Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ... the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4 foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

"Staceyxxx" wrote


Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??


Welcome to URG (even if you come via gardenbanter) :-)
If you want us to ID your trees and shrubs then you need to photograph them
when in leaf/bloom and post them to either one of the free internet photo
sharers like Flickr and post a link here, or do it the Gardenbanter way
which is similar.
First thing to do is to get everyone in the house to write down
independently what they would like in the garden marking what they consider
is essential. Then sit together and thrash out a list of must have's and
wants. Only then can you start to plan out your new garden taking care
regarding sun and privacy etc. No good having a nice sitting/BBQ area that
is always in shade when you come home from work.

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"Staceyxxx" wrote in message
...

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??


The 10 X 4 space will make an excellent bed for salad crops, although they
probably won't enjoy choking on exhaust fumes.

Assuming the coal "house" is one of those concrete bunker affairs, it's a
rady made compost bin.

And if you really need telling what to do with a shed, then I despair.

Steve

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
"Staceyxxx" wrote


Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??


Welcome to URG (even if you come via gardenbanter) :-)
If you want us to ID your trees and shrubs then you need to photograph
them when in leaf/bloom and post them to either one of the free internet
photo sharers like Flickr and post a link here, or do it the Gardenbanter
way which is similar.
First thing to do is to get everyone in the house to write down
independently what they would like in the garden marking what they
consider is essential. Then sit together and thrash out a list of must
have's and wants. Only then can you start to plan out your new garden
taking care regarding sun and privacy etc. No good having a nice
sitting/BBQ area that is always in shade when you come home from work.

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK


Also where you are in the country and what sort of exposure you have, i,e,
on the coast with no protection from the Atlantic gales, or stuck in the
middle of a city with high rise all around me

Mike

--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................

"Staceyxxx" wrote in message
...

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??




--
Staceyxxx

Stacey I expect you will be advised to look around your neighbourhood and
see what grows. Some plants like some soils some don't.

Possibly you don't know what the plants are in your garden, but if you take
a few pictures when they start to leaf up, or if you have any already, post
them as I have here http://www.myalbum.com/Album=MUKLG34Q for
everybody to see. As you will observe our gardens are only small and have
'evolved' over a long time, somewhere near 25 years in this case.

No I am not the gardener, my wife is the one and has over 50 years of
experience.

Good luck.

Mike

--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................

There are so many different things you can do i think the first thing to do is go and get a book for some ideas.

Also buy a good general book (the cheap ones are rarely good) on how to do gardening like the RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening, and, as you flick through it, try to distinguish between things that sound like hard work you don't want to do, and things that sound like more what you want to do.

Find out what the bushes and trees that are already in your garden, and remember that it can take many years to get a plant to maturity, and moving well-established plants is often not possible, so consider carefully before you rip them out. Even if it is something you currently think you hate, a bit of pruning and maintenance might turn it into a very useful and attractive shrub. Nevertheless, there were quite a lot of plants in the neglected garden I took over that I nevertheless decided to remove, including quite a few of the trees.

One thing in gardening is "improving the ground". I have horribly stony soil - if I sift the soil about 25%-30% of it is pebbles. Easy-grow hard-to-kill plants will grow despite it. However to make a vegetable patch, and to plant things that prefer soil to pebbles, I have had to sift tons of pebbles out of the garden, and do much repeated addition of compost to the soil to improve it. This is very hard work. If you are lucky you have nice soil already, but if you don't then bear in mind that growing just what you want and making it look like the Chelsea Flower Show, and/or for food cultivation, will require a lot of work in soil improvement.

On 2013-02-07 13:48:54 +0000, Staceyxxx said:

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

We can probably all help you ID the shrubs and trees you have once they
start into leaf and/or flower. But it helps to advise people if we know
where you live, which way the garden faces, if there are any sunny
areas or heavily shaded areas etc. Then you have to think how you're
going to use the garden. Are you going to have an enclosure for the
dogs to keep them off the rest of the garden, for example and if so, do
you want a shelter in it or some shade trees over it? Do you want a
washing line and do you have children who need play space - a swing, a
trampoline, for example? Would you like an area to sit in that faces
south and west so that you get sun for that evening drink or supper
outside? And in the meantime, if you cut the grass, your garden will
instantly look better!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 07/02/2013 17:06, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-02-07 13:48:54 +0000, Staceyxxx said:

