Ideas for small grassed area - wildflower?

Alkers

Hi there, our small garden is divided into two sections by a path leading to the garage. One of the grassed sides is much smaller than the other and the ground is very uneven.
We're going to have to dig out all the grass to level the soil anyway and were wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what would look good in place of the grass? We're currently thinking we might plant it with wildflowers (leaving the rose and acer against the wall).
Pic attached - excuse the mess!

fiacha

You could leave the grass and let it turn to meadow naturally. Could also help it along and sow some native wildflowers in the grass.
Some good info here on pollinator friendly gardens. All Ireland Pollinator Plan.

macraignil

Being close to the house I'd be inclined to plant things I'd use in the kitchen. Bay leaf,Rosemary, Chives, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, etc, all combine looking good and being useful in the kitchen as well. Lavender might also be an option as it would add great fragrance to your garden and like many of the earlier suggestions provide flowers for pollinators.

Alkers

macraignil wrote:

Being close to the house I'd be inclined to plant things I'd use in the kitchen. Bay leaf,Rosemary, Chives, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, etc, all combine looking good and being useful in the kitchen as well. Lavender might also be an option as it would add great fragrance to your garden and like many of the earlier suggestions provide flowers for pollinators.

So would you make it all into one bed?

macraignil

Simona1986 wrote: »

So would you make it all into one bed?

The paved path to the door of the house looks good as it is so I'd be slow to change that. Even growing herbs and vegetables it's good to have pathway to acess everthing when the weather is bad.
Do you still have use for an area of grass?
Is there good light in the garden?
What herbs would you see yourself making more use of?
How much time do you like to spend gardening?
Do you want to plant something that will be easy to look after or would you be more interested in growing different things through the year? Leaf vegetables like lettuce or spinach and perennials like rhubarb can be productive even when in partial shade.
Difficult to say form the information available what would be the planting option to suit you best.

Alkers

macraignil wrote:

The paved path to the door of the house looks good as it is so I'd be slow to change that. Even growing herbs and vegetables it's good to have pathway to acess everthing when the weather is bad. Do you still have use for an area of grass? Is there good light in the garden? What herbs would you see yourself making more use of? How much time do you like to spend gardening? Do you want to plant something that will be easy to look after or would you be more interested in growing different things through the year? Leaf vegetables like lettuce or spinach and perennials like rhubarb can be productive even when in partial shade. Difficult to say form the information available what would be the planting option to suit you best.

Sorry I wasn't clear, we're definitely keeping the path and the larger (but still small) piece of grass!
The garden is south facing (picture taken from back of house, garage at end of garden) so there's good sun all day, only shaded near the garage.
Would be more interested in the easier to keep side of things but don't mind putting in some effort! We just find that small section of grass is nearly too small to look good but it would be too big to turn that whole side into a single flowerbed which is why we were thinking about the wildflower option, kind of halfway between grass and a bed. Will think about making a vegetable / herb garden out of it as another option though!

macraignil

Simona1986 wrote: »

Sorry I wasn't clear, we're definitely keeping the path and the larger (but still small) piece of grass!
The garden is south facing (picture taken from back of house, garage at end of garden) so there's good sun all day, only shaded near the garage.
Would be more interested in the easier to keep side of things but don't mind putting in some effort! We just find that small section of grass is nearly too small to look good but it would be too big to turn that whole side into a single flowerbed which is why we were thinking about the wildflower option, kind of halfway between grass and a bed. Will think about making a vegetable / herb garden out of it as another option though!

I would not have considered that side of the path too big for a flower bed myself but I suppose if you were to be constantly filling the whole thing with seasonal bedding plants it would require some effort. Sometimes a few small shrubs with some space left for flowers could be a less laborious option.

The larger perennial shrubs would be very little effort to manage once established so might be the best option. Bay leaf would normally grow into a small tree so if this is included it would need to be trimmed back regularly. Oregano usually dies back itself in winter but grows back again in Spring. Tarragon also dies back and re-sprouts the following year but might be a bit too vigorous for the other plants you are including. Thyme is worth growing in abundance as it is useful in so many recipes but grows fairly slow. Chives are another herb that will regrow each spring and have nice flowers and are not difficult to look after. The main shrubs for easy care flowers in the garden I would include would be Lavender, Sage and Rosemary and when these shrubs are mature they can become fairly large and occupy a fair amount of your herb garden.
Garden pot plants in the photo look nice by the way.
Good luck!

looksee

I don't think that area is big enough to be a wildflower meadow - a small wildflower meadow is essentially a patch of weeds, and I'm afraid that is what that would look like.