Since posting I've decided on a garden design. My husband has since cleaned up some of the brick, round 2 is tomorrow, (and removed 2 short walls) and I have decided to reuse all of the brick in the design. Anyway, my dilemma is what colour to paint all of the render. The house will be painted next year, probably in a stone colour so it's more in keeping with the period, but I'm debating whether to go for a ŵall colour that will

match the garden rather than house. I don't have a design to post as its a complete mismatch of designs and my ideas but lots of brick, formal layout and planting, fireplace, water feature etc. any thoughts welcome

I have painted rendered walls in my garden a stone colour, I used a match of F Earth Ambergris but not sure that is still available. It is a bit like Charleston Grey. It is a fantastic background to plants and flowers and sets them off really well.

Any ideas re planting or were you after some suggestions?

How formal would you like it?

Don't forget to use some scented plants. If the back wall is sunny then WIsteria would look fantastic.

Btw, not sure what your design will be but I suggest trying to create a planting area in the corner where your garden furniture is in your pics, to soften the angles of the corner and the building beyond.

Thanks pannacotta, I'll look at that. The back wall will have a fireplace but not a typical exterior one..I'm going for a slim limestone one (think french country style) with mirrors either side and a climber along the top of the wall to hide that blue door behind and soften the mirrors. My husband thought it sounded awful until I eventually found a pic similar to what I wanted! The cream building is our garage so that can be painted to match. I have to be quite clever about planting on the whole left side as the wall angles so much. We also need privacy along that wall. The garden will be a formal courtyard with an italian influence which I hope will look georgian! Here's a general idea attached but with a number of changes! I'm useless on plants, haven't thought beyond box plants, cypress and lavender. I do want a number of evergreens as that's an issue with the garden at the moment. I'll keep the wisteria on the right which is about 40ft long at the moment as it needs a serious prune!

The picture looks lovely.

I would try and get some height in the planting in the left, some evergreen wall shrubs which can be pruned or climbers would be good if you have limited space. Trachelospermum is a good slow growing, evergreen climber with lovely scented flowers.

Lavender hates clay soil so you might need to rethink that. Astrantia are lovely plants and work well with Box but aren't evergreen or you can add colour with bulbs, ie Tulips/Alliums.

If you want to make it feel and look bigger then try to blur the boundaries, adding lots of evergreen planting as per your list will help lots.

Lovely project.

Yes I definitely need height there and elsewhere and agree need to blur the boundaries. I'm trying to make it appear bigger with a keyhole shaped water feature in the "middle" and the use of mirrors and 5 sided beds to create pockets etc. Thanks for all the tips. I have suffered with lavender before, perhaps I do need to rethink as its costly to replace every year. I just love the look and smell though! I will need to think about adding some colour too. Would you plant bulbs within the beds then? ( I really know very little about the actual gardening aspect!) I also have some plants that could potentially be reused like a hydrangea and a few roses but just need to think where they could go. Yes, I'm looking forward to getting it done!

I wouldn't bother with Lavender in clay soil but you could have it in large pots and use a gritty compost.

Bulbs would go in last, in the borders yes, buy and plant them in autumn that is the best and cheapest way.

Hydrangeas and roses are well suited to clay soil (as is the Astrantia I mentioned), all these are old, classic plants so would work in your scheme.

Hydrangea Annabelle is gorgeous and looks fantastic in a classical garden.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/550776229404502757/

I am a gardener so happy to give advice, do feel free to pm me if you like.

Hi everyone - to clarify I wasn't suggesting the use of artificial grass here oh no merely saying what I was doing. As the years go on I can't cope well now hence this route. Having watched Chelsea I'm now drawn to splitting the garden with a wobbly linear area of wild flowers - my ECO statement.....

I wonder if, in this case, and with such a good budget, you might pay attention to lighting. There's some amazing choices out there, from reasonably priced to outrageously expensive.

Try Wayfair.com - fabulous.

Continued good luck with your garden, can't wait to see the end result.

B

You could perhaps build a pergola over the path. Grow lots of beautiful wisteria clematis etc over it. It can create an attractive walkway or allow a private place for table and chairs.

ps where is your patio/seating area?

