I wondering if it’s possible to use this stay-at-home time to landscape my garden. Does anyone know of useful online tools or websites with ideas I can use to plan what I’d like to do?
I have a few essentials in mind - to achieve a garden which is easier to maintain than it is at present, which I think will involve getting rid of the main area of lawn. There is a smaller area of lawn, which I’m inclined to reduce in size by making the flower beds deeper and perhaps using artificial grass…because the garden backs onto a nature reserve - which is lovely but there are badger sets just the other side of my boundary. I’ve spent the last ten years battling to keep the lawn looking good after the badgers tear it up and the only real solution has been the electric fence I installed a couple of years ago - which is great, but looks hideous, and I keep tripping over it!!! :shock:
Are you planning to do the work yourself Lindy?, taking up a lawn is no mean feat, even a small one is hard work!, if you are getting someone in then they may be able to plan what you need, other than that check out some gardening forums or magazines or better still you tube might give you some ideas
I’d like to do some of the work, but having taken up the turf last year from a small patch in the front garden - I won’t do taking up the whole of the back lawn!!!
Thanks for those suggestions, I’ll keep an eye out for gardening magazines and look at youtube too.
Just a suggestion why not just plant in plugs of wildflowers into one of your lawns and let it become a wildflower garden
Other than that you could cut your lawn back and cover with black felt/weed repressant and cover with a nice gravel on it
Muddy - look forward to exchanging ideas with you.
Kazz - the wildflower garden sounds great but is extremely difficult to do (I tried before in my previous house). As for weed suppressant and gravel - that’s a possible way forward but I suspect badgers would dig that up and it would be great to get rid of the electric fence!
I’ll take some photos soon and have a bit more of a think. I wondered if I could use your idea of weed suppressant and gravel for a larger area than just pathways, but that area is on a slope, so I’d need some way of stopping the gravel slipping down.
Had a few other things I’ve had to get done, and must spend more time on those tomorrow, but soon after…
The first is the east - right hand side - which I’m planning to widen the flower beds and maybe replace the grass with artifical turf.
The second is behind the first photo - showing greenhouse and patio.
The third - showing the arch - is towards the back where there’s a circular space (used to site an observatory). Also paths left to the shed and right to a small area I’ve planted with raspberries and currents and another entrance to the nature reserve.
Thanks Mags. It would look so much better without the electric fence wouldn’t it? But I don’t want to go back to repairing damage every few days or chasing badgers at 3 am. A badger once tried to get into the house through the cat flap - it ran off and tore down some slats on a fence panel in it’s panic to get away from the mad looking woman running after it!!!
Instead of replacing the grass with artificial which I have myself but think it would be pointless with your badgers you may find they take it up to get to the worms underneath etc. How about a stone circle and increase the borders around it put something like a feature on the stone circle a nice pot with specimen plant or an ornament
If you are thinking gravel for the path then use small sleepers to stop the slip but I would consider bound gravel like you see on park paths stately homes where it does not kick up/move
You could even consider this for where you want rid of the lawn.
Just google resin bound gravel to get an idea. Can do any shape or surface may be exactly what you are looking for to bring the areas together.
You have a fantastic garden by the way and just a point my Aunt and Uncle had their borders widened 10 years ago but last year had the grass put back and borders narrowed to make it easier i.e. just mow
Good point about the artificial grass - I’ll have to make enquiries about that. The stone circle is also good, but if I leave the grass, that’s effectively increasing the work as I’d have to mow around the circle! The other point is that piece of grass gets the last rays of sunshine in the summer evenings - I often move my patio chair down there to get the rays!
