Any budding garden designers?

lostinrates

I've seen so e of your wonderful gardens, and I'm looking at my designs on backs of envelopes and tearing my hair out.


This patch of weeds is my 'herb garden to be'.(picture removed, but plan added below!)

Some things are going, like the telegraph pole at the end.

Some things are coming. There is going to be a hedge or a fence (ATM I am thinking espaliered almonds) in the foreground (just before the first window which is just out of shot at camera end).


The photo is shot looking west north is on the right and gets sun all day in summer. The south wall and a bout a metre or so span from it gets little direct sun, just some morning sun, and a little evening sun.

My thought had been to put things that could cope with shade (like mint) on the south side. And things like Basil on the north side.

Screening on the right is well on the way, with six trained pears which are establishing really quickly. and full of health.


Other things I know I want are a small seating area opposite the double door,( has to be small, right? Just a small round table and four chairs would be perfect) and raised beds (with sleepers probably, providing somewhere to sit and kneel to sniff and garden) the sleepers dictate the rest, because while I'd love the shape and style to be like a traditional knot garden, I cannot make sleepers make curved lines, so all the beds would have to be square. I also need to be able to get to the pears and roses to prune, pick, deadhead. I keep laying it out as triangles or sharks teeth with the return at the pears, and I just don't like it, though it makes sense.


How would others lay out the beds and planting on this garden? Do you need me to measure it?


Edit: please don't quote the photo, I may chose to remove it in the future. Thank you!


Images I've liked...

http://www.almanac.com/content/knot-gardens

I love this,very simple, could repeat really well allong the narrow space and the middle bed just left out where we want to sit, but the curves are impossible with sleeper. Too intricate a design would be a weeding nightmare I think!

RAS

Ok

Very quick comment but what happens if you replace the central circle with a diamond shape with equal side (square on its point)?

Then you can have triangular beds making up a square or double size them and repeated the diamond?

Have you looked at patchwork patterns, particularly for block work?

lostinrates

:A

RAS wrote: »

Ok

Very quick comment but what happens if you replace the central circle with a diamond shape with equal side (square on its point)?

Then you can have triangular beds making up a square or double size them and repeated the diamond?

Have you looked at patchwork patterns, particularly for block work?

Do you mean like (a considerably neater and to scale version of:o) this?


Triangle beds are where I have been starting, so how starting from the middle seems to make the design a little easier. Maybe not stunning, but less odd than (I can see through my uneven ness a bit) than my sharks teeth have looked, Thanks for the very valuable change of perspective.


No, I hadn't thought to look at patchwork patterns! Good idea! Never heard of block work,..thanks!

Edit...yes....block work, certainly a great idea for planting....hmm, liking this idea. Sort of what I was doing with triangles but SO MUCH BETTER.

I think the other problem I was having is that the trees cannot be the deciding size for the beds, because they will make squares /triangles that are too big to fit three across like that triangle /diamond/triangle.

I_have_spoken

I recall seeing a design with a zig-zag element

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=43286000&postcount=1

lostinrates

When did amclue get ppr'ed? . His garden was beautifully done. . It really made the most of it, fantastic.

Rummer

I like the ones that have been shown already and think it would be nice to have a central seating area with beds around. What about a bit of a maze effect? Like this with more space between, then you could make the beds any shape you like.

I_have_spoken

Can you do us a basic scale plan of the ground, the location of door and indicate north etc?

lostinrates

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Can you do us a basic scale plan of the ground, the location of door and indicate north etc?

Yes, I can, tomorrow . Thanks!

Better_Days

I like the idea of a seating area, then you can sit and enjoy the lovely scents and insects relaxing with a cuppa (possibly not wine if you are alcohol intolerant like me!!). Facing west if possible - it will be lovely in the summer evenings.

Those low woven fences can make a nice way to lead the eye round an area and will blend in well with the planting.

If you can, a small pond will also greatly increase the popularity of the area with wildlife, and if you can put it near the seating area you will get to watch insects etc drinking from the pond. At my old house I used to love sitting near the pond - the dragon flies especially were amazing.

Have you considered balancing the design with plant size rather than with shape? The sharks tooth design is balanced but it may make the space look thinner and draw the eye down the garden instead of around the garden. Have you considered having the path not going down the middle?

Something like this perhaps?


And this is a nice way to add height


Just a few off the cuff thoughts!!

lostinrates

I've got a pond coming in the garden next door (and in other areas of garden else where. I was thinking possibly of one of those sort of trough ponds against a wall, but I'm slightly trepidatious, we get a LOT of flies in this garden. A LOT. On an Mse ers recommendation we bought a few red top fly traps this year. The one in this garden filled in three days.

I love that double tiered bed. .

lostinrates

Found a plan, just trying to work out how to copy it and then I'll do some measurements. Might be this evening at this rate as I have an appointment this afternoon.