Garden Overhaul

[NorthWestHobby]

Hi everyone, it's lovely to meet you.

This year, I am hoping to completely overhaul my parents garden for them and give them somewhere to enjoy all year round (Ireland Zone 9a). It's also somewhere that I can grow food in and we can all eat a little healthier. My mother and I have taken care of flowers beds and greenhouses before so we're not complete beginners, but this would be 'the big project' and I recognize the many gaps in my knowledge and experience.

It's around 21m x 14m with a very gentle slope, which is a great size but at the minute it's just grass. There is a hedge along the SW side and one along the bottom of the garden facing NW. However the one along the SW side will be cut down several foot to allow more hours of sunlight in the space as the sun hits the garden, unimpeded, for most of the day. We do intend to put up a small wall around the SE and NE sides to make this an enclosed space.

We all love fresh food and wish to grow some this year. A lot of it can be done in the poly-tunnel I'll be buying which is 8m x 3m and will be along the SW side of the garden (you can faintly see the string and sticks in the photo), but it would be great to have plenty of raised beds around the garden as well to grow other foods and herbs. Other than that, it would be lovely to have flower beds around the place as well to give plenty of colour, as well as areas for pollinators. The only other additions we've discussed are a small bench in the bottom corner (not visible in the photo) and possibly somewhere to sit in the middle of the garden, alongside the poly-tunnel.

It's such a big space that it's quite overwhelming to plan, so I would be incredibly grateful if any of you had advice or ideas on how we could best utilize the space.

Thank you very much for your time.

Wildlife notes:

1. Sometimes we would see a hedgehog or two roaming around in this garden. (We can hopefully create a few small areas for them.)
2. There are normally a lot of bees and butterflies seen in other parts of the property as there are Lupins, Lavender and other plants growing.

 

[Meadowlark]

Welcome!

That sounds like a wonderful place for gardening. I commend your "allow more hours of sunlight in the space as the sun hits the garden". Very important.

My thoughts:

1) Plant what you like...both in food and flowers, etc.

2) Plans are good but made to be changed as you go.

3) Start slowly and gradually and simply.

Looking forward to seeing your progress as you go along.

 

[Deblee]

Some of my thoughts are as follows:

~ Start close to the house and work your way outward. This is a big project and you will likely be working on it for more than one year. Then you can quit at any point and still have a finished project.
~ You mentioned raised beds. I don't know how old your parents are, but as they get older, they will appreciate not having to bend or kneel as much. All raised beds with paved pathways between would be ideal. More expensive, though.
~ Plan each bed carefully. If you want to grow vegetables, it's a good idea to plant some herbs in the same bed to repel pests. Some flowers do that, too, and as you pointed out, attract pollinators.
~ Don't overreach yourself. One bed with excellent soil and carefully considered plants, mulch, etc. will produce an amazing amount of food, more than several that turn out to be weedy and bug-infested because they were done in a hurry.
~ Sit down with your Mom and Dad and draw up plans for the garden before you ever get started. See what plants they would like to have right away, and what can wait til next year or later.
~ If you are going to have any perennials, such as blueberries or asparagus, it's best to get those put in right away, since it might be several years before they produce. Same for fruit trees.

Good luck with your garden. Hope that helps.

 

[NorthWestHobby]

Welcome!

That sounds like a wonderful place for gardening. I commend your "allow more hours of sunlight in the space as the sun hits the garden". Very important.

My thoughts:

1) Plant what you like...both in food and flowers, etc.

2) Plans are good but made to be changed as you go.

3) Start slowly and gradually and simply.

Looking forward to seeing your progress as you go along.

Thank you very much, I appreciate your feedback.

 

[NorthWestHobby]

Some of my thoughts are as follows:

~ Start close to the house and work your way outward. This is a big project and you will likely be working on it for more than one year. Then you can quit at any point and still have a finished project.
~ You mentioned raised beds. I don't know how old your parents are, but as they get older, they will appreciate not having to bend or kneel as much. All raised beds with paved pathways between would be ideal. More expensive, though.
~ Plan each bed carefully. If you want to grow vegetables, it's a good idea to plant some herbs in the same bed to repel pests. Some flowers do that, too, and as you pointed out, attract pollinators.
~ Don't overreach yourself. One bed with excellent soil and carefully considered plants, mulch, etc. will produce an amazing amount of food, more than several that turn out to be weedy and bug-infested because they were done in a hurry.
~ Sit down with your Mom and Dad and draw up plans for the garden before you ever get started. See what plants they would like to have right away, and what can wait til next year or later.
~ If you are going to have any perennials, such as blueberries or asparagus, it's best to get those put in right away, since it might be several years before they produce. Same for fruit trees.

Good luck with your garden. Hope that helps.

Thank you very much Deblee, I appreciate it. It definitely will be a long term project and we're all very excited to get it started.
I will definitely take your advice on board.

 

[Deblee]

This site wanted me to upload a pic for an avatar, so I uploaded one of my paintings. Then it dropped some kind of circle on the bottom and wiped out most of my focal point. What's the circle for, anybody know?