Five Year Fix, Five Year Plan

Merlin's_Beard

@savingholmes about what I want for the garden... definitely wildlife friendly, but it's tiny so a pond is probably out (and I think they're reasonably spendy and high maintenance?). Cottage style over strict neatness, except for maybe one bed I'd reserve for a little fruit/veg. I don't want it to be crazy intensive but want to put a bit of effort into it. Screening noise isn't an issue (quiet estate with most noise coming from a flight path above)

Have jotted down some ideas on a piece of paper, so anyone have at it with suggestions. The only thing the garden came with is a tiny bit of patio paving by the house.  The last bit of sun of the day is by the house.

savingholmes

Is the place going to be just for you? Do you have relatives with little ones come to visit that you might need to cater for?

Are you someone that likes hidden 'nooks' or do you want everything on show...?

Are you likely to use the outdoors for much entertaining? Are you likely to want a fire pit / chiminea / outdoor pizza oven / barbecue or similar?

If you don't already have one an outdoor tap is a must. An outdoor plug socket can be really helpful. Some planned from the outset outdoor lighting (not security lights) could add ambience and make the space more usable.

Your drawings show you've had some thoughts already. Which is the preferred one of what you drew?

I prefer your top left design.... You want something that looks nice from the inside - having a central view of your patio furniture in the middle of your garden may not be what you want longer term.

When planning your garden, I would think about structural plants and what would give you year round interest particularly for your back border if you have one. Your cottage garden plants then use them as like a background foil and it helps them stand out. I like:

•  fraserii red robin (a red / green evergreen plant slow growing but grows tall over time)
• skimmia rubella (a flowering evergreen, slow growing)
• mahonia japonica - spiky evergreen for back border privacy - has yellow flowers in winter and edible purple berries.
• Evergreen rhododendrun and azaleas (acid loving plants - slow growing) have very pretty flowers around May.
• Climbing plants like honneysuckle, clematis, jasmine and some types of rose can also be good. (Some of those you can get that are evergreen like some jasmines and honeysuckles). Put in decent obelisk / arbour for this.
• Cotoneaster can take over - but can be a useful evergreen with lovely red berries in the autumn.
• For security, privacy and colour spiky pyracantha which has brightly coloured berries can be a great plant for a back border or a wall.
• Hellebore - Christmas rose can be lovely for low level colour.
• Dogwoods (hazel) cornus alba etc can be lovely for vibrant red colour even when not in leaf.
• I love evergreens like forest flame that have leaves that change colour from green to bright orange/red and have white flowers towards the autumn.
• Apple trees - I bought mine for £5 each as a bare rooted thing and they've always been fine. Allow at least a foot possibly even 2 or 3 out from the fence. I didn't allow enough room for some of mine so my neighbours end up more blessed than me!!
• Cherry tree
• I love acers but they are very pretty in leaf but bare in winter and very slow growing
• I'd steer clear of any conifers
• Hebes can be great for evergreen colour and flowers - but get a bit boring after a while. Can be a cheap and easy start though to give your garden some colour. They also look nice in pots.
• If no little children - cordylines can look really nice - they are spiky leaved plants that could poke littlies in the eye - but can have deep purple red leaves that look good all year round. I tended to put mine in pots when I've had them in the past... 
• For fruit bushes go to Morries in spring - blackcurrant, red currant, raspberries
• Lavender and rosemary are types of evergreen that flower - they aren't fully hardy but are usually okay. I have mine in pots.

I know I've given you a huge plant list there - but it is to give you an idea of choices available - not necessarily for you to pick every one. Ideally you plant tall stuff at the back and then have some low lying perennials, bulbs and seed type plants moving fowards. I've had great results from seed mixes in the past. 

If you want to minimise work - you could get apollo decent thickness weed membrane - the type that looks like black plastic with a yellow line. You then put that down - and then just cut a cross hatch hole to plant your main plants through. You can then put bark over the top. 

Don't forget you can start plants very cheaply in a mini propagator inside... 
 
Lupins are really nice in a border and can be upto 3 foot high when established - but I'd look to plant those next spring.

If you look up Charles Dowding No Dig Garden on Utube - he could help you get started with veg planting - including what you could plant now for spring. 
 
