Design query
karenj39
Posts: 5
Hi, this is my terrace house backyard. I have been growing in pots for three years but now I want to landscape it more. Do I need to dig up all the concrete in order to grow borders, small trees or can I build over the top? Sorry about the upside down picture- not sure how that happened! 0
Posts
My inclination would be to grow small trees in very large black plastic pots. You can get 100 litre one for about £20 - the equivalent in terracotta would be multiple 00s of £s. Filled with John Innes #3 you could then grow shrubs and small trees.
On the left hand pebbledash wall I would cut back the neighbour’s invading ivy and put up something more interesting. You could maybe have a bank of shelves growing geraniums all of the same colour (deep red, pink or lilac for me, definitely not orange/red) and next to it have a clematis in a coordinating colour.
The trellis at the back looks underused though there does look like there is a young espaliered tree growing there. The wall pots look very odd - pink, red, white and randomly positioned. I would try for more uniformity rather than looking like shopping that has just been unpacked.
Similarly, I would keep all pots in the same colour. I see black, brown, green, lilac, terracotta, red, white, grey and, for good measure, a yellow plastic duck and an ornamental sculpture made of reconstituted stone. The effect is a lack of cohesion and a look of ‘bittiness’. Now some like a random hotch potch: I don’t but it’s your garden and what you say goes.
I simply do not know what to suggest about the concrete. It is no thing of beauty but I am not sure what is best. Maybe you could cover it with gravel or bark mulch but there would have to be a means of retaining it to stop it spreading and such surfaces are not a good idea if neighbourhood cats think you have just built them a de luxe litter tray. Maybe you could put down paving slabs on top of the concrete but I am not technically aware enough to know if it’s feasible. Or maybe leave the concrete as it is and hope adjustments elsewhere in the garden draw the eye away.
One final suggestion I would make is to buy a proper table that matches the two chairs. Tables made out of plastic footstools are for student digs!
Please do come back to the forum at a later date with an ‘after’ picture.
Ben I wish I could have contacted you a few years ago. Garden with perfect soil. I had a blank canvas after digging everything up, new patio, new fence and turfing. Made loads mistakes. Patio too big, wrong plants that grew so quick and took over and had to give them away on facebook if they came and dug up. Still getting it wrong now, got an olive tree which is thriving but in wrong place, too many plants in borders (which are straight and uniform, not attractive) I now depend on this forum more so hopefully my garden will improve and maybe I can seek your advice
I am not the best to advise, as I have only had my own garden for a year and haven't done much in the way of landscaping at all, but I would imagine that building beds directly over solid concrete could potentially give issues with drainage. Possibly planting in troughs or beds raised up on feet would work, as then you could add crocks and drainage to the bottoms to make sure that plants didn't become waterlogged? Depending on your available resources and how much money you want to spend you could probably get some quite nice biggish beds done this way along the walls. Buying pre-made ones could be very expensive, as they tend not to come cheap, but if you are handy with tools you might be able to make your own for a bit less.
Trees can be quite happily planted in large containers (50-60cm diameter) if they are grafted onto dwarfing rootstock; I have an eating apple, a crab apple, a damson, and a plum that are planted this way in big plastic tubs with drainage holes drilled in the bottom, as my garden is only slightly larger than yours with a patio and path taking up about half of it and a square of lawn and a flowerbed taking up the other half. I think the RHS have a webpage about planting trees in containers if you wanted to look up some advice.
If you wanted more "normal" borders (for lack of a better word) then I think you would probably have to take at least some of the concrete up and dig down a bit, but that could be a tricky task depending on access points to move rubble off your property - unless maybe you wanted to use rubble to make a kind of urban rockery, perhaps, with alpine plants and things that don't need much soil?
Hope this helps a bit. Fingers crossed other members will contribute other options, and you will have various ideas to choose from.
Also, as a fellow flowerpot gardener, please could I ask what the big pinky purple flowers are under the middle of the washing line near the wall? They look gorgeous and I am always looking for new things to add to my pots! Thanks x
https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/how-to-cover-a-concrete-patio-with-pavers/
Option 2: you can hire a mechanical jackhammer from larger DIY stores, and a skip for the bits. Topsoil can be bought from landscape suppliers.
And cover the remaining concrete with 20mm slate chippings, they lie flat and work better than other types of gravel on existing surfaces. You can (and should) lay slate very shallow, so you can get them up to buildings without affecting the DPC.