Help Me Design My New Garden

[Vein]

Some background information;
I've recently moved, and I used to have a 'garden' (if you could even call it that) where I just grew stuff willy nilly. I didn't really like the way it looked, but it still functioned as a nice getaway. Now that I'm in my new house, I'm going to start a new garden. I'm open to anything, but here are my ideas so far.

I wish for my garden to look similar to these ones I've found online;

Key things I want my garden to have;

• Animals
• Pond, or some sort of body of water
• Cottageish aesthetic
• Food

The layout for my backyard is decently sized.

Tomorrow I'll go out and measure, take pictures, and do anything else that's needed.
The green would be where the garden will be, The purple is my shed, the white is my pool equipment, the blue is the pool, the yellow is my deck, the red is my house, and the unlabeled greyish stuff is my poolside.

If you have any questions, advice, or anything to pitch in. Please let me know.
I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this stuff, so I have no idea where to begin.

 

[oneeye]

Hello Vein, Its good to see you, and hope everything is good in Ohio. The first thing I would do is to take soil samples and send them to the soil lab. If you have this information it can keep you from guessing in the long run. The lab will give you professional recommendations for getting the best out of your soil. Also if you plan on having a Koi pond I would recommend you have your water tested too. The water information will be valuable in both landscape and ponds.

Koi pond water need adequate volume, proper pH levels, temperature, oxygen, and regular water changes.

Soil testing info for Ohio

https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1132

Good luck friend, thanks for the post, keep us updated.

 

[Vein]

Hello Vein, Its good to see you, and hope everything is good in Ohio. The first thing I would do is to take soil samples and send them to the soil lab. If you have this information it can keep you from guessing in the long run. The lab will give you professional recommendations for getting the best out of your soil. Also if you plan on having a Koi pond I would recommend you have your water tested too. The water information will be valuable in both landscape and ponds.

Koi pond water need adequate volume, proper pH levels, temperature, oxygen, and regular water changes.

Soil testing info for Ohio

https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1132

Good luck friend, thanks for the post, keep us updated.

Thanks man, do you have any tips on how I should lay everything out?

 

[oneeye]

Thanks man, do you have any tips on how I should lay everything out?

Make sure your garden is full Sun and not shaded.

 

[rosmith]

Thanks for sharing your background—starting a fresh garden at a new place sounds exciting!

 

[Vein]

Make sure your garden is full Sun and not shaded.

Thanks for sharing your background—starting a fresh garden at a new place sounds exciting!

Do you guys have any tips for designing it? Anything will help.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

If you have small children, or they may ever visit, think about making water inaccessible to them. Do you have no plans to grow anything but grass? Even if you don't want to tend beds a few well placed shrubs or small trees can make a big difference.

 

[Vein]

If you have small children, or they may ever visit, think about making water inaccessible to them.

Sometimes I have the neighbors over to play cards, and they bring their kids, but I think they're old enough to know better.

Do you have no plans to grow anything but grass?

Flowers, Berries, Trees, etc.

Even if you don't want to tend beds a few well placed shrubs or small trees can make a big difference.

I'm planning on doing this, but where should I place them? Near the fence?

 

[oneeye]

Sometimes I have the neighbors over to play cards, and they bring their kids, but I think they're old enough to know better.

Flowers, Berries, Trees, etc.

I'm planning on doing this, but where should I place them? Near the fence?

Good question friend, when you buy your plants they should have a tag telling you what growing conditions are needed—some shrubs like Sunny areas. A good rule of thumb is to plant where the plant gets at least a minumum of 6 to 8 hours of Sun exposure. Start small and work in phases, and keep it simple and you will do great.

 

[Vein]

Update:
I went out and recorded some videos.

I might dig up some of that brick and take down the fire pit and clear out all the trash.
Here is my design for the garden though:

Dark green will be taller plants
and Light green will be shorter plants

Only thing I'm worried about with the taller plants is mowing them

What plants should I grow?
These are the ones I have right now:

@Oliver Buckle
@oneeye
@rosmith

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I'm planning on doing this, but where should I place them? Near the fence?

Think about how they draw the eye, for example if there are two which are seen one behind the other, then if they are different sizes it can distort the perspective, or if something small but spectacular is put in a corner the fences can lead the eye to it. Personally I tend to see fences as something to grow things up, honeysuckle is a favourite, and so break up the edges and make the barriers less definite, other people may like the idea that the space is defined, and theirs, we are all different. Garden designers tend to use these 'tricks', and then tell their client how to view them, but it is more fun to decide for yourself, we have a south facing bed along the North side of the garden, the land slopes away there and I have built it up considerably, which has the advantage of draining, the sub soil is heavy clay and it was a mud wallow that turned into a continuous small trickle in wet weather. The idea of a 'cottage garden' bed like that is quite old fashioned now, but it is made for us , not fashion. Look through the garden programmes and web sites and you can decide which ideas you like and how you could use them. The 'thing' at the moment is to compartmentalise so one moves from garden to garden. I would find that annoying, but I still like the idea of different areas, it's just that as you get past the bay tree to where the old apple is the grass changes from lawn to wild grass with flowers, but in a natural flow along a single garden. Each to their own

 

[Oliver Buckle]

You posted while I was typing, you are obviously thinking about things, and I suspect enjoying it. The planning of it, the making of it and the enjoyment of it do tend to merge for me, as I am doing one thing it cn make me think of another

 

[Vein]

Think about how they draw the eye, for example if there are two which are seen one behind the other, then if they are different sizes it can distort the perspective, or if something small but spectacular is put in a corner the fences can lead the eye to it. Personally I tend to see fences as something to grow things up, honeysuckle is a favourite, and so break up the edges and make the barriers less definite, other people may like the idea that the space is defined, and theirs, we are all different. Garden designers tend to use these 'tricks', and then tell their client how to view them, but it is more fun to decide for yourself, we have a south facing bed along the North side of the garden, the land slopes away there and I have built it up considerably, which has the advantage of draining, the sub soil is heavy clay and it was a mud wallow that turned into a continuous small trickle in wet weather. The idea of a 'cottage garden' bed like that is quite old fashioned now, but it is made for us , not fashion. Look through the garden programmes and web sites and you can decide which ideas you like and how you could use them. The 'thing' at the moment is to compartmentalise so one moves from garden to garden. I would find that annoying, but I still like the idea of different areas, it's just that as you get past the bay tree to where the old apple is the grass changes from lawn to wild grass with flowers, but in a natural flow along a single garden. Each to their own

You posted while I was typing, you are obviously thinking about things, and I suspect enjoying it. The planning of it, the making of it and the enjoyment of it do tend to merge for me, as I am doing one thing it cn make me think of another

I was thinking of layering it similarly to these inspiration photos:

Tall in the back,
Medium in the middle,
Short in the front,
With twisty turny paths of grass.

What do you think?
I'm pretty nervous about planting, especially since I want this project to turn out nicely.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Have you got the cat? It's a well tried formula, but don't be nervous. It is unlikely to 'turn out', think of it more as a progression, gardens change. The best laid plans can change when you are dealing with living plants and changing seasons, try to learn from it and move forward with it rather than forcing it into a predetermined shape, that sort of thing is for Sun Kings at Versailles who employ numeroud others to do the actual creation, can't see the pleasure of it myself.

 

[Meadowlark]

What plants should I grow?

Late to this party...but I would throw in the words "grow what you like" for your consideration. Both in edible veggies and flowers you will be motivation ahead if you stick to that simple approach...grow what you like.