Re-design a Hardy Exotic garden. Ideas please

[helen]

Hello everyone, especially all those I know.

I've moved home, and now have a nice, shiny new garden to deal with. It's larger than my old place, and I've spent a few months clearing it out to create an almost blank canvas. As some of you may remember, I grew my plants in (large) pots so I could bring them with me. So, I've got a whole load of plants in pots which need to go into the ground at last.

So the question is, how should I design the space? What would you suggest? I am pondering putting in a pond somewhere as well. I also have to think about resale value as one option for me is to sell up in 3 years and move closed to my office (I have a looong commute right now). I have both the back and front garden to think about. Right now, both are pretty much laid to grass and bare soil. Any ideas, advice would be very gratefully recieved



Here's a rough schematic of the plot. It's quite large and sunny, and flat. The back garden is surrounded by (new) 2m tall fence, with anouther .75m of trellis on top. The front garden is unenclosed. I am in Suffolk, so the weather is normally warm and dry (very dry in the summer). But, it can also get very cold occasionally in the winter if the systems bring freezing weather from Siberia. Soil is sandy with an underbelly of clay about 0.75 m below the surface. I've put in raised beds next to the greenhouse, so that area wont change. And am planning to build a shed / deck to the side of the house as it's an area that doesnt really get sun. I've got 4 huge silver birch trees along the top side, planted on the other side of the fence. They overhang my garden, and make the back border area dry in the summer, and shaded in the evening.

In terms of plants, I've got quite a few 'specimen' plants, and a number of smaller ones, to play with. I've got:

Bamboos - 10 Large and small plants, including Borinda and Phyllostachys, Hibanobambusa, Himalayacalmus as well as a few Fargesia types.

Palms - 10 large palms including Chamaerops, Phoenix, Trachycarpus. I've got a number of smaller ones as well, various types.

Spikeys and Succulents - Small and large Agaves, Echeverias, Aeoniums, Dasylirions, Fascicularias, Aloes, Beschornarias, Opuntias, Yucca Rigidas and 2 huge yucca rostratas one of which I call 'Cousin It' as it's untrimmed.

Acers - I have about 15 specimen acers, several of which are tall standards (about 1.5m tall), all different colours and leaf shapes. I've got a number of smaller ones as well, for underplanting. These used to be planted around a pond.

Vines - several huge old grape vines, 2m tall. Am thinking of putting these up an arbour somewhere.

Fruit trees - I've got about 10 fruit trees, 2-3m tall. Including apples, pears, apricots, peaches, gages, figs etc. I've already planted a load on the far right side, but have these 10 left to plant.

Ferns - 4 tall tree ferns, and several smaller ones.

Odds and sods - aspidistras, jasmines, acacias, gingers, agapanthus, albezzia, astelias, cordylines, various grasses, etc.

I also want to establish a musa 'grove' somewhere.

So, as you can see I've got an eclectic collection of mostly hardy tropicals.

[doncasterpalmguy123]

Looks exciting, keep u updated! Would love to see a picture of the garden now and one in the summer when every things out!

[Yorkshire Kris]

Hi Helen, you have a great big plot to work with there and plenty of plants ready to go in. I think the lack or replies to your thread maybe down to lack of photos of the space to get people motivated to suggest ideas. The great thing with tropical gardening is that it's hard to get it wrong, the plants do all the work and look good no matter what the design so long as they are planted in the correct conditions. Get the structural plants in as soon as you can then have fun with the less hardy and colourful plants.

Looking forward to watching it progress.

[Blairs]

I would get the landscaping done first. I tried to do that but really should have invested more time at the beginning before choosing on a planting scheme. Sounds like you have the right plants and that the landscaping and design is now key. What are your favourites? I like curved lawns, am easy on edging - stone, brick, timber, painted concrete, decking boards etc.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Any photos of the plot Helen?

[helen]

Had to wait to get a bit of daylight to take photos. Here's a stitched panorama of it. As you can see, tall fence, and mostly laid to lawn right now. Plants in pots are ready to go in when I decide what to do with them. The concrete path at the bottom of the image is one continuous piece, where I am likely to extend the house a bit. I plan on putting a deck from far left through to far right in front of the current concrete ribbon, so will reduce the depth of the garden a wee bit. The back fence is 40m long, and the garden is 20m deep. It extends diagonally on the right side. You can just see the thin concrete path that goes towards the pointed corner on the right, and the wood store (behind the palm). Also behind the palm is a greenhouse and beyond that, the raised beds.

I would like to figure out a natural planting scheme. The acers feel like they ought to go together rather than being 'sprinkled' around the garden. I was thinking to the left side at the top of the thin pathway, maybe with some form of pond. There are fruit trees planted across the left side fence, but they will be kept small (2-3m high) and bushy for fruit production.

I prefer natural looking landscapes rather than sharp, formal lines.

My old garden was very narrow (there should be some old photos of it somewhere on the forum gallery, IIRC?). I loaded the place up with big plants and had a very narrow path winding through it. But am not sure with this much larger plot. I still want to retain grass, but maybe break the garden up into different areas? What do you think?

[Mr List]

it would be nice you could create some 3d to the garden.
I am a fan of mounds myself rather than hard landscaping terraces and plateaus