Help with Norwegian garden plan

jon8jackXaaIVl-q

Hello, I'm looking for advice on how to plan my garden. We live in Norway, but I think its fairly similar to Scottish gardens. Apart from colder in winter and warmer in summer.  We are fairly far south. 

I'm not sure what the best approach is for advice? this is a plan of how it is now, kind of, there are lots of small trees and hedges that will be going while keeping big ones.  The back garden goes into the forest.  

the plot is roughly 35m x 45m

our needs/wants :-) 

• Raised beds for veg
• Play area for kids ages 1 and 8 - there is a playhouse at back but wood rotten, will fix up and maybe extend decking around it.
• dining area (we have already but is ugly tiles) 
• chickens - maybe? 
• greenhouse/somewhere to sit in frozen winter. 
• fire pit 
• Composting
• do something with concrete steps. 

and of course open to any suggestions. 

Thanks 
Jon

pansyface

@Obelixx is a new chicken owner. Maybe she can help you with siting those?

Liriodendron

Hi, @jon8jackXaaIVl-q !  What an interesting project...

Do you know your neighbours?  Your local area is probably the best place to get ideas of what looks good and what survives the winters.  But here are a few ideas based on your plan and requirements...

Is the dining area the right size and in the right place?  If so, then replacing the ugly tiles, and maybe providing some attractive planting around the edge, could make it usable for you.  The fire pit might be sited here too.

Bark is a good surface for a kids' play area, particularly if it's in a fairly wild area such as you describe.  Depending on your children's age and interests you can perhaps add play equipment among the trees.  

Octagonal Scandinavian-style winter huts have been a bit of a "thing" over here - I've seen them in Scotland, providing occasional extra seating and a warm place for meals and chat round a central fireplace and chimney, and seen them for sale at the Harrogate flower show.  Something like that might provide you with a warm refuge for the winter...

Presumably you need steps at the side of the house to cope with the change in level.  Would the budget run to replacing them, perhaps using the same surface you use in the dining area?

Having veg beds in an open sunny place would make sense.  Ideally it's useful to have compost heaps not too far away, but you might want to hide them at the far end of the back garden.

Maybe a native hedge would work, planted next to the road?  And had you thought of a wildlife pond in the dip?

jon8jackXaaIVl-q

Hi, thanks for tips, the term dip is maybe misleading :-) , its more of the steep little slope, thoughts were that could be levelled with stepped raised beds possibly. But a pond is maybe an idea, our littlest loves birds and ducks, would just be scared she would fall in. I did think of putting wood or decking over existing tiles, I could probably manage this myself, not sure I could do a good job of tiling though.