Recently bought this place.
Killed some Leylandii, but got more to kill later this year.
Not sure where to start with the garden planning. It's north facing, but also so big that sun gets to the back no problem. So I think lawned area to front, with 'features' where the sun hits.
Have two young children.
The big trees are apple and we like them. Going to put a hammock between them in summer.
The remaining border trees are also Leylandii and will come out for (possibly) yew. Need something there due to the overlooking house on the left.
The soil might be clay but I don't really know how to tell. It could also just be compacted.
I've set up some composters already.
That's as far as I got! Any help welcomed.
by pr2thej
7 Comments
Take stuff tip?
Think a little pond would be a good addition, maybe some raised flowerbeds down the sides?
Both are relatively cheap options you can do fairly easily yourself as well.
Personally, I’d just throw grass seed over the borders. Bit less maintenance if you’re having to mow the rest of the grass anyway.
Use a spade to dig a bit of the soil out and if you can roll it into a ball like playdoh then it’s clay
Back to School to re-sit English.
Are you near any green public spaces that your children could use growing up instead of your garden?
I appreciate this is a gardening post, but I grew up with a similar sized garden and made some amazing memories there. Are you debating the overall layout/use case of the garden, or are you after “sprucing up” tips like adding some nice border plants?
I’d be *very* wary of having a hammock hanging off those apples trees. Surefire disaster.
You’ve got a decent height of fence on the right, you could get some wire or trellis up and put in some climbers to take advantage of the height? Thinking clematis, jasmine, climbing rose, all the usual. Not sure if you’d want to paint it first but it’s easier to do it before.
Then you can just put some bulbs and low maintenance perennials/shrubs along the foot of it?
I’m assuming you want to keep most of the lawn for the kids.
I’d honestly keep the leylanddi, it’s been kept in check so you won’t have to cut it back hard and get the inevitable brown dead bits and it’ll take a while for any replacement to match it in height.