Avoid planting bamboo in your main garden - it completely takes over. If you like it - have it in a pot. Although the NT and other places make grasses look lovely - again they can easily take over - I'd be tempted to have them in a pot if interested rather than in the ground. Don't plant mint in the ground either... 

One of the ways you can make your garden look good all year round is by having pots that you move round depending on whether or not they are in flower... 

HTH

savingholmes

You'd normally want your compost bin out of sight so possibly near the bins or next to the shed.

You could put trellis on your shed and grow climbing plants up it for interest...

It's tempting to put your shed at the back - but I suppose the question is how often will you use it, what do you plan to store in it and do you have a garage as well. You might find it handier to put it on the same side as the bins so it's less in your direct eyeline but handy to get stuff in and out of when you want to.

Merlin's_Beard

@savingholmes - just for me, with the caveat that nothing can be cat-toxic because Miss Beast will try and eat everything... but no kids.

Perhaps a barbeque, but nothing fancier than that! I want to be able to sit in a green area and read, or sit and have a cup of tea after work, and be able to see birds using the garden. This is one of the reasons that the top left design was my first though - the patio area gets the last of the sun, but if we also have more crazy hot summers then the bench would be in the shade for longest. patio area could also be used for growing herbs in pots.

Outside tap is in place already. No power, but not difficult to run outside from the kitchen/diner.

Shed unfortunately won't fit down the side... it's a wide passageway that can store bins out of sight, but it is a passageway (I do not have a future career as an architect, I'll leave the artist flair to you!). It just needs to be big enough to store a lawnmower in (I'll need one for the front which has to stay grassed as per covenants). I do have a garage but I want to put the car in there overwinter.

I think I'll struggle to get a tree in that space and not have it dominate the space - I might manage a large bush or two at the back (or in the middle?).

I will definitely look up the plants you're suggesting and other people have mentioned No Dig as well and it sounds fascinating.

I take your point about the compost heap as well - I think  I was thinking it needed to be close to the house so it was in easy reach, but definitely up by the shed might be a more pleasant sight!

Merlin's_Beard

In other news SP have recognised me, and are asking for a direct debit of £223 a month for energy. This is entirely based on the house size and not me, so I'm not going to freak out too much. I just hope that a) this means I'll  get the rebates starting in October and b) they take the DD before the 17th so I qualify for the 4% cashback on energy bills from the Spanish bank. They're offering this in October and November I think, so I'll keep the DD the same for two months then reassess.

My smart meter, otoh, is not that smart. It only seems to be connected to the electric, and even for those it isn't sending readings as often as it should be. Think I'm back to monthly reads to keep it on track!

badmemory

Unfortunately smart meters are actually not that smart.  Frankly I can't be bothered having one as they seem so dodgy.  At least when I read the meter I know the figures are right.  Do I have trust issues?  Darn't right I do.  No-one so far has managed to prove me wrong in having them.  So basically go with your gut.  If your meter says it agrees with you then go with it

savingholmes

You could have an espalier apple tree and grow it sideways and fix it to the back fence 

killerpeaty

You quite often find them for sale in carboots actually. It's really good, it's like having a responsible adult in the house

Merlin's_Beard

@badmemory I've resisted any attempts to install one up until now, but less than impressed with the half job the one I've been lumbered with is doing.

Money update for September:

EF now stands at £9700 before October's money is added. Nearly there!

£17.36 in surveys, but I was always going to have a quiet month on these this month.

£171.80 in tax refunds for mileage.

Plan for October:

get some quotes in for the garden once I've decided. Start redoing surveys.

FlacosFloozie

Your smart meter sounds like ours- unreliable and electric only. I just give monthly readings and find the SP app works better for this than their website. Cost wise they will be basing it on size of the house. One big advantage of the new build is its well insulated. We're two adults in a 4 bed and looking like we'll be £150/month over winter.

Re the garden, I'd suggest look at keeping it quite low maintenance to start. i really enjoy gardening but the job means its tricky to get regular time so i'll get a day every few weeks. I have a lot of things in pots as they can be changed easily if needed. We redid the patio to a larger area, had to get exrta grit in the soil to help drainage, put in a lawn and borders with shrubs round the sides. Decent sized for a new build and cost £5k. It's worth watching how things behave after heavy rain. The gardens on our estate have lots of heavy clay soil with a fair amount of rubble. Folks who rushed to do them quickly didn't realise they needed extra drainage and some had to redo them as they got so waterlogged.