Garden "bits"

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm still in the process of trying to transform a bog-standard/boring/cheapie/old persons garden into My Garden.

Just a slight challenge then....:eek::rotfl:

There are several different styles of garden I like - ie cottage garden, forest garden/Mediterranean courtyard garden/Moroccan riad garden etc. There are a high percentage locally of "concrete gardens" and I loathe them and want a proper garden garden.

I'm coming to the conclusion that the best way to deal with the garden situation I have here is Contemporary/Stylish/bit Unique...oh boy...the most expensive way by far I could think of to try and best deal with it to "un-boring" it.:(

Wishes I had a more standard style garden and it would be just so much easier (and cheaper:cool:.....) to deal with.

It is what it is though....and that seems to be very much the best way to go to turn it into "un-boring" and I will actually like it (rather than thinking "Ohmegawd...boring...boring...boring...old person...looks cheap/cheap/cheap" every time I look at it).

I've found a couple of online suppliers of things that I think will be contemporary/unique enough - but could do with more.

The first priority is garden pots. I don't do plastic ones basically. I want something rather nicer-looking than that. I shall shortly be after some big/stylish garden pots to put things in that I won't see in every other garden I look at and I cant even find pretty "standard" attractive type garden pots anywhere locally.:( Even fairly standard and pretty cheap "natural material" pots would do - but there are very few of these around here. What's available locally is very very limited indeed.

Any suggestions as to sources of supply of either fairly standard "natural" pots online or more unusual stylish type ones please?

torbrex

The best way to make it into 'your' garden is to not follow a patern or style

It's taken me 22 years to finally sit back and say 'yep, that's my garden'

bouicca21

There were some really nice super cheap pots at Lidl earlier in the year, so I am hoping for more next year, when I will actually need some. The ex bought a square wooden planter from Argos, re varnished it and it looks amazingly expensive.

As for style, well I would like my garden to look as though it's been thrown together by nature yet still look fabulous. My chances of achieving this are zilch, because that's a look that requires lots of knowledge plus design sense, and I have neither.

moneyistooshorttomention

Cant say I've got much (any!!!) sense of style myself. Artistic I aint...

So - I admit that home-style wise I do have to copycat to some extent - as I cant think these things up myself:(

But I will go off something instantly if Everyone Else has got it too - as I'll just get bored with it.

Not an easy combination I know...:(

I'm really envious of people with an inherent sense of style of their own and that can apparently throw together a few random bits and bingo....unusual/expensive-looking/etc/etc. That isn't me - unfortunately.

I know exactly where I fit into things personally, ie I'm not a trend-setter/originator of new ideas and I'm not "one of the mass" follow-on to the trends some years later. Somewhere in between those two and sigh visibly at how much I often have to spend would about sum it up in my case....

I_have_spoken

844,315 Garden Design Photos - http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/garden

I'm coming to the conclusion that the best way to deal with the garden situation I have here is Contemporary/Stylish/bit Unique...oh boy...the most expensive way by far

Yep!


[IMG]http://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/5931c5a0051e4e86_8-0891/contemporary-garden.jpg' border=0 width='500' height='376'[/IMG]

Davesnave

I thought you were only interested in growing edible things, money?

If so, then covering edges of pots and planters might be more tricky than for those who grow ornamentals, since the latter give much greater scope for hiding the container, which is what it's all about IMO. Containers are forced on many of us who need to move plants around, and particularly for protection in winter

Of course, that doesn't preclude the inclusion of 'statement' pots and containers, but one thing I've noticed in my travels through the finer gardens of 'posh' people, is that they don't use that many pots at all; just a few biggies.

Given that you want vegetables/fruit in quantity, I'd be looking at a woodwork course, because in my experience looking at, say, the RHS demonstration gardens, wooden planters look right for this, if planters must be used.

Fay

Do you know what you're aiming for? One persons idea of contemporary and unique will be very different to another persons. So post us some images/ideas so we know. One big change you can make which is relatively cheap is painting your fence/walls. Go dark, I.e. Black or nearly black, for contemporary, or nearly white.

moneyistooshorttomention

I_have_spoken wrote: »

844,315 Garden Design Photos - http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/garden




Yep!


[IMG]http://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/5931c5a0051e4e86_8-0891/contemporary-garden.jpg' border=0 width='500' height='376'[/IMG]

You probably wont be surprised to hear that my mind is currently revolving round something not too dissimilar to that....:rotfl:

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

I thought you were only interested in growing edible things, money?

If so, then covering edges of pots and planters might be more tricky than for those who grow ornamentals, since the latter give much greater scope for hiding the container, which is what it's all about IMO. Containers are forced on many of us who need to move plants around, and particularly for protection in winter

Of course, that doesn't preclude the inclusion of 'statement' pots and containers, but one thing I've noticed in my travels through the finer gardens of 'posh' people, is that they don't use that many pots at all; just a few biggies.

Given that you want vegetables/fruit in quantity, I'd be looking at a woodwork course, because in my experience looking at, say, the RHS demonstration gardens, wooden planters look right for this, if planters must be used.

Yep...my garden is mainly focusing on edible.

I am investigating posh large wooden raised beds - on the list to save up for. Its a "few biggies" indeed that I am looking at for pots. I've been kicking myself that I had a few pots like that in my last house - but left them behind when the buyer asked for them - duh!

But I have a large-ish space that I am thinking of basically dedicating to something similar-ish to the photo on this thread, as it sort of lends itself to that sort of arrangement and I figure I will have enough foodgrowing space elsewhere in the garden. I've got so fed-up with all these concrete gardens round here - and obviously done in cheapest/most boring and conventional way possible that I am getting keener by the day on having a stylish/contemporary "section" to my garden.

bouicca21

Take care Money - the problem with fashionable, contemporary styles (whether in gardens or anything else) is that they soon date, and then you have to start all over again.

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

You probably wont be surprised to hear that my mind is currently revolving round something not too dissimilar to that....:rotfl:

The garden pictured (foreground) would cost in the region of £1k for materials on a DIY basis, but that would easily treble if labour costs were added, to say nothing of how much half a dozen trees like that would set you back.

This is why learning a few skills is so vital. In the meantime, the trees could be grown/trained. There's nothing there that the average person couldn't do. My old man was still producing work like that in his 80s....slowly...but then he had the time, just pottering at it.