Hi pannacotta. There'll be 2 seats or small benches in front of the fireplace (afternoon sun) and either a dining table or sofa arrangement on the big patio that isn't really shown in the pics (sun until lunch). The garden isn't that great for sun even though the house is.

hi pannacota. Sorry I missed your detailed response yesterday and the email notification has only just come through! Thanks for the ideas and the offer of advice! I think I will try lavender in a pot as I love it. As you're a gardener can I please ask you an unrelated question? We were at a garden centre yesterday and they had bougainvillea which I absolutely love (got married on the Amalfi Coast where it is everywhere. One reason I chose the location plus the lemon trees!) Anyway I planted some in my last garden and it died a death very quickly. Do you have any tips for keeping it alive (or should I just not garden?!)

Hi minnie, bougainvillea isn't frost hardy which is probably why it died, so you would need to buy and plant it annually or grow it in a large pot which you keep frost free in a shed/garage over winter. It does need a lot of sun to flower, do you have a sunny spot to plant it in?

How lovely to get married somewhere so romantic....

Don't give up on gardening, your garden will be fantastic!

Thanks pannacotta. I was going to put it in a large pot in the front which is South facing. I will try that and put it in the garage over winter. If not, maybe it is worth buying annually as it's not as dear as other plants. Yes it was a fantastic setting, no worrying about table arrangements with the sea views, flowers and lemon trees! I'm sure it will be fantastic once landscaped and planted and then I'll give it 6 months with my magic touch! The only things that flourished in my last garden were the cypress and just 1 Palm, I even killed all the clematis!

Keep the faith minnie,,,, Clematis are temperamental and often die of wilt.
And yes why not treat it as an annual climber, nice idea.

Olive and Bay trees are tough and survive on neglect.

Keep us posted....

a good tidy up will give you a good chance of a blank cover.

Have a look at Cotswold Stone Designs for different gardens. Just a thought. - Mike

A tidy up and cutting back the bushes would be a good starting point. Pots could be added for interest giving the italian feel to the space.

Thanks all. I've since designed the space (and tidied up!) but project on hold atm whilst we fund something unexpected!

This thread was started by minnie101 in March and her comments at the end of May indicated she may have been by then well advanced in the planning if not the implementation. Doesn't that make suggestions for clearing and early stage design the following January somewhat posthumous?

Changing topic to a piece orf growing advice for minnie101: we are now in a new year with a new growing season coming up. Instead of buying new lavendar plants to replace those which are getting leggy annd unkempt, why not look up how to take cuttings from those you have and replace with newly grown, free plants of your own?

This will not only work with lavendar but with a huge variety of herbacious plants as well as most shrubs andd, if you have the patience to wait for the results, trees. You need some cheap plastic plant pots and some compost. A trowel would be useful. But you could even use an old spoon from the kitchen and a few empty yoghurt, margarine or other empty, washed packaging tubs with a couple of holes punched in the bottom for drainage.

Here's an offer for all you Houzzer folk. If enough people would like to learn how getting free plants from your own cuttings works, I shall write an article for you and post it with a few pictures or drawings for clarity, here on the Houzz site if I can find out where to put it!

Freshscaped, I can do with any gardening advice I can get! I'm sure it would be useful for a lot of people on Houzz. If you were to write something perhaps one of the houzz team could move it to the outdoor section under stories.

Hi, the basic structure of the garden, with the paths and walls is lovely. I would suggest thinking about low maintenance evergreen planting to give year round structure as well as introduction of perennials, bulbs & grasses for colour, scent & movement. Re leveling the terraces I suggest using similar materials as already in the garden, good luck.

I offer help with garden design

Your basic structure is really great! The garden looks very cosy and full of atmosphere already. It could do with a good clearout and replanting programme. Check out some of my images for

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Hi, looks like this picture was taken either in the early spring or winter, if so leave your garden for as long as possible, as many plants and bulbs will not have grown, so you may miss some hidden gems. plus it will give you time to really think about the garden. you will need to think also of the aspect where the sun rises and sets, and any sun traps. Consider getting rid of the brick walls as that will open up the space, I would also consider moving the bulkier plants and shrubs away from the immediate area around the house, but some time and a good clear up will let you see the potential.

If we can be of any help then please let me know. http://www.ayegardening.co.uk

Hi Susan and Aye, great to see you here. Thanks for the follow, I'll reciprocate when I find a few minutes. Just one small tip: Look at the OP date before wasting your time replying. This one is well over 2 years old. I suspect minnie101 decided which way to go a very long time ago. Alan Morrison's post came after more than one spring and summer to see what's there! :-)