Ideas for top of the garden

elaine.mcgovern68

Hi, we have just got rid of a big trampoline and can’t decide what to do next, does anyone have any ideas, or maybe can point me to some good pictures for inspiration please?

This is the top part of our south facing garden, we live in Derbyshire. We have a traditionally laid out garden that didn’t have many mature plants when we moved in, and we only really started doing anything with it last year. 

You can see where the 14’ trampoline once was, it is fairly level side to side but slopes away from the fence at the back and we want to keep the concrete path at the front. Neither fence is ours, and there is about a 8” to 12” drop from the bottom of the gravel board at the back to our grass level. We need access to get behind the shed, but the bins/storage box in the pictures will be gone 

The only things I have on my wish list are:

1. to put some tall shrubs in a deep border along the back that will grow up and hide the back fence

2. to curve the border round quite deep on the left where the builders bags are, so we can put in some shape - it’s a very ‘square’ garden. 

If anyone has any good suggestions I’d really appreciate it, the kids want to put in a patio but we just don’t have the cash to do it properly and it would need a wall at the front because of the slope 

Lizzie27

Hello Elaine, your lovely bench is crying out to be made the centre piece and I'm thinking would look good with a wooden pergola over the top of it with climbers up the posts, maybe roses/clematis. I think if you planted big bushes all along the fence, they would take up too much space and they usually don't know when to stop growing. You can either buy pergolas in kit form or make them yourself if you're handy. You could have your very own quiet spot away from the children! 

elaine.mcgovern68

Lizzie27 said:

Hello Elaine, your lovely bench is crying out to be made the centre piece and I'm thinking would look good with a wooden pergola over the top of it with climbers up the posts, maybe roses/clematis. I think if you planted big bushes all along the fence, they would take up too much space and they usually don't know when to stop growing. You can either buy pergolas in kit form or make them yourself if you're handy. You could have your very own quiet spot away from the children! 

Thanks! The bench is just up there out of the way at the moment but we could always get another - I have just completed refinishing it. It was really shabby so I stripped and sanded it then oiled it more times than I could count! 

I hadn’t thought of a pergola but that’s a great idea as DIY is actually more my thing than gardening. I was thinking of getting a Zepherine Druin (?) climbing rose if I can find one as we had one by the front door when I was a child, so a pergola would be perfect! I will never forget that sweet smell when I came hone from school 

Thanks for the advice. 

Lizzie27

I thought the bench looked really good.  I've got the same rose climbing up an arch in my back garden! As you say, the scent is gorgeous. 

robairdmacraignil

A small pond in front of the bench might be nice and could be good for wildlife.

FlyDragon

I'd also suggest a pond, you've got room for a really lovely one there, with some seating around it so you've got somewhere nice to relax and enjoy the dragonflies and birds visiting. 

Maybe something like this?




Or like this with decking but maybe not the mismatched chairs! 

elaine.mcgovern68

Lizzie27 said:

I thought the bench looked really good.  I've got the same rose climbing up an arch in my back garden! As you say, the scent is gorgeous. 

Teak oil, patience, and a really good podcast 

Devonian

You could build a lovely winding path to the pergola too with all sorts of planting combinations! Maybe line the path with lavender and fill in behind with a range of taller plants and grasses. Really depends what you like the look of! Lavender and grasses with maybe some things like Verbena Bonariensis scattered around is low-maintenance, easy on the eye and fragrant!

I find www.gardenia.net quite useful for visualising plant combinations, I know it's American but mostly the plants are relevant.

Also have a browse around at some garden design blogs. I find https://blog.lisacoxdesigns.co.uk/ to be really inspiring (https://blog.lisacoxdesigns.co.uk/from-the-drawing-board/from-the-drawing-board-oxshott-garden-one-year-on/ is one of my favourite gardens!)

All the best and have fun!