I have recently moved into my very first House.
The Garden is a bit of a Mess and Im looking to transform it into someone really Special.

On a personal note, I have lived with my parents all my life and so done very little in the way of DIY or Gardening and so this may prove to be a challange for myself.

Ive taken some Pics of my Garden at present and also Drawn a little Plan.

Im looking for suggestions & creative ideas to what I could do with it. Suppose starting a Fresh is opening the Door to all sorts of Ideas, I just dont know where to start, let alone know if I could do it myself, with a little help from my Dad.

Id love to get some good ideas from all the experienced people, I admit Im a novice and know probably nothing.
Hopefully my Plan and Pics from different angles may explain everything better than I ever could.

Heres the Plan of my Garden

http://img328.imageshack.us/my.php?i...denplan1cu.jpg


Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

Pic 5


Blank Plan - if anyone is feeling creative

I am open to pretty much anything, I think the Poly Tunnel will be definitely being removed

Look forward to hearing from anyone who can offer me some advice

Thanks

Lee

On Wed, 31 May 2006 12:39:32 +0100, leeutalkin2me wrote
(in article ):

I have recently moved into my very first House.
The Garden is a bit of a Mess and Im looking to transform it intosomeone
really Special.

On a personal note, I have lived with my parents all my life and sodone very
little in the way of DIY or Gardening and so this may proveto be a challange
for myself.

It will be an excellent challenge and it will be such a satisfying one, too.
You have a blank canvas to do with as you wish and it will be entirely up to
you what you do, with few restrictions such as not annoying the neighbours!

Ive taken some Pics of my Garden at present and also Drawn a littlePlan.

Im looking for suggestions & creative ideas to what I could do with
it.Suppose starting a Fresh is opening the Door to all sorts of Ideas, Ijust
dont know where to start, let alone know if I could do it myself,with a
little help from my Dad.

The first thing to do is to regard it as 'eating the elephant' - a little at
a time! There's no pressure to do anything in a hurry, so don't be tempted
into that.

Id love to get some good ideas from all the experienced people, I admitIm a
novice and know probably nothing.

This group which is uk.rec.gardening, is full of people with a huge amount of
experience, a lot of experience, a middling amount of experience and
absolutely no experience! Everyone will be willing to help you and we'll
probably argue about our own ideas, too. ;-)

Hopefully my Plan and Pics from different angles may explain everythingbetter

than I ever could.

Heres the Plan of my Garden

http://tinyurl.com/qrdqz


'Pic 1' (http://tinyurl.com/mdhdd)

'Pic 2' (http://tinyurl.com/pv7uh)

'Pic 3' (http://tinyurl.com/o5t5f)

'Pic 4' (http://tinyurl.com/lvuvt)

'Pic 5' (http://tinyurl.com/pglgx)


'Blank Plan - if anyone is feeling creative'(http://tinyurl.com/no9nv)

I am open to pretty much anything, I think the Poly Tunnel will bedefinitely
being removed

I really, really wouldn't do that. It's too early to take away something
that you are almost certainly going to find extremely useful and which will
be expensive to replace. When you really get going on your garden and want
new plants for it, you're going to cherish your tunnel as your best friend
for raising seeds and bringing on cuttings people will give you, or tiny
plants you buy at plant sales etc. It will be invaluable.

Look forward to hearing from anyone who can offer me some advice


I'd take it rather as you take a new house. Live with it for a while, see
what grows in it, if anything does. See where the sun falls at noon for the
sunniest parts and the shadiest parts. See if bits of it get especially dry
or are particularly boggy after rain. See where you want to sit in it at the
end of a day working in it! Figure out where you will put a washing line or
perhaps a dog or cat area. You may want to pave part of it eventually so
that it catches the evening sun and is a good place to eat supper and so on.
Then, you start by putting in the 'bones', like hedging or any fruit or
ornamental trees and so on. Visit all the open gardens in your area that you
can and ask for the names of the plants that you particularly like and how to
grow them, keep them in trim and so on. Most gardeners are very keen to pass
on their knowledge and like helping others to enjoy a hobby that gives them
so much pleasure.
Find a good nursery in your area that has staff who can give advice and
answer questions and choose the least busy times to go there, too, if you
need to chat to them! Bank Holidays tend to be NOT a good time for that. ;-)
Just keep the weeds/grass mown for now and let it all sink in gradually.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
email address on web site

Im looking for suggestions & creative ideas to what I could do with it.
Suppose starting a Fresh is opening the Door to all sorts of Ideas, I
just dont know where to start, let alone know if I could do it myself,
with a little help from my Dad.
Look forward to hearing from anyone who can offer me some advice


I'm not experienced, but it strikes me that the fences are very low and you
don't have much privacy, so how about some sort of screening from next door?
There are various kinds. That may lead you to find a suitable place for the
'seating area'.

