Question

Good morning  Some of you may remember me asking for advice about my garden? I had lots of really helpful replies thank you  Now I have need for more help if you could be so kind? As you can see the turf has been laid and is growing at an alarming rate! What do I do now? I would like lots of climbing plants, do I put them in pots or dive a hole out of the turf? What do I plant that a complete novice won’t kill  Any ideas on how to make it look beautiful? We don’t have children or pets. I would like a bee house but are they a good idea? I’m stuck but itching to get going! Any help would be gratefully received please  Happy Sunday!  

Answer 1

You need a border really

Comments

You can do at the back as it needs to be deep enough also you can add pots lots of them for colour

---

@eld47346 do a search on my twins garden. (Search Shona Duffus at the top of the groups page) her garden is half the size of yours and it made it look bigger. Here's a before and after. She took out the washing line. Full of climbers and no sign of the fence now

---

@rockhampton7 beautiful x

---

@eld47346 she put an album up last year. To make a tiny garden look bigger plant vertical, she made a wee covered area off her tiny shed 'poor mans summerhouse' she calls it lol. All def done on a budget. Plants up the posts etc. U will get loads of ideas x

---

@eld47346 my twin sister lol x we both have tiny gardens so plant up the way. I've an album up too. Happy gardening xx

Answer 2

Personally I'd go for raised flower beds or pots, that way you're not messing up your turf. Look for perennials as they'll grow back each year with not as much effort from you (you can get some really lovely ones that attract butterflies and bees) x

Answer 3

I'd paint the fence and then have artificial ivy up which will instantly fix and then grow climbers

Answer 4

We have a buddleia that is beautiful through summer and brings loads of butterflies and bees x

Answer 5

For greenery hostas are extremely low maintenance, infact I do nothing to mine other than take off the dead leaves at the start of winter as they go to ground over winter and re sprout in the spring. All sorts of green colours. Spout purple or white flowered stems in the summer too. I love them. Bulbs are always a winner aswell as they come up year after year. Look for perennial plants as they come back every year so this saves you money on replacing annual plants that only last 1 year. I love my plants so feel free to message me if you want any plant advice I'll help where I can.  

Comments

@institutor I've just picked up some hostas, I've got a shadey spot in my garden, do you know if they handle poor draining soil?  

---

@featherstone they're quite versatile. When I've had them in poor drainage spots before I've mixed sand into the soil or some gravel into the soil to help. Which varieties have you got? I love blue mouse ears which is a small one and titanic which is a giant one!  

---

I'll give that a go, urm I'm not sure it just says mixed, Anything I've put there in the past struggles to make it past the rainy months :/

---

Just mix the soil and see how you go :). If it's really bad you could always put some drainage pipes in perhaps as a very last resort. With hostas liking shade shadey areas always tend to be a bit damper then the rest of the garden by nature so they may be fine. Good luck with it!  

Answer 6

Passion flowers are a great easy climber to grow, and have huge flowers, you can get them for about £3/4, believe me it will take off and give you some lovely colour in the garden for ages. ( go for purple if you want to attract bees ) straight into the soil. Top tip if it starts to get attacked by snails put some used egg shell around the base of the plant.  

Answer 7

Lots of good ideas - screen with trellis every so often - scented climbers in raised beds /pots/ put small mirrors behind the trellis / look forward to seeing what you do!  

Answer 8

I’d use the local library lots of great gardening books visit a couple of local garden s that open for charity supermarkets have a great planting buys but small gardens centres are often better

Answer 9

Plants on fence will rot wood

Comments

@seizing ive never had that problem

---

@eld47346 constant wet from leaves etc and weight on fencing causes rot better off just painting fence for clean look

---

@eld47346 I treated my fence at bottom of garden and its full of climbers and nearly 33 yrs old still standing. Probably the plants holding it up. I do keep them weightfree and trimmed in. Fence just has general wear and tear for its age but still fab. I live in highlands s otland so if anything its prob shielded it from harsh weather here x x

Answer 10

Pop a couple trellis up with colourful climbers, water feature, seating area, dig out a wiggly border and plant a mix of perennials and annuals.  

Answer 11

Plants will grow better directly in the soil where they aren't constrained by pots . Treat the fence first (now in fact)

Answer 12

Looks lovely! Think about where the sun is in the spring and summer as that will dictate what kind of plants you have and where you put them. If you like colour, then a Nelly Moser clematis would look beautiful, they grow better in the ground rather than pots. Fix a trellis to the fence (preferably one vertical for it to grow up and then 2 horizontal either side to help it grow across). bulbs under the grass will mean you get lovely spring colour and then just mow over them once they look past their best. They come back every year so that's nice. Bee bombs / wildflower seeds either into the soil or in troughs/pots are great for wildlife and colour and are low maintenance (though you will have to plant every year).  

Answer 13

Put in ground not pots if possible cuts down on watering climbing plants can be demanding

Answer 14

Do pots for the convenience of strumming round them but cut the bottoms out so the roots can go into the ground and never get pot bound and need repotting every year. Look at clematis (nelly mosa) and climbing hydrangea and wisteria. These are all very pretty flowers and can all be trained to grow as desired and cut back without problems X

Answer 15

I put in pot, up are flowers and down are strawberry

Answer 16

Can i be so bold as to ask how much it cost to have that grass put down in your garden?  

Comments

Thank you for that info.  

Answer 17

I would paint the fence cream to really brighten the garden, then plant some climbers in the ground, rambling Rose's, passion flowers and clematis maybe a nice water feature and statement pots of perennial plants with a few garden ornaments of your choice

Answer 18

Clematis come in many colours, easy to manage, just put some wire or trellis on fence, cut them back every mid Feb to about 9 inches off the ground. Plant them deeper then the container size of the pot they come out of, fast growing and easy to train. Don't get ramblers if you want to keep it structured.  

Answer 19

Clematis Montana