Advice on reclaiming a field and creating a garden

hadook

Appreciate some advice on planning the next few years of my life guys

I'm a novice when it comes to garden related stuff but I've hit that point in my life where it's starting to seem like a thing that I could do rather than some sort of witchcraft Last year we added two new beds and took out some overgrown shrubs and badly located trees and it's given me the incentive to actually do something with the garden! Now that we're coming into spring it seems like a good time to start planning.

Backstory - we have that typical boring Irish country site with a lawn cut out of the corner of a big rectangular field, some pitiful shrubs (though we do have some nice old fashioned scented roses and honeysuckle in the "tamed" bit) and everything gone wild/ignored beyond. The entire site is about 1 & 1/2 acres and the field (approx 1 acre) has been untouched for years. Last year we took down the fencing around the lawn and cleared a few feet into the field with a strimmer/lawnmower but it's very slow work as there's a lot of dead grass and lumpy bits.

What's the best way to cut this back to eventually get it level again? We have a petrol strimmer & a bog standard petrol lawnmower for the main lawn and will have access to a ride-on from this summer so upkeep won't be a huge problem. Unfortunately for the short term, I don't know any local farmers who'd cut it and I'd imagine the grass is fairly worthless. Is it possible to hire a bigger version of a ride-on lawnmower? If so, when is the best time to start cutting it back? I'm not expecting it to be level quickly obviously.

What I think I want is that old fashioned country house vibe with a big lawn, some trees and some low maintenance beds. I want to leave about a third (at the back of the site) as a wildlife garden. We have 2 oak saplings & a pink chestnut growing away happily in pots so that's a start for trees. What sorts of shrubs should I plan for? I'd prefer things that attract interesting bugs/wildlife.

The current beds are planted with roses, honeysuckle, catmint, lavender, rosemary & ornamental grass. There are some bushy shrubs that I can't identify left by the previous owners and I had dahlias but they've been lifted for the winter.

Appreciate any suggestions/comments/tips!

lottpaul

On one hand I envy you the opportunity to create a new garden with plenty of space and scope but on the other hand there's a lot of work involved.
A farmer with a good mower would be ideal but I doubt if you'd get any sort of machinery near a garden at present, given the torrents of rain we've had recently. You'd definitely do more harm than good, but when it does dry all you will need to do is cut the grass and clear the mowings. I've done it in the past just with an ordinary petrol mower but it is hard work. Eventually you will get decent grass and can fill in any hollows and level any humps.
As for your garden design -- I think you need to plan carefully and perhaps your best long term option is a garden designer. This garden will last for a long time - you are lucky to have a blank canvas - and the cost of the designer would be worth it. You just need their advice -- then take home the plan and do all of the donkey work.
You could get lots of advice here - much of it excellent -- but you have such a big site that theres a danger you could end up with several disconnected mini-gardens in the one site, rather than a design that flows from one section to another.

But, again, lucky you

moth77

Think big !! With that size of land if your going to go for beds make them nice and big, using hosepipe or rope to mark out beds in grass before you cut them out can work well.
If your up for it changing levels by creating raised beds can add a lot of interest to a garden, you'd have to import topsoil and retain with stone or wood.
Another good tip is to hide bits of your garden with planting so its not all revealed at once until you pass through a gate or round a corner. Think of it like different rooms
Buddllias are great for the butterflys, Widgelias flower early and are easy too ( excuse spelling ) Hazel trees grow fast and look fantastic as well as being a wildlife magnet. I've just been planting Dragons Claw Willow ( twisted willow ) in my own garden and also Alder trees ( fast and attractive).
A few ideas anyway, hope it helps.