottom right of pic 5 will gather water when it rains.
by matt-on-two
15 Comments
It has potential. It’s a fun project you’ll get to work on for many years to come. I’m jealous!
It’ll take years to get it just right but that’s fine. Mow, prune and dig some beds in and you’re well on the way
EDIT/MORE INFO: Just a bit more information about the garden, behind the bushes/trees at the back there is a storm drain/culvert.
My current plan (on the long list of other renovations that come with a first home) is to put up a fence along the back and on my side of the fence posts against the neighbours.
The main use of the garden will just be for socialising and a place to just relax in.
It will take time, do a bit at a time plan your projects
This will be so much fun
That looks great! There’s loads of stuff growing – just think, you could have a new build with 2 inches of soil over builder’s rubble…
Scope for plenty of exploring & finding out what you’ve got, and whether you like it.
How about a pond & a bog garden for the wet bit?
I’ve just got a huge plastic bucket thing from Lidl (£5.99! 😁) to make into a wee pond!
This is a nice space and you’re doing fine. Lawnmower makes grass flat is a good place to start 🤣. Cut back anything else that looks messy/is too big/ you don’t like and you’ve done all you need to until you’re ready to take next steps.
You think that’s bad, you should have seen mine when I moved in.
It’s a garden and it’s green, what’s the problem?
It looks pretty good to me, especially after the work you have done already. As is often the advice here, which genuinely worked well for me, you should probably wait until next year before doing anything too drastic.
Just wait to see how use the garden, see how it reacts to different weather, take your time to figure out what you want to do.
Unpopular opinion: it looks awesome as is.
That looks fine TBH. Lots of stuff already growing. I’d probably neaten up the edges of the beds and reseed and top-dress the lawn this year and then see what else grows and whether you like it or not. Then when you’ve seen it year round, you can make better plans for what you want to change and what you want to keep. See where you get sun and shade so you can get appropriate plants.
You’re going to love it.
Seed and mow. Let the grass grow, let the garden do its thing for a year.
Take photos, then plan for next year. I’m guessing that lawn will flood in heavy rain. Might be worth dropping a ton or 2 of top spoil on there and raising the lawn height.
For now, just paint the fence and create some borders, let the grass grow and come next year, you’ll have a better idea of what you want to do.
That is going to be a really fun project!