Suggestions for garden makeover

aka_Ciaran

Hi all - I moved into my house on Dublin's northside 4 years ago this July, and up until this point my back garden has been neglected as I have been doing the inside of the house. However I've now decided that it's a bit of an eyesore and it's letting the side down, so I'm going to do something with it this spring / summer. Thing is I have no clue about gardens or gardening...I can barely tell the difference between a weed and a proper plant. So if anyone can offer me some tips, advice, feedback, or general ideas of what to do with it I'd be grateful. I know there are loads of landscape gardeners out there but they seem to charge an arm and a leg. My sister in Sligo got a guy to do her garden and he charged thousands for not very much in my opinion.

So what I'd like is something that's cheap to do and very low maintenance...I don't mind some plants and a bit of a lawn as I have a push mower that I use to keep the grass down, but no more than that. I'll probably put down some paving stones outside the back door to replace the ones that are currently there. Below is a link to a few pictures, the garden is approx 13 m long by 7 wide. There's a big mound of clay that I was planning to rotovate into the lawn and add to the existing soil but I don't think I can be arsed now so I'll probably just dump it. I'm also going to get rid of the wooden shed as i don't really need it. The first 3 pics are taken from the back door, looking from left to right. The 4th one is from the end of the garden.

http://www3.snapfish.ie/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=306354011/a=179719011_179719011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink


Thanks in advance,

Ciaran.

Anduril

I got 20 tons of washed gravel/pebble last year for about E300, and (with a lot of weed blocker underneath) used it to cover about 2400 sq.feet of grass I didn't want as lawn. I planted through that with shrubs, but pots sitting on top look well too. Very low maintenance.
If you are keeping some lawn it's well worth while making sure the soil is free-draining and not compacted. Otherwise you'll probably be plagued with moss.

aka_Ciaran

Hi Anduril thanks for the idea it sounds good...don't suppose you have any pics? Would be good to see how it looks.

Anduril

Will if I can-I'm new to this forum lark....
Hope this works.

aka_Ciaran

Anduril wrote: »

Hope this works.

Worked a treat thanks...looks good

McNulty

Sorry for bumping into the thread, but where did you get 20 tons of gravel for that price? I've been quoted 300 for about 3 tons up in Drawda!

Cheers

Jim

Anduril

Harry Tobin in Newport, Co. Tipp. Ask nicely, maybe he'll deliver...;)

aka_Ciaran

So has anyone else got any suggestions or ideas...maybe some software / garden design packages or websites out there that I could get ideas from?

monke

hi, you p.m me, but for some reason i cant p.m back. i you like you can give me you email so i can email you back properly just p,m it to me............monke