Blank Canvas

butchpt2503

So on Thursday I leave my nice garden which has taken many years of hard work and start a fresh and a new with a completely blank canvas 

I will try get better photos going forward but it's a long garden that falls away down the left hand corner 

I'm looking for any ideas with design or just recommended plants 

I'd like 

A large lawn area for my 4 year old to play
Very little in the way of flowers as my missus is allergic to wasps 
Plenty of colour without using flowers. I'm my current garden I achieved a huge mix of whites, greens, yellows, pinks and reds 

Any input appreciated 

purplerallim

Need to know what time of day pic taken and is that builders soil all over. Do you want height to hide fences. Lots of possibilities but basics first.😁

josusa47

Soil type, pH, compass orientation, what use do you want to make of it?  You've mentioned play space, have you animals?  Do you want to grow edibles?  Support wildlife?  

Blue Onion

Wow.. that is literally a blank canvas.  

Coleus is your perfect annual.  Plan space for them.

Pauline 7

That looks like a new build. ....If so,  I would dig it over to remove all the rubish buried  underneath the nice top layer. 

K67

Mine looked like that but with fitted fence to fence grass with a sharp drop down to the back fence. As we intended to alter the patio we used the slabs in front of the fence bury ing them by half and then raised the level, as the soil wasn't even graded we had a word with the builders and they left us a couple of site skips to put the rubbish in.

butchpt2503

purplerallim said:

Need to know what time of day pic taken and is that builders soil all over. Do you want height to hide fences. Lots of possibilities but basics first.😁

Yes it's all rubbish soil at moment, I will sort that. I'd like the back fences covered if possible 

butchpt2503

Blue Onion said:

Wow.. that is literally a blank canvas.  

Coleus is your perfect annual.  Plan space for them.

Love that plant 

butchpt2503

purplerallim said:

Need to know what time of day pic taken and is that builders soil all over. Do you want height to hide fences. Lots of possibilities but basics first.😁

Oh and pic was around 5pm. By 7pm the sun has gone from the garden 

purplerallim

Wasps don't usually go for flowers so most types of normal bedding plants should be ok. I'd be tempted to put in a twisted path of grass for the daughter to give her a route around garden, and the same with the path ending with a patio/ decking at the highest point. Trees for shade either for patio or a grass area. This is a start. 😁

Borderline

Depending on your soil, if you have neutral to acidic soil, take a look at Pieris and Fothergilla Major. On neutral to alkaline soils, Nadina Domestica, Photinias and Cotinus Coggygria offer dark reds with miniumal flowers.

Many shrubs flower a short time in spring but their interest tends to be the leaves, the structure sometimes autumn interest in changes of colour tones. For yellows, take a look at Choisya Sundance and Caryopteris Worchester Gold if you have free draining soil. For pale pinks and whites, look into Salix Intergra 'Hakuro-Nishiki'.