Garden Design

[jennifer_cro]

We have recently bought our first house which has a small garden. At the moment its completely paved and not being the most green fingered couple, we're wondering what to do with it to make it look nicer.

As we're on a bit of a hill one side of the fence seems to be bowing a bit with the weight of the earth so we're not really sure what to do there.

I know it's a bit of a long shot as you cant actually see it but does anyone have any ideas of what we can do with it?

I should probably point out that we also have a dog!

[logman]

One thing in your favour is, you have a blank canvas to start with. As your not really a green fingered pair, you could dip your toe's in the water by taking up some of the slabs at various places and introduce some carefully chosen trees and shrubs, most are very low maintainence and just requir a little prunning after flowering, if azalias none at all, and should provide you with all round colour if planned well, and hopefully a big hit with the canine family member too.

Failing that, the sloping ground may lend itself to become a rockery,perhaps you have some slabs that can be utilised in the construction ?

[gil-rob]

My garden is also on the small side. I have taken up my grass and gravelled it. I have a few small areas where I have planted small palms and different coloured grasses. Most of my other plants are in terracotta plant pots ( more small palms) these I can move around to different places. All these are evergreen and hardy (very easy to look after) and low maintenence! During the winter I add some potted pansies, and summer lots of potted geraniums. My garden looks good all year round!

Also gravel can be raked about if the dog runs wild! and no lawn to ruin! Try a few "stepping stones" to break it up a bit... very effective.

[mullein3]

if you like natural looks where your soil is on the hill dig a wildlife pool..pond liners are quite cheap and you can edge it with native wild flowers and grasses encourage wild life and birds..i have a dog and he is okay with mine...i also have lots of climbers going up to give height..and interest as you have a dog its not a good idea to dig up all the lawn as they need somewhere to walk etc...so just make a feature such as a pool or a herb garden..or even just add a pergola for height and put lots of climbers over it..

[markja]

i like going to B&Q buying a load of pansies and other small plants that that are called 'plugs' i believe. whack them in various bright flower pots and move them around to suit.as prev mentioned grasses and bamboos are good to hide / break up fences

with regards bowed fence, stick a plank allong the bottom between the posts to take the pressure off the fence panels, and make sure you use creosote or some type of preservative on the planks & fence. there are loads or different colors.

also watch a few gardening programs , i've got a few ideas this way.

most of all, enjoy your garden, i have mates with flats who would kill for one!