Hi Gang,
Right i have finaly got around to scanning in the image of the garden design i have discussed with at least 5 garden landscapers now and all of them come in at silly money so looks like were going to have to do the landscaping ourselves.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/cambourne7/New%20Garden%20Project/Scan_Garden_plan.jpg
(key each square is 2ft by 2ft)
The garden is split into 2 areas on the left hand side you will see the veg garden with the 8x6 greenhouse at the back and raised beds with paving slabs down between the beds to create a path. Idea was to make the bed with sleepers. There are 4 beds for my crop rotation system and one of these can be turned into a hotbed/coldframe in the future as it is next to the greenhouse. There is a long thin raised bed spliting the garden this was going to have my beans/peas and late flowering roses on so i should have colour all year.
The Rest of the garden is dominated by 2 features a curcular area of grass surrounded by a rill and a paved seating area (the garden has that corner cut off so the paved area will put up against the fence. There is a street light the other side of the fence hence the placement. It also gets the late sun.
The slabs indicated at the bottom right of the image are interplanted with herbs which can stand being walked on. And the path of slabs along the bottom are already in place and this is the entrance to the dinning room and the kitchen.
Got a big long list of things to do in the next couple of weeks once i finish packing my hospital bag :)
I need to pop all of this into the marshalls garden visualiser so it can calculate the number of slabs i need for the job. And to work out how many sleepers i need and to what lenths to get them cut to.
I am hoping to have my dad and my brother come down april bank holiday to help lay the paving and the rill. And maybe another weekend for the vegi bit. Going to sneek out and look at greenhouses next week and see what the cost of them fitting this might be. Will need to get a tree surgon in to move the tree which is currently planted where i want the greenhouse.
Any tips guys?
I have quite a lot of open planting space and would like to encompass a number of fruit trees (min rooting stock) so any suggestions welcome :)
Cam
Maybe an area for the wildlife ??
:) you mean the husband :) hehe
Were planning on putting in a bird bath and bird feeders interplanted with the fruit trees?
We have a summer visitor of a phesant and his family which are currently hybernating in next doors garden so we want to try and accomodate them as much as possible.
Your plan looks brill, but when you say rill, do you mean water feature rill? I'm thinking
of the bump, who'll be a toddler before you can turn around! Hope all goes well with the last few weeks and the arrival- enjoy the rest while you can!!
Was thinking more of places :)for insects,hedgehogs and bees ,that kind of thing.
Sorry, but if the circle bit is grass surrounded by a rill, whats the big blank bit in the middle, to the right of the roses/beans/peas ?
A sand pit/ safe play area for little'uns (and to bury the OH in [blood wont show up so much in sand]), while your tending to your veg.
Do you need somewhere for the dustbins ?
Where will you keep the lawn mower and all your tools ?
I would echo the concern about the rill and little uns. Maybe you could make the grass area bigger meantime and incorporate a sandpit/play area in one of the rill areas? Then when baby grows up a bit you can add your rill. Is it to be still or running water?
Which way is north? Can you give dimensions? You might be able to plant espalier/ cordon fruit right down the fence on the right behind the slabbing. It would soften the hard landscaping and leave you with loads of space for planting elsewhere. I agree with PW about a storage place for your tools. Do you need raised beds?It would be a lot cheaper without and easier to change later if you change your mind. What sort of soil do you have? What is the garden like now?
With children about it is - in my view- important to be able to see where they are all the time so think about that too.
Cam, you could have your rill built but filled with decorative gravel for the next few years, and then add the water at a much later date when little one is of a suitable age.
But having said that there will be a lot of time when your little one will be playing outside, pushing toddler trucks, riding little bikes etc, playing in the paddling pool, and falling over.
For now I would keep your design simple but with a long term plan, that way you could keep a level surface for now as much as possible but have your raised beds etc to the side. You also need to consider that little ones can pick leaves and eat them so make sure what you grow is suitable, eg no rhubarb etc.