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

We can probably all help you ID the shrubs and trees you have once they
start into leaf and/or flower. But it helps to advise people if we know
where you live, which way the garden faces, if there are any sunny areas
or heavily shaded areas etc. Then you have to think how you're going to
use the garden. Are you going to have an enclosure for the dogs to keep
them off the rest of the garden, for example and if so, do you want a
shelter in it or some shade trees over it? Do you want a washing line
and do you have children who need play space - a swing, a trampoline,
for example? Would you like an area to sit in that faces south and west
so that you get sun for that evening drink or supper outside? And in
the meantime, if you cut the grass, your garden will instantly look better!


Or you could just start by posting a couple of photos of the garden as
it is now. one from the house and one looking back at the house from the
end of the garden.

"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 07/02/2013 17:06, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-02-07 13:48:54 +0000, Staceyxxx said:

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

We can probably all help you ID the shrubs and trees you have once they
start into leaf and/or flower. But it helps to advise people if we know
where you live, which way the garden faces, if there are any sunny areas
or heavily shaded areas etc. Then you have to think how you're going to
use the garden. Are you going to have an enclosure for the dogs to keep
them off the rest of the garden, for example and if so, do you want a
shelter in it or some shade trees over it? Do you want a washing line
and do you have children who need play space - a swing, a trampoline,
for example? Would you like an area to sit in that faces south and west
so that you get sun for that evening drink or supper outside? And in
the meantime, if you cut the grass, your garden will instantly look
better!


Or you could just start by posting a couple of photos of the garden as it
is now. one from the house and one looking back at the house from the end
of the garden.

Stacey you will see that some posters on uk.rec.gardening don't read
previous postings. Don't let this bother you. It's just that urglers, as
they are called, are a funny possessive bunch. As you will have observed, a
slight dig has already been made at gardenbanter :-)

Mike


--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................

On Thursday, 7 February 2013 13:48:54 UTC, Staceyxxx wrote:
Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..



i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...

the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they

are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..



the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a house.. it

has a shed & coal house..



the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot by 4

foot.



Any ideas what i can do with these??

You need to give some thought to how you can protect the garden from the dogs,
they can be trained to keep off borders - listen to GQT's Bunny Guinness on this. Kids playing on grass fouled by dogs is bad, so is strimming unawares through a pile of said mess (you soon will be aware).
Dogs crashing through borders and digging in the lawns and borders can be very damaging and expensive and dispiriting if you've put a lot of work in.
Don't get me wrong I quite like dogs but you do need to manage the interaction of dogs with the garden.
My favourite image from years ago and in somebody elses garden and the dog was garden owner's dog thank goodness. A big fat Lab laughing all over it's face and carrying a mouth full of peacock plumes crashing back through the herbaceous border it had just crashed through in hot pursuit of the peacock from next door.

Rod

On 07/02/2013 18:12, 'Mike' wrote:



"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 07/02/2013 17:06, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-02-07 13:48:54 +0000, Staceyxxx said:

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a
house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot
by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

We can probably all help you ID the shrubs and trees you have once they
start into leaf and/or flower. But it helps to advise people if we know
where you live, which way the garden faces, if there are any sunny areas
or heavily shaded areas etc. Then you have to think how you're going to
use the garden. Are you going to have an enclosure for the dogs to keep
them off the rest of the garden, for example and if so, do you want a
shelter in it or some shade trees over it? Do you want a washing line
and do you have children who need play space - a swing, a trampoline,
for example? Would you like an area to sit in that faces south and west
so that you get sun for that evening drink or supper outside? And in
the meantime, if you cut the grass, your garden will instantly look
better!


Or you could just start by posting a couple of photos of the garden as
it is now. one from the house and one looking back at the house from
the end of the garden.

Stacey you will see that some posters on uk.rec.gardening don't read
previous postings. Don't let this bother you. It's just that urglers, as
they are called, are a funny possessive bunch. As you will have
observed, a slight dig has already been made at gardenbanter :-)

Mike


And Mike if you bothered to read the posts they are asking for pictures
when in leaf or in flower

On 07/02/2013 16:02, echinosum wrote:
Staceyxxx;977870 Wrote:

Any ideas what i can do with these??
There are so many different things you can do i think the first thing to
do is go and get a book for some ideas.

