Suggestions/ advice please
lovegardening77
Posts: 332
Hi all, hope you had a nice Christmas. Please can I have your suggestions on what to do with the piece of ground under the weed membrane? I've also drawn a very rough sketch of its position with the question mark highlighting where it is in my garden. I was originally thinking of putting a raised bed there and growing some veg but then it occurred to me that it might not get enough sun, especially as the fence to the left of the picture is high and I forgot to draw in the new hawthorn tree which is roughly planted near to the west bit of my compass!!! Hope this all makes sense. What do you think?
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From the picture it's hard to tell how much light it gets, but you might be right that it's a struggle to grow veg there. Raised beds are a reasonable amount of work/expense to establish so, if it were me, I would probably look to grow veg in that spot without the raised bed for the first year to see how it goes. If successful, I'd then build the raised bed for the second season.
Unless I'm seeing the scale all wrong, but a raised bed there would not be worth it unless it could be further stretched out. In small gardens, bits here and there can sometimes make the area seem fussy, cluttered and confused.
Another option would be to build an obelisk there and plant densely around the base to blend your middle border into one. Things like Wall flowers, Penstemons and Gaura Lindheimeri around the base and train plants like Sweet Peas and a summer Jasmine for fragrance. Plenty of Honeysuckles will also thrive there. Less is more where space is a premium. Look for plants that are small and have interesting leaves. Heucheras and Geraniums are ideal plants.
Borderline I think you are right. My drawing is not to scale but you've made a good point about it becoming fussy. Maybe I can grow some veg in amongst the plants in the sunny part of the garden instead?! I never thought of putting an obelisk there but I like that idea too. Thankyou!
Garden Noob thankyou for your advice. You're right, a raised bed would be a pain.
Yes definitely you could mix veg in with the other plants. Rainbow chard for example, easy to grow, looks fantastic and (if you like it) is very useful leafy greens. Cavolo nero is ornamental and pretty forgiving of a bit of jostling (unlike most brassicas which are a bit snooty about neighbours and greedy for space). If you have your obelisk, you could consider growing borlotti beans amongst the sweet peas - pretty flowers, beautiful bean pods, delicious beans. Other climbing french beans will play nicely with the rest too. Root veg are tricky in a mixed bed because harvesting them can disturb the roots of the plants around - grow carrots or potatoes in pots if you want those, but beetroot mixes in well and doesn't need digging out to harvest - just pull it up carefully. Softneck garlic is very ornamental with it's curling flower spike. Salad leaves are quick fillers - as pretty as annual flowers and much more useful. Culinary herbs such as thyme, sage, chives and oregano are easy and not too pushy - rosemary is too big, mint too invasive - grow mint in a pot if you want some.
A mix of carefully sited pots and some potager planting could make a very productive and pretty garden there - nice and sheltered, the paving providing a warm micro-climate - and there are edible flowers as well of course - borage and calendula are the most useful but there are plenty of others
Thankyou Raisingirl. Roll on the spring!!??????