what can we do to improve the garden?

kittycao0705

I'm wondering whether anyone can give any advice on very beginner level gardening. Both my husband and I are helpless in any DIY stuff, plus we don't have much time to maintain a beautiful garden so just want simple things to be done with it. We want to hire a gardener to improve the current situation but in order to get an accurate quote, I just want to know what kind of things can be done with it. Below are some pictures attached. My questions are : a)We hardly use paving area and just want the area looks neat. The current area has some concrete cracked up, what needs to be done here? b)our grass doesn't feel very smooth and have lots of soil in between. We have planted grass seeds in the past but it didn't seem to improve the situation. What needs to be done here? c)my husband can mow the lawn but couldn't do anything else. Can we get a gardener to improve it to a state that it's easy to maintain by just mowing or we need to hire him on a regular basis? Thanks so much! I know it sounds a bit daft but I am really clueless. i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00867_zps2890e311.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00875_zpsf1cbc73a.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00880_zpsb99c9c05.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00870_zps0fc78737.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00871_zpsbef4499f.jpg

kittycao0705

I can't post any photos as I'm a new user! what kind of rule is that!!!

martin2345uk

kittycao0705 wrote: »

I can't post any photos as I'm a new user! what kind of rule is that!!!

You can't post a direct link, but all you need to do is remove the http://www bit from the start and you can post it, then someone might be kind enough to link to it for you

WestonDave

You need to host them somewhere online - and then post a link - provided you "break" the link - i.e. miss out the http bit then you can post it and someone will put it in for you (assuming its a legit link). The site mods don't mind that because one of us is effectively checking you aren't posting a dodgy link. You can't post photos direct anyway.

elsien

Your pictures aren't showing - you can't post pictures as a newbie. If you can link to one of the hosting sites like flikr and post the link on here with gaps in, we can put the photos in for you.
Most regular jobbing gardeners round my way don't want to do much more than mow the lawn and need you to tell them what else you want doing. If you want ideas and suggestions and to have it set up as easy maintenance, depending on what's already there you may need someone a bit more landscapey which can be expensive, however without seeing the garden it's hard to comment.
Do you have any greenfingered friends or relatives who can come up with ideas so that you can tell people what you want and they can price it up?

Money_maker

kittycao0705 wrote: »

I can't post any photos as I'm a new user! what kind of rule is that!!!

The kind that stops spammers. Those above have pointed you in the right direction.

kittycao0705

i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00867_zps2890e311.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00875_zpsf1cbc73a.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00880_zpsb99c9c05.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00870_zps0fc78737.jpg
i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t569/Kitty_Cao/DSC00871_zpsbef4499f.jpg

kittycao0705

okay, I have posted the links. Hopefully someone can upload the photos for me. Wow it's really quick to get some replies in this forum. Thank you so much guys for the help!

WestonDave

http://s1314.photobucket.com/user/Kitty_Cao/media/DSC00875_zpsf1cbc73a.jpg.html


If you go to this you can I think cross to the others!

elsien

What is it you're thinking of? Do you want to keep it basically lawn, do you want some flower beds for interest and colour, how much time do you want to give it a week?
You could make your patio look brighter with some pots and planters, but what you put in them will depend on how much sun it gets and whether you want annuals that will need redoing every year, or to try for some perennial/shrubs that other than watering can look after themselves.

WestonDave

With the grass I'd be inclined to start with a good 3 in one weed, feed and moss killer like the Evergreen or Westland ones - you can get them in an applicator pack. That will leave you with just grass left as it looks like there is a fair amount of moss in there.


I'd then go over it with a garden fork and spike it all so as to get some air in under the roots.


By that stage you'll have a clear view as to what is left.


It needs cutting regularly - needs no more than 1/3 of its length cutting off each mowing. No good letting it grow to 6 inches and then razing it back to nothing - that weakens the grass. Give it a quick run round every week if possible and just take the tops off. Obviously sometimes the weather will get in the way but do what you can.


Give it a couple of months and see what that does - if you still have bare patches spread some grass seed in them (and also a sparing scatter over the whole lot to help rejuvenate the plant stock) and cover with a little bit of compost. Keep that moist for a fortnight and you'll have new grass coming up.


Do all that - it'll cost you very little and you'll have a nice lawn. From then on maintenance should be a question of the regular mowing, maybe an annual weed and feed and an occasional scatter of seed to keep the plants fresh.