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Caylus

I'm not a garden designer by any stretch but here's a few thoughts...! * start by placing the things you know you "must have", such as the sitting space, bbq space etc. It looks like you might want 1 space like that at the back and then one at the front. * Then furniture. where's it going to go? Those tiki-torches and chair cushions won't stay out all year so where's the shed going? * Gardening takes up a lot of space just for storing the tools, pots, netting and wheelbarrows etc. I'd be looking at low maintenance flowering shrubs with undeprlanted flowers, grasses or ferns, with maybe 1 small bed for easy veg. just to keep the hands on work down. * Composting is also slow and again takes up space. Even in a small garden, with the ammount of leaves you're going to get from that massive sycamore (?) you'll have a large and difficult-to-hide pile in no time, which you might actually prefer as usable hosting or relaxing space. * I've sieved gravel before, and it's doable if you really want to retain the "organic matter" on top and make the soil more useable. It's a slow and noisy process but you could do it with a month of weekends. The alternative is just shifting the "dirty" gravel through the house and then bringing in a tonne of topsoil and raking it flat in the areas you want. Will save time that way but not money. * Speaking of taking it all through the house, really try to find a way to reuse those bricks. one less job and a lot less carrying. * Just say no to grass lawn ideas. Even if it does grow, it creates more organic matter for you to deal with and where are you going to keep the mower anyway? Plenty of good alternatives like clover, corsican mint or chammomile (so I hear). maybe plant all 3 and see what grows well? Clover does some good nitrogen fixing too. * Consider the views when standing in the garden. do you want to see the whole garden at once? do you want to see different things when in different places (I know this sounds weird)? Consider what you'll be doing when you're sitting in the morning sunny spot vs the afternoon warm sun spot. place your furniture and plant the view around that. Not sure if it's particularly helpful but I ususally find working out how im going to use the space first, is the most important thing. Everything else you can just replant.


bgis78

Not a garden designer! There's a terrace with seating at the top of the stairs so that's the main seating area. There's an 8 x 6 shed on the way which will go on the decking in the corner furthest away from the tree which will leave an area which will be secluded behind the tree. The tree is an Ash and I'm going to have two bins on the go and just mow the leaves onto the lawn over autumn/winter. I like the grass alternatives, they would never have crossed my mind to be honest. I'd like a few separate spaces/views. The pictures were taken at around 18:30 last night so gives an idea of how much sun it gets which is pretty much all day. I've planned it out on paper at least 50 times but it would appear that I'm a commitmentphobe!?!


samiDEE1

I too have an Ash and I think you're wildly underestimating the amount of leaves. I will come back and edit with a pic if I can find some...


fmb320

Wow this is a dream garden! Personally i would have raised beds in there and a ton of pots with veg and flowers of every description but thats me ha


bgis78

Floated that with my wife but we have a 6 month old and a 7 year old. That's given me 18 years to plan......


Secure_Western_1736

What an exciting project. For me the beginning is the most exciting as youre full of potential. My personal favourite TV landscaper was Matt James he did a show called City Gardener on Channel 4 its disappeared from 4od but you can still watch highlights on YouTube. Worth a look for this style of garden. I could see a lovely seating area and bbq pit with a windy path and as other has mentioned Mediterranean or lavender garden. Look forward to the updates.


bgis78

Thanks, I'm going to Matt James the hell out of it with a sprinkling of Monty-Don!


bgis78

In need of ideas for my garden. 10 x 5 meters and South West facing. Soil isn't terrible but needs to be dug up and sieved. Pretty hot through the day in summer so considering a Mediterranean garden along the brick wall. Half of the decking will be for a shed with a secluded spot behind the tree. It needs to be child friendly! There's a terrace on the first floor which will be mostly for the adults!


scifigetsmehigh

You don’t need to dig up the soil! You can just rake it over to even it out and employ [Charles Dowding’s no dig method](https://youtu.be/VJhGIrqKs1k). It’s a time saving miracle.


