The garden is still a little work in progress but so far it changed already quite some bit. (Not yet cleaned up 🙂 )
The gras slope is just missing topsoil and grad and the left side is a foundation for a greenhouse and stairs to the side garden which is still currently walled in.
Garden is south facing. The back wall part has quite some shadow hours during the day.
Just want to know what people think and am open for ideas or feedback of flowers or plants/projects at the shadow corner 🙂
by Initial_Economics127
7 Comments
Musa basjoo!! They are lovely!
Id be turning that top shelf into a wildflower patch. Maybe some ferns, especially in the shady part.
Amazing transformation! You’ve created so many spaces and ‘rooms’ to experiment with! I think a climber and trellis could work well on either of your side walls. Keep us updated, this is lovely.
Out of interest, what was the budget you had for this and how much did you do yourself to keep it down?
It’s great but there’s a lot of breezeblock on show, I’d prioritise trying to cover those areas up with foliage on the shorter walls and climbers on the larger walls.
I think you need more bushy plants and some more evergreens to soften the look, and a few trailing plants to cascade over the hard edges. Have a search for evergreens to mid-height, maybe put 2-3 in. It’s good to vary the leaf colour. Maybe some flowering shrubs too – I love a peony, ceratostigma, cistus etc. Think about adding bulbs later in the year, maybe agapanthus and alliums plus some spring flowering bulbs. I’d put a big climber in on the top fence too, and you’ll want a trellis for that.
I’d personally sacrifice some of that lawn for deeper planting on the upper level but that might be a project for the future. I doubt you’ll use that top level much and it’s a great space to add fruit trees. I’d at least add a small tree top right, weeping cherry is a favourite at the moment or I like a Himalayan birch.
I’d add some trailing plants on the small drops. Trailing rosemary is reliable. I’ve persuaded aubretia to trail over an edge. Snow in summer or ice plant can also trail. Hottentot fig too (but I think this is invasive, maybe do some research). A cheap short term trailing plant is nasturtium, you can sow them now if you act quickly. With a new garden like this I’d think about perennials (basically everything I’ve listed) rather than annuals (petunias etc in six packs from the supermarket) as it’s more cost effective long-term to plant perennials that return year on year.
I think you have done a really good job there and I like the design. Putting those levels in has made it so much more interesting. What you need now is planting, and time for things to grow.
It’s difficult because you have all those endless possible directions to go in in terms of the sort of feel you want from the planting but please try and make it bee friendly, poor things need all the help you can give them. I agree with the other commenter about softening the hard edges with plants but I really like what you have done with the space.