Many of us are faced with a new garden to tackle when we move house and can be at a loss to know what to do with it. Site member Karen Davis was, but she's received a few helpful suggestions...
'Having done your all-essential plan, you need to look carefully at the site and take note of the aspect and what parts are going to be in sun or shade at various times of day.'
Many of you site members tell us on the Forum that you are stuck with a garden you don't know what to do with – or you think you know what you want, but you're not sure how to go about putting it into place.
Karen Davis is in a fix that many of us are familiar with – how to tackle a new garden that comes with a new house. She writes:
'I've just moved into a new house and have inherited a new garden with it! It's fairly plain at the moment with just a few shrubs, and it's about 100ft long. I'm desperate to start planting borders, possibly a few vegetables and more, but I am overwhelmed by starting the project. Has anyone got any recommendations of how to go about this?'
Consider the aspect
Gardening.co.uk expert Mary Payne responds:
'Having done your all-essential plan, you need to look carefully at the site and take note of the aspect and what parts are going to be in sun or shade at various times of day. You also need to think about the soil. Is it sandy or reasonable, or heavy clay? What areas are wet or dry? What is the pH? This will tell you what you can and cannot grow as far as acid-loving plants are concerned. A simple, cheap pH-testing kit is available from your local garden centre.
What are the neighbours up to?
An alternative is to look and see what your neighbours grow. If their hydrangeas are blue, the soil is probably acid and if they are pink, it is likely to be neutral to alkaline.
Then draw up a wishlist of what features you would like, e.g. a pond, veg garden, fruit cage, rose garden, sandpit, shed etc, and play around putting these onto your plan in the most appropriate areas.
Veg needs plenty of light, whereas the sandpit and shed could go in shadier areas.
This approach will enable you to get a good idea of where to put things and the sizes that are appropriate.Have fun and enjoy the planning phase.'
Keep it simple
'I'd recommend keeping it simple to start with,' advises Val Bradley. 'Make sure you can get to the bin and the clothes line with dry feet, for instance. Then I'd get to know your neighbours – gardeners always have plants to give away and it's a great way to fill it up quickly, even if you clear them away in a few years as you develop your own scheme. Local gardens that are open to the public (
Yellow Book gardens) are a good source of ideas and they often sell plants too.'
Long and thin?
I would add that Karen's garden, at 100ft, might be rather like mine – long and thin. Fortunately, the couple we brought the house from had done a garden design course and had managed to create a good structure for this shape by creating several different compartments.
So, from the kitchen back door, we start with a raised concrete patio with pots, leading down steps to a winding path with borders on each side; leading to a decked area on gravel with table and chairs and, hopefully, more pots; leading to a greenhouse on gravel with water butts surrounding it; leading to an area of several raised beds with a bark chipping mulch to the ground; leading to a wildlife pond and a compost heap beyond; leading to an area of open ground for growing potatoes and more veg. Phew! That's 170ft long Karen. I would say break it up (your garden I mean) and the winding path is a clever tactic for making a narrow space look wider. Good luck!
Incidentally, the new Yellow Book for 2007 goes on sale this month in all good bookshops - well worth investing in a copy.(Sarah B, editor – Gardening.co.uk)
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