Garden Design Advice Please

Gumbo

hi, i am just about to do the rear garden (after moving in last october!).
its not a big garden : 8m long and 4m wide.

it is west facing and has a 6 foot by 6 foot shed in the far right corner.

first idea was to put in decking in a kinda L shape from the patio doors to the shed.

the other option is also an L shape but in something similar to sand stone paving slabs.

obvious with both options there would be the usual nice lighting and some form of rockery but bearing in mind the garden is kinda small, has anybody got any ideas on what i should do?

also on another note, is there something i should be spraying or anything i should be doing to the existing gras/nettles etc etc to kill off everything before we start the garden or is that somethinf the gardener will do when we get some one in?

here is some pics to give an idea and what i mean by the L shape i am talking about





thanks for any comments in advance.

squire1

With an area that small I'd do away with grass altogether and concentrate on plants/foliage that are going to give you year round colour. A gravel bed or rockery should be low maintenance. The decking/paving sounds nice but keep it in proportion to the size of the garden. A lot of what you are asking is down to personal preference so get a look at some magazines to see what you like.

Plenty of soft curves on the borders will make the garden look more spacious rather than hard edges.

If you are getting someone in to do the work then I wouldn't bother spraying the weeds, 10 mins with a strimmer will clear them.

Oh, and get some preservative on the fence and shed before you do anything.

Sonnenblumen

Before you do anything spray the area (Roundup), its heavily infested with difficult weed so you might need to do a second application. Allow approx 7-10 days between 1st and 2nd run.

I would also suggest you pave area( + mix with decorative chippings for economy).

Planting should be focal and bold, might consider Raised Beds at least to height of concrete plinths.

Gumbo

Sonnenblumen wrote:

Before you do anything spray the area (Roundup), its heavily infested with difficult weed so you might need to do a second application. Allow approx 7-10 days between 1st and 2nd run.

I would also suggest you pave area( + mix with decorative chippings for economy).

Planting should be focal and bold, might consider Raised Beds at least to height of concrete plinths.

would you believe i am just off the phone to my uncle (who will be doing the garden) and he said the exact same thing. round up it this weekend i think.

theres goes my nice and lazy satuarday

thanks for the comments so far guys.