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Garden design - suggestions please

Ann498Ann498 Posts: 3
in Garden design
I have the opportunity to redesign our front garden and would like some comments on my proposed design. I attach a photo of the garden and the layout.  The beds will be edged with Ilex crenata 'Green Globe' and each border will contain a shrub and informal planting.  The borders are 2 metres wide and the lawn is also 2 metres.  I am unable to change the paving area.  Thank you in advance.

Posts

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Bath, SomersetPosts: 6,266
    My first thought was do you really want a small lawn? The grass looks rather sparse and muddy in the middle now, so may not get any better. I think you may be better off paving where you want to put the lawn so you can tend to your beds easier, and less maintenance as well. Your formal layout works well with the ilex edging, did you want some height towards the pavement side?  How about 4 matching rose bushes in the middle of each border with perennials and bulbs around those. Does the front garden get much sun? 
  • Garden noobGarden noob Posts: 260
    I'd want to know what the lawn is growing so poorly. Is this simply from overuse/neglect, or does lawn not grow well in that spot (e.g. poor light, poor drainage etc)? If it's the latter, I'd think beyond lawn as Lizzie suggested. Otherwise, looks good to me (but I'm rubbish at this stuff).
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 22,771
    I agree.  The current grass doesn't look great so would need a lot of work to improve soil, drainage, coverage and a 2m wide cross shape is going to be a royal PITA to maintain in good state and a huge edging job to keep it neat.

    Whereabouts are you?  Which way does your garden face?  What kind of soil do you have?
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Ann498Ann498 Posts: 3
    The lawn is awful and we will be reseeding.  Although it looks quite small on the layout it is 2 metres wide between all the borders and measured out it is surprisingly large.  We have sun until mid-morning and then again from mid-afternoon until evening.  Soil is neutral although the camellia and heathers do well.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 26,167
    unless you want to spend endless hours out there clipping hedges, sweeping up clippings and dragging the mower out there and back to mow the grass, I'd have a rethink. 
    I'd lose the grass completely.
    Devon.
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 22,771
    It will need more work than just re-seeding IMHO and a 2m wide cross is a pain.  mark it out and try mowing it before you commit yourself.   It will be a fiddle and a faff.

    What's the border like on the other side of the car?  Narrow? Wide?  Formal planting?  Loose?
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Ann498Ann498 Posts: 3
    There is only a wall on the other side of the car.  The problem with the lawn has been dealt with and someone else is re-seeding it!  I will think more about the edging, I wanted it to be formal but the trimming etc could be too time consuming.  I'm really keen on finding out what other gardeners think of the design.  Thanks for your help.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 26,167
    another point I'd mention is, you're proposing to have grass meeting the wall at the pavement. Maybe consider having something taller/ evergreen there to give you some privacy?
    Devon.
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 22,771
    I think it's going to be maintenance heavy - cutting a fiddly lawn, keeping the hedging trimmed.   I would suggest narrowing the cross to a maximum one metre wide and putting down either pavers or a membrane and gravel or slate chipping whichever looks best with your house façade and/or roof.  I'd put a circle or oval in the centre with a specimen plant or a huge pot with a changing seasonal display.  The circle/oval would echo the curved portion of the space which looks a bit odd in a totally rectangular design for the rest..
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
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