Also buy a good general book (the cheap ones are rarely good) on how to
do gardening like the RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening, and, as you flick
through it, try to distinguish between things that sound like hard work
you don't want to do, and things that sound like more what you want to
do.

Find out what the bushes and trees that are already in your garden, and
remember that it can take many years to get a plant to maturity, and
moving well-established plants is often not possible, so consider
carefully before you rip them out. Even if it is something you
currently think you hate, a bit of pruning and maintenance might turn it
into a very useful and attractive shrub. Nevertheless, there were quite
a lot of plants in the neglected garden I took over that I nevertheless
decided to remove, including quite a few of the trees.

One thing in gardening is "improving the ground". I have horribly stony
soil - if I sift the soil about 25%-30% of it is pebbles. Easy-grow
hard-to-kill plants will grow despite it. However to make a vegetable
patch, and to plant things that prefer soil to pebbles, I have had to
sift tons of pebbles out of the garden, and do much repeated addition of
compost to the soil to improve it. This is very hard work. If you are
lucky you have nice soil already, but if you don't then bear in mind
that growing just what you want and making it look like the Chelsea
Flower Show, and/or for food cultivation, will require a lot of work in
soil improvement.


The book is a good idea, but instead of buying one borrow several from
your local library, then when you find one that you don't want to give
back then buy a copy, that way you'll get a lot more ideas.

On 2013-02-07 18:51:53 +0000, David Hill said:

On 07/02/2013 18:12, 'Mike' wrote:



"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 07/02/2013 17:06, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-02-07 13:48:54 +0000, Staceyxxx said:

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden ...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a
house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot
by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

We can probably all help you ID the shrubs and trees you have once they
start into leaf and/or flower. But it helps to advise people if we know
where you live, which way the garden faces, if there are any sunny areas
or heavily shaded areas etc. Then you have to think how you're going to
use the garden. Are you going to have an enclosure for the dogs to keep
them off the rest of the garden, for example and if so, do you want a
shelter in it or some shade trees over it? Do you want a washing line
and do you have children who need play space - a swing, a trampoline,
for example? Would you like an area to sit in that faces south and west
so that you get sun for that evening drink or supper outside? And in
the meantime, if you cut the grass, your garden will instantly look
better!


Or you could just start by posting a couple of photos of the garden as
it is now. one from the house and one looking back at the house from
the end of the garden.

Stacey you will see that some posters on uk.rec.gardening don't read
previous postings. Don't let this bother you. It's just that urglers, as
they are called, are a funny possessive bunch. As you will have
observed, a slight dig has already been made at gardenbanter :-)

Mike


And Mike if you bothered to read the posts they are asking for pictures
when in leaf or in flower

I expect Stacey will work out that Mike is a troll with an axe to grind
and a habit of battening onto newbies to divert them to his cause!
She'll certainly realise she won't get any gardening help from that
quarter!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2013-02-07 13:48:54 +0000, Staceyxxx said:

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden
...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a
house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot
by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

The one thing that no-one has asked is - where the heck are you?
The advice that you get will be different depending on whether
you are in Shetland or Cornwall.

Phil
Northern Highlands of Scotland

"Phil Gurr" wrote in message
...

On 2013-02-07 13:48:54 +0000, Staceyxxx said:

Hi all, i'm embracing gardening this year..

i have had my own house for 5 years now with 1 neglected garden
...
the garden has lots of different bushes and trees (not sure what
they
are) and is enclosed, i have 3 dogs so nothing that will harm them..

the back garden is about 70ft long approx and the width of a
house.. it
has a shed & coal house..

the front garden has a big drive way and the spare space is 10 foot
by 4
foot.

Any ideas what i can do with these??

The one thing that no-one has asked is - where the heck are you?
The advice that you get will be different depending on whether
you are in Shetland or Cornwall.

Phil
Northern Highlands of Scotland


Phil if you would care to read my post I did ask what sort of
garden/exposure she had and quoted inner city/Atlantic gales, that would
have explained a little more. I could have gone into soil structure etc but
Stacey is not a gardener.

Mike
--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................