Hi all,
Just bought my first place on the basis of it having an extra garden space at the end of the 'normal' garden which has been laid to lawn.
It was waist high in brambles which I've chopped up and am in the process of removing, and I've also discovered a fallen tree underneath the brambles which will be chopped into logs – I'm thinking I'll just stack them and let the bugs do their thing with it.
The ground is fairly steeply sloped towards the house, it's south east facing and gets sun for a good portion of the day at the moment, so I assume it will get more in summer.
My I initial thoughts are that I'll be planting a couple of shrubby trees or willows (cut down each year for weaving) down one side to give some privacy as it's overlooked by the neighbours. Other than that I'm stumped. Veg patch? Wildlife garden? Hit me with your sloped garden advice!
by amiiwu
16 Comments
Fruit bushes are a great idea, blackcurrant gooseberry (raspberry is a bit of a spreader and in my opinion best on the flat) climbing fruit like thornless blackberry, tayberry etc (the brambles seem to love the area these should thrive too) even try blueberries.
The dead wood you can feed through a chipper and compost or my preference get an old steel oildrum with the bottom cut out and just have a bonfire (gets rid of the bramble thorns so no thorns in your compost – ouch!) Big pieces of wood, yeah pile into a wildlife feature is a great plan too.
Hire a few goats to eat the bramble and clear the land
Looks like a great space that needs some love.
i would be building a small retaining wall at the back and using all the weeds and stuff to make a compost pile to build up the area into a terrace.
I love the idea of willow it’s so much easier to deal with than trees or hedges and you can use the branches to build more terraces. I would suggest keeping it in large pots until you are happy with the placement.
I keep an old beater petrol lawnmower for gardens like this. Remove all the big stuff then just keep running over the area eventually everything will start breaking down and all the weeds give up. (Gotta watch out for the shins doing this)
‘Willow’ is a genus that includes literally hundreds of species, hybrids and cultivars that range from tiny alpines <30cm tall to trees over 30m tall. They all have very invasive, hungry roots that will spread out a long way from the trunk, even when coppiced, and so are not compatible with most food crops. Do your research and think carefully about which varieties you use, though (as someone who grows 12 willow varieties for basketry) I would strongly suggest you plant something else.
Do you actually have the time, energy, knowledge and desire for a veg patch? It’s a significant lifestyle choice – you need to plan any holidays, weekends away etc around the peak times for sowing and planting and need to find a reliable and knowledgeable friend to babysit the garden if you ever go away in summer. Check out ‘Incredible Vegetables’ and the Agroforetry Research Trust for ideas on perennial crops that are easier to manage, and Harry Holding has a book coming out next year ‘Eat your Garden’ about using ‘edimentals’ – edible ornamentals.
But definitely grow fruit and herbs.
Bananas sunken hot tub and firepit intersperse veg and flowers !!
Trees are a great investment!
Salix viminalis (Common Osier) is a good variety for weaving. It grows 1 metre per year once established and takes well to cutting. They do like quite boggy soil so if yours is free draining, a raised bed would be needed. Ideally 1000L in volume.
How steep is it? Hard to tell from the pictures. Would you have the will and budget for a retaining wall? Gabion baskets are DIY friendly but hard work. You could partially level some of it this way but it depends what you would use it for.
If it isn’t too steep, I would go for a wood chip path with Sleeper steps where needed and then plant everything up. A couple of mixed hedges along the fence line, a few specimen trees and then cottage garden style planting with a few perennial crop plants (artichoke, asparagus, rhubarb, apples, plums, soft fruits, etc.) would be nice.
If you decide not to garden it a whole load of solar panels?
Or sell bits of it to the respective houses
Private dog exercising areas are quite popular as well.
Its pretty overlooked so if you want to garden, fruit trees and bushes and herbs would be low maintenance
Go ask ChatGPT to come up with a relaxing bijou garden or some other style, it worked for my daughter quite well
Consider as series of angled terraced pathways up to a sunny plateau.
Against the fence, English shrubs and the occasional tree to block the neighbours view into your garden.
In-between each terrace of the path, English wildflowers and chest high shrubbery (English of course).
The intention is decorative, functional mystery. The shrubbery means that the participant cannot see what is on the next level, inviting you to walk to the 3×3 terrace at the top where they’ll find a garden setting, a BBQ, or a bench for a quiet place to read. If you have kids, put a wooden fort up there.
Alternatively, you could place blackberries and raspberries against the fence where it is easy to maintain them, Peas and beans againstvthe other feence, alternating vegetables on each layer (Corn stalks to hide/create mystery, zuchinnis on a layer, beets, carrots on a well dug loamy terrace, etc.
Path from you yoice of pack sandy clay, golden pea gravel, white, grey etc
https://preview.redd.it/zqxdlvw5h3yf1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f92c32ac2abfb65ea3fa21e232f3bc64a962e92
Long sleeved welders gloves for brambles. They can’t penetrate them.
About 14 quid on amazon.
Step 1: get a goat. Let the goat eat the greenery.
Step 2: get a pig. Let the pig turn up the soil.
Good to do whatever after that!
Strawberry field.
Cherry grove.
Wildflower insect happy space.
Solar farm.
I went for a “low maintenance garden” with the feel of a woodland clearing crossed with something of interest all year round. A couple of small trees and shrubs around the edges with lots of spring bulbs. I’ve opted for flowering shrubs like lavender and fuscia and flowers that re-seed and come back year on year. For the lawn, I’ve encouraged daisies and buttercups as their roots go deeper so hold the moisture in and we have less lawn die off in a hot summer as a result. For some winter colour, there’s a type of Dogwood whose branches turn a stunning crimson colour once it’s shed it’s leaves and we have a winter flowering jasmine too. Stops it looking so bleak in the winter!
Good time spent on design – digger, muck away. Either retain the edges with a huge or better yet stagger it with some lovely flower beds (think stepped beds from high to low at the back) with a nice built seating area at the bottom.
Loads of options but yeah, a day of a hiring a digger, a drive and 4/5 muck aways and that will start to take shape!