Garden Ideas!!

LSainsbury · 08-02-2009, 18:19

Hi all,

Hopefully sometime soon (lol!) Spring will arrive and we are wondering what to do with our garden.

We moved in in Feb last year and not much has changed apart from a fence being put up between and next door.

Anybody got any ideas what we can do with it?!

We'd like to remove the "squareness" of and perhaps entend the patio to the fence...

Cheers
Lee

Scrubbs · 08-02-2009, 18:28

grow your own veg? couple of little plots up the top and some potato bins maybe a pergola in the gap with some jasmine
A bird table is good but goes need regular cleaning
I don't think I would go for decking as apparently they do get slippy over time

Halcyon · 08-02-2009, 19:32

You could put a few climbing pot plants at the bottom of the fence on the top bit of the garden that would grow up and cover the fence that seperates the top and bottom part of the garden.

Taf · 08-02-2009, 19:46

New build? If so that new turf might hide a lot of building rubble, so soil improvement will be first priority.

Find south, and then see what areas of your garden get most sun.

Test your soil (if there is any of significant depth).

Check that that raised area is properly contructed and has adequate drainage... just in case it decides to collapse in the future. The timber frontage should hopefully hide heavy earth-retaining blockwork.

That drop away on the right of the first photo looks very odd.

Hopefully those aren't Leylandii (spit spit) to the rear of your garden!

If you have small children (or are planning one some, the gap under the bottom rail on the raised area might need to be blocked off (trellis, etc).

What do you want to do in your garden? Grow food, flowers, bbq, kids' play area, chill out?

LSainsbury · 08-02-2009, 19:49

Forgot to say - those photos are of the garden when we first moved in.

We have added a few pots to the patio, a bird table and a feeding station.

We have also moved the water butt to the back the rear of the shed next to the fence instead of bing stuck out near the front.

We grew some spuds in planters on the patio last year and will be doing it again this year, unless I get my way of a raised bed!!

08-02-2009, 19:51

Id deck the raised area

LSainsbury · 08-02-2009, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

New build? If so that new turf might hide a lot of building rubble, so soil improvement will be first priority.

Yep - new build. Yes it does - we put a few semi-circle areas next to each fence and quite a lot of crap came up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

Find south, and then see what areas of your garden get most sun.

It's east facing so the sun comes up and over the graden during the day and then dips behind next door until later in the evening it re-appears between the gap and the sunlight gets to the top right area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

Test your soil (if there is any of significant depth).

Not sure about the PH level but I believe it's quite deep apart from the rubble underneath.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

Check that that raised area is properly contructed and has adequate drainage... just in case it decides to collapse in the future. The timber frontage should hopefully hide heavy earth-retaining blockwork.

Not sure what's behind the timber front!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

That drop away on the right of the first photo looks very odd.

Yeah - house was built on an old field and does slope down.
To extent the patio, that would have to be leveled out...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

Hopefully those aren't Leylandii (spit spit) to the rear of your garden!

Don't think so - some holy / evergeens I think - they are not in our property but do overhang when grown. (snip! snip!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

If you have small children (or are planning one some, the gap under the bottom rail on the raised area might need to be blocked off (trellis, etc).

Yes indeed. We have niece and nephew come up who live down the road - they are 6 & 9 - I don't think they will able to get through there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

What do you want to do in your garden? Grow food, flowers, bbq, kids' play area, chill out?

LOL! All of the above!!

---------- Post added at 20:03 ---------- Previous post was at 20:02 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

Id deck the raised area

Next door have done exactly that - looks great!

DaiNasty · 08-02-2009, 20:07

I'd suggest you lift a bit of turf on the raised section and dig down a bit behind the timber. With luck you'll find the top of a retaining wall.

LSainsbury · 08-02-2009, 20:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaiNasty

I'd suggest you lift a bit of turf on the raised section and dig down a bit behind the timber. With luck you'll find the top of a retaining wall.

I'll ask the neighbours what they found as they dug out the top layer of soild in order to put a base down for the decking!

I know they found a manhole cover and had to change direction of some of the base!

brundles · 08-02-2009, 20:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSainsbury

I'll ask the neighbours what they found as they dug out the top layer of soild in order to put a base down for the decking!

I know they found a manhole cover and had to change direction of some of the base!

A buried manhole cover? Wonderfully useful!

What is it with builders and things like that? Turns out our entire estate was built with watermeters pre-installed but the builders never kept any record of what meter was connected to what house and didn't tell the water company so they couldn't use them

DaiNasty · 08-02-2009, 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSainsbury

I'll ask the neighbours what they found as they dug out the top layer of soild in order to put a base down for the decking!

I know they found a manhole cover and had to change direction of some of the base!

I see you have a manhole in the centre of the lower lawn area. That complicates the design as well. I was going to suggest a central feature, perhaps a triangular or angled square bed to break the garden up into separate 'rooms' but the access pit obviously has to remain uncovered.
Shame.

LSainsbury · 08-02-2009, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaiNasty

I see you have a manhole in the centre of the lower lawn area. That complicates the design as well. I was going to suggest a central feature, perhaps a triangular or angled square bed to break the garden up into separate 'rooms' but the access pit obviously has to remain uncovered.
Shame.

I was going to set some bricks / small slabs into the grass to make a walkway to the raised level.

And I've just been informed by Ms LSainsbury that the builder have cemented the cover so it can't be opened!!! LOL! Not sure if that was done on purpose!!

DaiNasty · 08-02-2009, 20:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSainsbury

And I've just been informed by Ms LSainsbury that the builder have cemented the cover so it can't be opened!!! LOL! Not sure if that was done on purpose!!

It's probably an "Elf and Safety" requirement these days..

Consider running the path with a curved approach, this will help to break up the basic squareness of the garden.

08-02-2009, 20:41

if you make a gravel path you can cover it as it will still be easy to access

The Hitman · 08-02-2009, 20:42

You could always buy a BBQ. Then invite me round for some of your tasty grills