Front garden question

alxmorgan

Hello all,



Got a small patch of grass out front (12 x 5 foot roughly).

Want to get shot of it and plan is to put down stones with something in the middle. The something in the middle is the purpose of my question.

My requirements are:



1. very low maintenance

2. Sizeable enough so it doesn't look flimsy in middle of stones

3. Doesn't cost an arm and a leg

4. Looks nice all year round



Obviously all of above are the perfect combination but any suggestions welcome

GreeBo

Do you mean a plant/tree or some feature?

Lots of people like a "palm" tree in the middle, u also see lots of people with a street light effect.
You could also do a small, circular paved area.

alxmorgan

Hi,

Yes I was thinking of a tree/plant...apologies for lack of clarity in message.

But I'm open to any suggestions.
I also reckon its shouldn't be too big so how big are these "palm" trees ?

Also what do you mean by street light effect ?

thanks

GreeBo

My parent have a palm tree in their garden, its been there about 8 years now and is maybe 8ft tall.

Lots of front gardens have a lamppost installed in the front garden somewhere, provides light and something to look at.

alxmorgan

Mmm....8 foot might be too tall....hard to describe why but if youy saw the house and the surrounding ones it would make sense....maybe 3-4 foot tall but quite bulky would be more like it I reckon.

As for the lamp post - sounds like a lot of work

thanks

Cmar-Ireland

What about a nice water feature set into a nice pebbled area? Something like this...

John Mason

My garden would be simliar to what you are describing.

I have put in a mature rose bush. the only maintenance it needs is to be cut back at the end of the season and the odd dead heading to keep the flowers coming. My has a really strong smelling flower which is great on a warm summer's day

alxmorgan

On the water feature...looks nice but given the estate the house is in Iwould be a bit of a risk. Kids messing with it an all.


On the rose bush...sounds interesting can I get more details ?
How do they come when you buy them ?
What size are they ?
How much and where ?

thanks for all the replies

John Mason

Well mine came from a garden centre about 3 years ago and it cost about €30.00, i think. You can pick whatever size you need really.

Mine grew to about 6ft last summer, which was far too big tbh, it kinda fell over and had to be held up by poles. So last winter, i cut it right back to the ground, looking at the way its growing at the moment it should be about knee height but the time it flowers.

Roses are great, they are really hard to kill

go to a good garden centre, and tell the person what you are looking for and they will steer you in the right direction

alxmorgan

Sounds good.....off to the Garden centre with me it is then.

thanks a bunch

looksee

That looks fantastic Ciaran. We did something similar but I used the tiny pea gravel because I like the look of pebbles rather than the stones, its now time to give it a bit of a top-dressing and I think I will use some rather larger pebbles as I like the look of yours. Its a great improvement on the little patch of scruffy grass, the only minor issue is that there is a largish tree which drops a lot of leaves onto the pebbles.

alxmorgan

Now that looks really nice.
Some questions if you don't mind:

How did you manage to get the circle so round ? (both in terms of the grass and the aluminium)
Where did you get the aluminium and was it expensive ?

thanks,