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Suburban garden newbie!

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  • 06-07-2009 4:54pm
    #1
    Olbol
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29 ✭


    Hi all...

    It's a year since I moved into my lovely terraced house in Dublin City Centre and I am finally getting around to tackling the surprisingly large garden I have out the back. I am as far from greenfingers as they come and am looking for some advice :D In my head I know exactly what I would like the garden to look like, but getting it from the old grey matter to reality might prove to be a bit of an issue...so here it goes:

    Garden runs about 15' in width and about 30' from back door to the door of the brick shed at the end of the garden. Currently there is about 12' of patio from the back door out into the garden, which is all very uneven and not sealed so a haven for weeds and other things I don't want in my garden, then a patio'd path from there to the shed door with 4 beds along the path, two each side.

    I would like a low-maintenance minimalistic garden - get rid of all but two of the beds - the two under the windows of the shed, but I want to raise these up off the ground using railway sleepers to box them off. The rest of the garden is to be re-patio'd with bright slabs and sealed. I want to group some planters of varying sizes in the garden, with the likes of a Japanese Acer in the largest of the planters.

    After that I'm at a loss :confused: ...so that is why I turn to you...
    What plants/shrubs/small trees do you recommend for year round vibrancy in the garden, and that need little attention (not looking for anything too high-maintenance)?
    Where would you suggest I go to source my sleepers, planters and slabs - I'd be delighted to take salvage items, so long as they were in a presentable condition?
    Any suggestions for places to source good quality plants and tress at a recession proof cost?

    I don't have a huge budget to spend - I would be hoping to do a lot of the work myself - bar the patio slabs...unless of course I can find a gardner who'd help out for a reasonable rate...

    Looking forward to all comments, suggestions, recommendations and advice!


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    #2
    Sonnenblumen
    Registered Users Posts: 5,834 ✭✭✭Sonnenblumen


    Olbol

    we have a few salvaged sleepers which you can have for the price of a few beers! You could also look at our website and blog for some layout ideas.


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    #3
    Dr Galen
    Registered Users Posts: 7,373 ✭✭✭Dr Galen


    Olbol wrote: »
    ..unless of course I can find a gardner who'd help out for a reasonable rate...

    the Boards.ie Garden Squad you mean? ;)


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    #4
    ofthesorrows
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭ofthesorrows


    Hi

    Bamboo is a great structural plant wich grows well in containers as long as it's not let dry out - I would suggest you hook up a basic timer-controlled watering system to all your pots to minimise time spent with a watering can/hose in hand! Get a dwarf variety (unless you want something that'll grow several meters tall!) with a nicely coloured cane - the red and black ones can look stunning. Something like a cordyline or a forsythia would contrast well with their spiky folige and again come in a few different colours.

    Ornamental grasses look great in a minimalistic garden and a lot of them are perenial - they come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes and most just need cutting back in early spring to encourage new growth. There are some very pretty annual ones to be found too - I grew one called 'Frosted Explosion' this year which is producing masses of delicate, almost see-through seedheads which look great as a cut flower too.

    For a splash of colour why not consider hardy fuscias - they'll give masses of elegant blooms all summer long and are ideal for containers. For the spring it's worth investing in some bulbs - I got some great (and cheap) sets in Aldi and Lidl last autumn which gave me a great show - the star was a narcissus 'Minnow' which had beautiful multiple butter-coloured flowerheads with a lovely delicate scent which lasted for ages. For summer, bulbs like gladioli look great - again look out for these in the spring in Aldi/Lidl or Dunnes.

    Herbs such as lavander, rosemary, sage and thyme look great and can come in handy in your kitchen too! Try to get a hold of purple or bi-coloured sage and lemon (yellow) or varigated thyme for added interest. These all propogate well from cuttings if you fancy giving that a try...

    If you happen to be a web-page designer I'm a gardener looking for a skill-swap...:)


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