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London gardening help!

Hi all!

Hoping for some advice, having recently moved into a London flat with a garden in dire need need of some help, and I'm apologetically very new to the gardening game (but very much enjoying it)!. The front 'garden' is the usual tiny box that you see in most terraced rows, and is east facing so gets the early sun, but has next to no drainage. The rear garden is (perhaps now not surprisingly) west facing, and is a fairly decent size.

I am thinking of putting some french lavender, and pink rhododendron in the front.

In the back, I'm thinking of putting some white clematis on the north facing wall of the garden. Will get a little sun around midday, but will mostly be in the shade, and the area has good drainage.

My question is - can anyone recommend any particular types of these plants that might be more suited to my circumstances, and where to look for them to get decent value for money? Or even any general advice on garden centres or buying plants online would be helpful :j I don't mind paying a bit more for quality, but also don't want to spend an arm and a leg without needing to!

Sorry for the lack of awareness - but I'm hoping you good people might help to steer me in the right direction!!

Comments

  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,071 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Go to a garden center if you can and ask for some advice from someone in the plants section, or try this
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-form
    Lavender isn't going to do very well in your front garden, it likes sun and free draining soil, but you could try it with some grit or sand dug in if you really want it, or try it in a pot first, see how it likes it.
    Clematis likes it's top in the sun and it's rots in the shade, so agai, might not be very happy where you want to put it.
    Again though, you'd be surprised soetimes that all evidence points to one thing whereas the plant itslef might have pther ideas. I have a clay soil to which I add compost every year in the front garden but I have supersized rosemary plants...I put a heuchera in one place to the side of the rosemary but it doesn't like it so I'll be moving that at some point, and the two in a pot out the back, one is loving it, the other is hating it....
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • The first thing I would suggest is buying a couple of books from 'The Expert' series, written by a Dr. Hessayon.


    One, The Flowering Shrub Expert, another, The Flower Expert. (very reasonably priced from Amazon, don't spend a fortune yet on books)
    .
    These will give you the invaluable advice you really should have as a new gardener, without that knowledge you will waste your hard earned money, aswell as time and effort.


    Secondly, buy a soil test kit to establish what you're working with in your plot.
    Similarly, to the above paragraphs, you'll save yourself money, time and effort if you know this now.
    Plants have requirements relating to the soils acidity and the wrong thing in the wrong soil can mean replanting it again elsewhere (time and effort taken which you may not have then).
    Also the type of soil and the aspect is important and just plonking plants where you/we would like to see them is not a good value for money way of gardening !


    You will read in the first book that Rhododendrons require a certain acidity in the ground and a lot of other plants don't have the same requirement - so, do a bit of reading and work with the soil you have instead of what a lot of gardeners do which is planting something, watching the plant fail to thrive, which will mean ultimately digging it back up or worse, throwing it away.


    Gardening is not cheap, starting a new garden certainly isn't, and being new to gardening can mean wasting money.


    However, it's one of the best de-stressers there are, the rewards are plentiful (be it an ornamental or a productive one) and a new interest that will stay with you forever :D


    I wish I could come there and help you do it :D
  • MysteryMe
    MysteryMe Posts: 3,336 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You need to be careful planting large shrubs / small trees, which Rhododendrons can be, too close to the house in case roots cause damage.
  • Thanks all!

    This is extremely helpful advice, and I will invest in the books suggested by Catsacor as my next step!

    Sounds like I'm already way off the mark so will find out my soil type, read and do more research and then get cracking considering it's almost May.

    Thanks again!
  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,685 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Also walk round your area and see what is doing well in similar gardens.
    But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,
    Had the whole of their cash in his care.
    Lewis Carroll
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