Inspiration for front garden

colm_c

I have a small front garden (10 sq m), which has some grass, a tree and some shrubs.

All planted before I bought the house.

To be honest, it's boring and ugly.

I was thinking about removing all the grass and making some kind of plants only front garden with a small path.

Looking for ideas for what plants will look good and survive in the Irish climate.

Mix of plants that will bloom at different times of the year. Thinking of a bug hotel and pollinators too.

Any suggestions?

looksee

Ten square meters is approx 2 m x 5m, which is quite small. What you are suggesting is a good idea and can look very nice. It will need ongoing attention though - bit of weeding, pruning, dead heading etc. (Or do you mean 10 meters square, ie 10m x 10m? which would take a good bit more minding and planting)

So. Does the tree stay? How much shade does it cast, how big is it.
Likewise the shrubs, what are they? Are they worth keeping. I would tend to be ruthless with them, unless they are interesting and/or attractive, or performing a specific purpose (privacy for example) I would pull them out. Many shrubs in that situation are just ill-considered dark green blobs.
Anything you buy here in a garden centre will grow in the Irish climate. A few things might be more fussy about shade or soil types or be the wrong size, but generally you will be ok.
Which way does the garden face, does it get sun all day, or not at all, or what?
How much time are you prepared to give it, ongoing?

colm_c

looksee wrote: »

Ten square meters is approx 2 m x 5m, which is quite small. What you are suggesting is a good idea and can look very nice. It will need ongoing attention though - bit of weeding, pruning, dead heading etc. (Or do you mean 10 meters square, ie 10m x 10m? which would take a good bit more minding and planting)

So. Does the tree stay? How much shade does it cast, how big is it.
Likewise the shrubs, what are they? Are they worth keeping. I would tend to be ruthless with them, unless they are interesting and/or attractive, or performing a specific purpose (privacy for example) I would pull them out. Many shrubs in that situation are just ill-considered dark green blobs.
Anything you buy here in a garden centre will grow in the Irish climate. A few things might be more fussy about shade or soil types or be the wrong size, but generally you will be ok.
Which way does the garden face, does it get sun all day, or not at all, or what?
How much time are you prepared to give it, ongoing?

Its about 3x3m, so small and manageable.

Probably keep the tree for now, as it will be a pain to remove. It's a weeping birch i think.

Everything else will go, I removed a massive shrub that was taking 1/4 of the space earlier this year.

Decent amount of sun.

Going to make a drawing and plan, as it will take a good few weekends to do it, probably start early next year when it gets a bit warmer.

I don't mind the maintenance as I quite enjoy that part.

looksee

A weeping birch would generally be fine as it casts light shade and is not overbearing. However if your garden is only 3mx3m and the birch is within this area then it is either a very young one or its something else. While not particularly big trees in most gardens, in that size it will fill it all on its own.

Do you have a photo of the area, its a bit difficult to offer suggestions without an idea of what it looks like.

macraignil

colm_c wrote: »

I have a small front garden (10 sq m), which has some grass, a tree and some shrubs.

All planted before I bought the house.

To be honest, it's boring and ugly.

I was thinking about removing all the grass and making some kind of plants only front garden with a small path.

Looking for ideas for what plants will look good and survive in the Irish climate.

Mix of plants that will bloom at different times of the year. Thinking of a bug hotel and pollinators too.

Any suggestions?

Sounds like a good idea to get rid of the grass on a garden space that size. There are many plants out there more interesting to grow than standard lawn grass. I tried to put plants in my own garden that were flowering at particular months of the year into distinct play lists on a youtube channel. The more recent videos I have tried to make a bit longer and show a number of plants rather than just one like in some of the earlier clips. I have read it is a good idea to try have things flowering at different times as it will help pollinators to have something to feed on and it is good to have something of interest at different times anyway. I read before also that in smaller garden spaces it can make things look a bit cluttered if you try to fit too many different small plants into the area so you will have to be careful which ones you pick and it may be worth including some that have other points of interest rather than just flowers so they can contribute to the garden looking well even when not in flower. There are some with variegated leaf colour for example that can add some colour all year round. Others have good autumn leaf colour or even interesting stems or fruit.

pwurple

The tricky bit with any small garden is to try to plant in enough qty, that it doesn't look like a hodgepodge of random plants.

You still want to get some variety in texture and interset around the year. So, as my gardening club says, you want plants that are Good in Bed.


I would stick to 3 or 4 plant types, but put them in clumps, or drifts.

Structure: You have your birch. Lift the canopy slightly if the branches are touching the ground, so you can plant there. Depends on the layout, but if you need another structural plant, possibly 2 small japanese acers, or 2 box balls.

Then fill in with these
Type 1: All year round green, textural interest. soft hummocks that shoot up green curling fronds. Native, biodiversity friendly. Ferns
Type 2: Spring/summer colour. Candelabra Primulas. They have great colour, take shade, are perennial and will spread for you. Or, dicentra. Or Hellebores.
Type 3: Taller Arching movement. A wavey plant you can see through, like a grass (stipa tenuissima, or some of the Pennisetums).. these will also give seedheads throughout the winter. Or Dierama pulcherrimum (Angel's Fishing Rod). Or, depending on the site, Foxgloves.


If you have that kind of mix of plants, you don't need a man-made 3 star bug hotel to go with it, you've got the ritz.