Little ones get quite frustrated at about 15 months old if whatever they are doing doesn't work properly. At 15 months or so your bump could be playing in the garden quite a bit. As Anne says too you need to be able to see them at all times too.
A covered sandpit is a good idea, could you make an area for one or even make what would become a wildlife pond but fill it with sand for the time when you need one with the view of changing it to a wildlife pond when your littleone is old enough and no longer plays in the sand?
Later on they love places to hide so that could be in a long term plan.
Good luck with this, it is good fun considering all the angles. And hope all goes well in the next few weeks, looking forward to hearing the good news. :)
I like Tulipa's advise, but with one exception - the gravel.
If it can be picked up and thrown, it will - Did you intend to have a glass greenhouse ??
Also gravel can make a mess of a nice lawnmower.
thanks for all the questions guys
gwynnethmary - thanks - Yes rill for water but only about an inch and were going to be putting a grill over it. Just for the noise really.
Betual - yes there on my list to think about not going to have anywhere for bees though as there is the edge of a farm about 4 houses over from us and they have bee hives so dont want to accomodate them but will have food friendly plants :)
Pesky Wabbit - the rest of the blank space is for planting. We have a an area for bins around the side of the house so they dont need to be accomodated into the garden and i am hoping to put the water butt there as well. The garden is essentialy the entire width of the house and double garage and i want to put a door onto the back of the garage and thats where i will pop my tools. Husband is not 2 keep on a sand pit so i think what were going to look at is a portable one that can come out in the summer and will probably go on the grass. And something i can cover from things going into the sand :)
Something like http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3650691/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CToys+and+games%7C14417629/c_2/3%7Ccat_15701456%7CSand+pits+and+sand%7C14417885.htm
Grawrc - you should be able to see faint boxes on the picture these are 2ft by 2ft i cant find the exact measurements for the garden at the moment. Definatly need raised beds due to my back. I am ordering a skip from the place which processes all the green waste from the area and for an extra £ they deliver it filled with compost and empty it near the skip. I will be mixing this with spent hops and a bag of sand for the raised beds. The planting areas are clay (but not heavy clay) and have a good amount of fen soil on top but i will be once the landscaping is done and before the planting be digging this over and adding sand to assist in drainage and well rotted manure and will be adding a dressing of the compost from the recycling people (will drive down and bag some up). Planting i see happening end April to May giveing the landscaping time to go hard and the grass to grow or tuft to take. Yes we considered putting something along that fence however it has some be something that is not going to cause damage with there roots as there is a car park on the other side. Was thinking that a climbing vine maybe a couple of grapes might be safer? At the moment the garden is just mud with the tops of dead weeds sticking out. It was strimmed and i sprayed it with roundup (whichever one is safe as soon as it touches the soil) in September and the whole thing has been covered in weed membrane until christmas when the heavy winds pulled up mosly up.
Tulipa good tip about the gravel :) but husband is worried about them putting it in there mouth thats why we have gone for slabs between the raised beds. I though putting the rill in after might be 2 much work so though we might have to do it now. We dont need to put water in it for a while. Husband wanted to pop the pump and things into place i think his plan is that we would drain the pump most of the time while the child is young and only have water in it when were out with friends having a bbq etc so there are lots of people watching baby.
Pesky Wabbit - Would like to go with perspex as i would worry about the broken glass.
I agree that with a bump on the way you will need things simple and easy. My son loved mud and dug holes and filled them with water and got absolutely filthy. He loved throwing handfuls of gravel about. And he wrecked everything. I am very glad I did not have a greenhouse when he was young. He tested everything to destruction.
My daughter was quite different and loved loads of annual flowers and pulled all the flowers off. It was great that they just grew some more.
Thinking three or four year time, the bumb will want a little bike.
Would you want somewhere for the bump cycle round ?
What about a compost heap ?
(running out of random ideas again :-[)
there is a path that is at the bottom of the plan which goes down the back of the house and down the side and out to the front. 5 min walk away is public play area with swings etc :)