Garden makeover

kieran730

I live in Clanfield and completed the hard landscaping of our garden last summer and I am looking to introduce some trees and plants. The garden is medium-sized north-west facing of around 70ft long and 35 wide. 

I am looking to have:

• Two herb beds of around 10ft by 3 ft wide, they currently have two mature olive trees within. 
• One 10ft by 3 ft wide bed that is mostly shaded as at the base of a fence that is south facing.
• I am also looking to introduce some trees three-quarter of the way down the garden to create privacy from the houses to the rear but would like to keep these under 6 meters, otherwise, this could block the sun in the evenings. 

Any help and advice?

K67

Not quite sure what help you want but you must use a lot of herbs!
I thought most need full sun.
I am sure this link will be more informative than me whose herb growing is mint, parsley and rosemary.
https://www.jekkas.com/

As to trees maybe some fruit trees?

Cambridgerose12

Fruit trees do seem an obvious choice given the general potager theme... If you look at some websites specialising in fruit plants, you will see that there are a range of rootstocks used, which would allow you to choose one that would keep your trees modestly sized. You could do this with all kind of fruits: plums, apples, pears, cherries, quince, medlar...

The whole idea of the potager was invented in 17th-century France, in gardens where the trees and everything else were very strictly pruned and trained into formal shapes. The trees would be planted at the base with herbs, and the beds were often edged with lavender, box or rosemary that could be clipped to shape. You could have a lot of fun with that sort of thing. For proper screening you'd probably want a line of mop-headed or pleached small trees at the end, but even these could be kept to size.

It could help to do some reading up on this and look at photos:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardens-Plenty-Art-Potager-Garden/dp/1856263673

Cambridgerose12

I forgot about the shaded bed--this is a very nice opportunity to do something a bit different. Check out Longacre: https://www.plantsforshade.co.uk

You could go for a mixture of smaller shrubs like Hydrangea and Sarcococca, plus ground-covering things in between. But you'll probably want to ensure the soil has plenty of organic matter first.

kieran730

Thanks for the feedback.

I like the idea of using some more fruit trees and have the herbs below.  Has anyone got any advise on what herbs work well planted together?

also I would love preached trees at the back but they are expensive.  I would be looking for a tree for screening under 5 meters but still affordable, any ideas?