I'd tend to agree that the polytunnel will have to go eventually (the breeze
blocks aren't too nice).

Androo

Im only responsible for one Fence. However Theres no harm in planting some Bushes or small Trees inside the Fences.

leeutalkin2me wrote:
I have recently moved into my very first House.

You're lucky - a blank canvas to play with! As Androo suggested,
privacy I think is a good idea. I don't know where the sun comes up,
where it sets, so perhaps that's also a start. If you plant trees for
privacy, you might have problems with your neighbours. Perhaps they
will like it, perhaps not. Have a word before you start planting. You
need to start slowly, you won't do everything in one single year. By
the wall looks like a good place for a quiet sitting area. Put a fence
there so you won't see your neighbours bin, and grow an evergreen
climber. It will give you privacy in winter too. The white wall is a
wonderfull place to grow tall bright flowers in pots, choose perennial
plants which will come back the following year. Salvia are beautiful
against a white background and grasses would give movement to the
corner.

Check this for inspiration

http://www.crocus.co.uk/
http://www.mygarden.me.uk/chicgardens.htm

Then make your way along the garden. If you keep the grass for a while
and feel you need more space - then remove the grass. But I would keep
it and just cut it.

Around the poly tunnel, which I would keep for storage, I would start
to plant lots of herbs - it would soften the bricks and green looks
good on grey. At the back of it I would plant a feature tree -
something which would give you depth and something to focus on instead
of resting on the ugly, but useful, poly tunnel. The bear earth looks
like its got cabbages on it?! Do you want to grow vegetables? Perhaps
that would be the place to start. I would dig it and add manure - lots
of it to prepare it for next year sowing.

Across I would raise the fence. At first I thought that was your kids
pen! You ought to raise that side and against it you could plant so
many shrubs - there's hundreds easy to maintain, some you don't even
need to prune. Look at pictures of gardens in a book shop. You don't
need to buy the books. On line gives you lots of idea. Just google for
urban or city gardens. Don't think you can't achieve anything. Like you
I had a very sad looking garden. Now I have lots of people trying to
get a look at it, but it took me 8 years!

I would have lots more ideas but I don't know what you like ....?!?

"leeutalkin2me" wrote in message
...

I have recently moved into my very first House.
The Garden is a bit of a Mess and Im looking to transform it into
someone really Special.

On a personal note, I have lived with my parents all my life and so
done very little in the way of DIY or Gardening and so this may prove
to be a challange for myself.

Ive taken some Pics of my Garden at present and also Drawn a little
Plan.

Im looking for suggestions & creative ideas to what I could do with it.
Suppose starting a Fresh is opening the Door to all sorts of Ideas, I
just dont know where to start, let alone know if I could do it myself,
with a little help from my Dad.

Id love to get some good ideas from all the experienced people, I admit
Im a novice and know probably nothing.
Hopefully my Plan and Pics from different angles may explain everything
better than I ever could.

Heres the Plan of my Garden

http://tinyurl.com/qrdqz
'Pic 1' (http://tinyurl.com/mdhdd)
'Pic 2' (http://tinyurl.com/pv7uh)
'Pic 3' (http://tinyurl.com/o5t5f)
'Pic 4' (http://tinyurl.com/lvuvt)
'Pic 5' (http://tinyurl.com/pglgx)
'Blank Plan - if anyone is feeling creative'
(http://tinyurl.com/no9nv)

I am open to pretty much anything, I think the Poly Tunnel will be
definitely being removed
Look forward to hearing from anyone who can offer me some advice
Thanks Lee

I'd personally want to create some privacy with either tall plants and/or
fencing.

Make a list of all the things you want to do outside, like sitting area,
BbQ, washingline (?), veggie growing etc. once you know what you need to fit
into the space, you can start planning.

Borrow books from the library - watch TV shows (!), look over other peoples
fences, join a garden group in your area.

I have some links for designs on my garden homepage that might inspire you:
http://www.ljconline.nl/garden/indexgarden.htm

Jenny