Garden re-design

C.R

Hello, 

We would appreciate some advice and ideas please! 

Recently moved in and we are trying to re-design our garden… trying to work out the most straight forward way to do this and on a budget. We are thinking possibly to make it all one level and then deck it all at one level and have flower borders down the sides. Unfortunately due to large trees either side the patio is lifting so we are against redoing patio. Due to the large trees, unfortunately it is hard to grow grass here. Possibly laying some fake grass. 

Any advice and ideas would be very welcome, thank you! 

AnniD

Hello, welcome to the forum 
It doesn't look too big, so hopefully levelling would be comparatively easy. If you are young and fit enough, lifting the slabs and either reusing them elsewhere or maybe putting them on Freecyle or similar would be a start.
A lot depends on what you want to use it for. Unless you really want a lawn, real or artificial (if you have children to consider for example),  it might be worth going without. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest and the like of gardens using paving, gravel etc. rather than grass.

What sort of time do you want to spend tending plants etc ?
Shrubs are comparatively easy care and can give you year round interest. A little more information, such as is it sunny or shady, will also help with advice. 

GardenerSuze

@C.R I think it is too smaller area to grow grass it will take more time bringing the lawnmower in and out. Decking although much improved can be slippery when wet, especially in a shady garden. Purely personal but I hate artifical grass you could finish up with the 'snooker table' look.
On the positive this has the potential to be a lovely space the trees create dappled shade which is lovely in a garden.
You look out on to this space all year round so you need something to 'draw the eye' even in the winter. You also want to create something that makes you want to go out there.
I am not a designer but a gardener, could you reuse or replace your paving stones and create planting pockets by leaving out a paver randomly. You could also leave gaps for thymes, erigeron in the sunny part of the garden
Large pots also make an impact in a small garden they add drama. Height is also very imporant in a small garden and grasses work well
Your garden does seem to drop away perhaps an opportunity to put up a small screen and divide the garden. It is also important to use the verticals for climbing plants.
I hope this gives you a few ideas it is always best to get lots of ideas before you start even if they are not for you.
Hopefully there are other forum members with good desigh ideas who can help.Aspect is the most important information needed.

Fairygirl

If it's shady [and the proximity of the trees and fences suggests that] then decking is also a problem. Lethal in shade when it's wet. 
I'd go for gravel if that's the case. You can then plant directly into it, and it also means it's easy for placing seating or a table. It also copes with an incline. It doesn't look much of a slope from the photo, but you can always make a simple single step terrace. That can be on the diagonal, dividing the space, and making it look wider. Easy enough to do with sleepers if you don't want a brick or block wall or similar   
As said already, the amount of time you have to spend on maintenance will help determine the planting, but if you forget grass [of any kind] you can create beds in different places, and it will make the space more interesting, and you can then have plants which like some more sun. That will be more difficult if you just have them down the sides. The bit that already has plants might have some decent soil underneath so that would be a good start.  The bit under the paving will be poor, and probably very compacted. 

GardenerSuze

@C.R I agee with @Fairygirl creating borders just down the sides can look like all the furniture has been pushed to the sides of the room. The diagonal approach she suggests and the use of gravel are good ideas. Gravel and paving will also be long lasting.
Any planting will depend on aspect and the kind of look you want to achieve .

Fairygirl

That's easier 
Easier to see the incline too 
Not disastrous though, and if that's the bit that gets the most useable sun, then you could have a nice little sunken seating/dining area down there, and make the most of the views back to the house. People often forget about that view when they're having to put the best seating areas at the far end of a garden rather than next to the house.

I think one of the first things I would do is sort that boundary on the right hand side. The fence on the left looks in good order, but the right hand side needs a fair bit of attention. It wouldn't be too hard to screen it though, even if it's not possible to plant into the ground 
What you do depends on budget as well, and whether you do some work yourself if that budget's tight.

Slow-worm

You could raise the crown on the trees so you get more light.
A lawn doesn't have to be grass, you could put a herb lawn in - or there are grasses suitable for shade so it's not out the question.
Maybe get some woody salvias or honeysuckle or clematis for the trellis side - it looks sunny there.
Potted or planted fargesia bamboos hide all sorts of brickwork etc.
Hang up some fairy lights.
I'd have a nice bamboo wind chime hanging off a tree there. 😁

C.R

Thank you very much for all of your comments of advice and ideas. 

We would like to keep the bottom part of the garden as a sunken seating area as it’s the area that gets most sunlight. 

We are getting the fence redone soon so that will help. 

Gravel does sound a better idea than decking due to the amount of leaves that would fall on it and quite a shady garden. 

We need to look into how to landscape the area in terms of the incline and we will have a look at all of the shrubs etc you have suggested 😊
Thanks again 

Fairygirl

I think that all makes sense @C.R  
Good luck with it. Hard landscaping first is always the way to go. Then you can sit in your nice sunny bit, with a G&T, or a cuppa, and contemplate the universe...
...and maybe some plants too 

GardenerSuze

Yes Good Luck with all your plans.

Lizzie27

@C.R, hello, you've got the bones of a lovely garden there. I would keep the incline, it's always better and cheaper to work with what you've got in most cases and yours looks quite steep. The central steps however look far too mean and narrow so I would think about widening those quite a bit, makes it much safer as well when you're carrying those drinks down to the sunny area! The lowest beds each side of the existing steps look a waste of space so I would investigate whether in fact the edging bricks are concreted in or not. I would be inclined to get rid of those and enlarge the seating area.
Paving rather than gravel makes sweeping up fallen leaves much easier.

A bit of a tidy up and some weeding would improve matters no end.

Please do post more pics when you're done. Good luck