Gardening if you had a clean slate

[Kazz]

If you were the first person to own your garden say a new house - and you can have whatever size garden you like in this dream would your garden be the same as it is now, or what would you change about the design?ie would you keep your grass or change to gravel or paving, woudl you have formal or wildlife? more sitting area's. What would you do?


I'm working on the thought that most people inherit gardens from prevous occupants therefore we have their design to work around. But as your garden says such a lot about you what would you want your garden to say about you?

Karen

[logoes]

I'd have what I wanted for years - to start with a level plot of ground, most of the planting area to be raised beds, something on the pathways that make pushing a barrow easier than on gravel. Lots of shrubs with the emphasis on different greens of leaves, a few interesting trees, I have a birch, betula jacmontii, its bark peals to bright white, a group of three would be nice and would look striking in the evening light. Oh, and a pond, I do miss my fish pond, I had so many homebred fish in it, but when we moved here where we back onto a stream with visiting herons I decided against another pond, I bred my fish for me to enjoy, not to feed herons!!! Apart from a very small patch of grass just for the birds to find worms in I wouldn't want a lawn.

Really I just want easy maintainence, somewhere to sit and relax, lounger, parasol and an endless supply of cold drinks in the summer. Lovely .. Logoes

[Mags]

I would definately go for a bigger garden. I would have a lawned area with maybe a couple of trees/shrubs around it........and also have a smaller paved area. I would love a greenhouse so that I would have room to bring on all the seedlings and plants. A water feature would be nice.......love the sound of trickling water! Oh yes, and a few garden seats/benches dotted around.........I'm not asking for too much!

In my dreams!!

[Hreow]

I'd go for a garden of my own - not a shared one. There would be an area for fruit-trees with a wild meadow-style ground-cover, there would be a vegetable-plot (spuds!, corn, artichoke, herbs), a soft-fruit bit (mostly raspberries) and a topsy-turvy bit of flowers I like in a bed somewhere close to the house. Roses, broken-heart, lilac and jasmin for starters. There would also definitely be a tree-house at the botton of the garden where I can have my morning tea in the sun. 12 x 12 m of garden would probably be just right.

Whether that will actually happen, ever... who knows. It's nice to dream!

Edited - DM reminded me: No lawn. Always hated mowing. And may I have your bamboo-please? It would make for some lovely sticks for Rover.

[dandysmom]

I'd pretty much keep the front as it is; so happy with the flagstones & lawn furniture I put in (NO MORE LAWN TO MOW!!!) In the back, I'd pave over most of the center of the yard, with room for a small fish pond to one side, vegetable bed (raised) on one side and flowers/herbs on the other; leave the existing crepe myrtles & roses where they are, and get rid of the d**n bamboo!!

[dinahsmum]

I was lucky enough to design and have installed my own (pretty tiny) rear garden as the people before us had only been in the new house for 10 months and had done nothing. You've seen the pics.
tbh I wouldn't change a lot in terms of the recreational/relaxation area, even size BUT I would have a mass of space behind/to the side/whatever, correctly aligned to the compass, which would be my vegetable/fruit/orchard/greenhouse area. Fab!