Plant choice advice for large garden.

jonnynailen

Hi everyone, advice needed from experienced gardeners! My wife and I recently bought our first house and we're very lucky to have a large section of land at the front of the house. There's a traditional lawn which stops at a wall then there's a large slope that goes down to the river which is currently mostly wild growth of ivy, gooseberries, blueberries, Comfrey and lots and lots of Garlic leaves (Ramson). Pictures attached. 

The first issue is there's one sprig of Japanese knotweed but we've hired a professional company to come out and survey this and remove it. I understand this will need done before anything else and will need a close eye kept on it! 

Basically though, I think this garden has untold potential as it's already very scenic with the river and trees. I would love it to be a long term project with a variety of colours featured and really make it something beautiful. I'm new to gardening but I'm really enjoying spending time in it but I don't really know where to start. I'm also not sure what else will bloom so I'm going to leave it a season and then start to work on it. 

Any advice on how to cultivate the soil, what to do with all the garlic leaves (I'd like to keep some in an area but it currently covers the whole land almost) and what sort of flowers would suit would be so very much appreciated! Any and all advice is welcome Thanks everyone.  

amancalledgeorge

Mowing the lawn at that angle must qualify as aerobic exercise 😂 beautiful aspect @jonnynailen let's bump it up for some suggestions to come through.

Probably worth mentioning what type of soil you're dealing with also which way it faces to give everyone something to go on.

Make some pesto with the wild garlic...you won't regret it. 

Greenbird

That's a large area to fill and could look stunning.

Might be worth hiring the services of a good garden designer to give you some inspiration.

Personally, I loved Kyoto Garden in Holland Park. You already have the shady woodland setting and the water, you just need the Japanese Maples. 

jonnynailen

Hi George and Greenbird. Thanks for the comments. 

George, how do I bump the post up? It's south (slightly southwest) facing, but I'm not sure how to find out about the soil? Could you advise? 

Greenbird, a garden designer is definitely something I've thought about. I'm not working at the moment because of the coronavirus so It's probably going to need to be next year but it's definitely something I'd do. Any recommendations on garden designers?