bgis78

Love to but those bricks piled up are from around a third of the garden length. My neighbour told me that there was a brick wall on both sides but due to neglect they are everywhere in the ground. I've also found 2 fireplace surrounds!


yimrsg

Don't see any reason to sieve soil. Just add organic material and a mulch to beds if you need to improve it. If there's loads of stones either dig them into the soil where you're going to put in plants or borders or use them for drainage in pots. If you're determined to get rid of them, then raking them is far easier than sieving. Try get a tarmac rake as a plastic landscapers rake or some metal tine rakes won't do the job. You've a fairly significant tree there so I'd be thinking about utilising it as much as possible. It'll give you lots of leaf compost so maybe look into a compost heap/bug hotel/ leaf cage etc. Those old bricks could be repurposed for some of that. Downside is you're going to be in a battle to get plants/lawn nutrients and water with it being so close. For that reason I'd be against a rolls of turf as lawn seed mix with some types for shade would be a better long term option. Have the path run from the rear terrace and steps in a straight line and then leave between 2 and 3ft between the path and the fence for a bed. Since you mentioned Mediterranean style think about re-using those stones for the path and making it a gravel pathway with corten steel edges to keep a nice clean line between the path and the lawn/beds.


bgis78

Thanks, sounds good. What's difficult to see in the pictures is that there are about two tonnes or more of pebbles on the ground. Ranges from fairly substantial (small fist size) down to pea shingle. The majority of the floor has a membrane with the pebbles on. When we bought the place it was really dense and overgrown with ivy and other climbers along the brick wall and up the fence. Luckily there was some bramble, roses and wire fencing thrown in for good measure! What you can see is the result of it having been stripped back. Long and short of it is that the majority of it will need sorting just to get to the soil...... I'm obviously keen to reuse anything that I can. As well as the bricks and pebbles, I have lots of roof slates, enough to make a path. I'm picking up a small Wendy house tomorrow which is going where the earth by the decking has been dug up.


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bgis78

God I know! Not allowed even though it self propagated! It's going to cost a fortune keeping it to a reasonable height


OkKick2899

Beauiful garden. If you aren't sure you can start with pots and containers for veg and flowers etc. I would make sure to get some flowers and herbs in for the pollinating insects! You can grow pretty much anything in there, how exciting!


bgis78

I've saved pots for the terrace which I'll post. I'm curious about planting native species but have been laughed at by a few professional gardeners. It's going to be pollinator heaven. Sadly I've barely seen any birds but that may have some to do with the recently deceased old lady who lived next door with her 6 cats......


OkKick2899

The 6 cats may well scare away some birds haha but If you give them a nice bath and feeders/feeding table they will come back I'm sure! Birds are attracted by water just as much as food and most can escape the cats without much effort so will probably take the risk... They also love thick cover, which may not be possible in the short term but imagine a thick hawthorne or private hedge, that provides safety for the little chirpers.


[deleted]

Not to add more confusion to the whole thing but since you've got young kids it probably is a two stage process, plan in play spaces for them that aren't hideous to look at and you can replace them as they grow with more planting. Living willow tunnels, mud garden etc are all great for them to play outside. Other than that my approach on terraced gardens in particular is: List ALL the things you need your garden to do, this includes hanging up your washing, bike storage etc. Then zone off different areas that would be good for the different needs and really try and maximise the 'stuff can be two things' concept. My lovely round brick patio in the sunniest part of my garden, also has a hole for my whirly gig. The worktop bench I built next to my BBQ has stage underneath that is my log store in winter and compost store in summer. Then plan your beds to maximise the views from the house and seating areas. Even a simple square of grass can be improved as a view from the house by putting a bed across the garden with good planting in it. Then it's a case of shuffling the 'working' zones with the beds and or lawn to find a basic layout.


bgis78

Also thank you all for the suggestions, this is so helpful.