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Clueless beginner....what to plant...

last year

Hello we have a property that has a garden(our first ever one) and therefore are clueless....we've mastered cutting the grass 😂
We have two spaces in front and rear garden that are bare and looking for ideas on what to plant.
Front - plan to have a couple of pots with something in them, then gravel/bark so low maintenance... preferably something that is there all year round.
It has reasonable sun.
Back garden - bigger space that we want to plant things in and don't want it to look sparse either but don't have a massive budget.
Again soil not brilliant.
We were thinking of some shrub round the back...but then...
Essentially looking for some suggestions of easy to maintain plant, shrubs.. that are evergreen/ perennials.....as we can then at some annual bedding plants in and around the permanent pieces.
Sorry for being so clueless, walking round garden centres and looking online so overwhelming.

Featured Answer

Sonia

last year

We all have start somewhere, so don’t feel over awed. My garden was just a grubby, blackfly infested veg plot. Not a plant to be seen. We made lots of mistakes along the way, but we learnt from them. The things to know when planting is 1 - what soil type do you have, alkaline, neutral or acid? This will determine what plants will thrive. You can get a cheap soil tester from any garden centre. 2 - is it a sunny, shady or mixed spot? Plants that like shade will hate a sunny spot so you need to get that right.

Now plant choices. In your first pic I see a Spiraea (pink flowers), a Crocosmia next to it (sword-like leaves) and a Hemerocallis on the right. You could add an evergreen shrub in the corner of the two fences. Something like Ceanothus (needs sun) or a Viburnum tinus (tolerant of sun and shade) or a Photinia Red Robin. There are other shrubs but I know those are quite easy. These shrubs grow quite big so they will soon fill the space. The climber Trachelospermum jasminoides is a lovely evergreen with scented flowers which loves sun but also easy to grow. You can then add colour in the spare ground with Hardy Geraniums, Rozanne is a lovely lilac blue one that flowers all summer long. Erigeron spreads and forms a lovely pink mat of flowers, Anemonies are taller but so easy. Roses are also beautiful and can be tiny ground cover to tall climbers. Cistus are low growing shrubs that love sun and have pink or white flowers and are evergreen. Either of these shrubs can be planted out the front too.

If you want low maintenance then I suggest you plant in the ground rather than in pots which have to be watered a lot and need more care. Mind you any newly planted plants must be watered almost daily at first for them to thrive. If you have a good selection of perennials you probably won’t need any summer bedding unless you want some of course. Wishing you lots of luck. Here’s some pic - 1 Ceanothus, 2 - Viburnum tinus, 3 - Hardy Geranium Rozanne, 4- Erigeron.

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Comments (9)

Andrew Bishop
Original Author
last year
Wow fabulous comment with lots to digest.
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Daisy England
last year
I love to see a nice garden and it has taken me years to even start to get to grips with it all so don’t despair. I have to Google maintenance and what plants are best to take cuttings from which saves money. I’m just about getting there.

I’m adding a couple of my garden photos which show a couple of good ideas.

The orange flowering shrub lasts all summer. It’s called a Gailardia. Just pull off the buds that are dying off and they grow back.

The plants around the border of the pond on the right hand side are called Heuchera. They come in lots of different colours, add colour and are easy maintenance. Leave them in permantely and they flower in the summer. See below photo
tamp75
last year
Another evergreen shrub you could try is choisya, also known as Mexican orange blossom. It has small white, beautifully scented flowers in spring / early summer. It starts off growing slowly but then after 2 or 3 years should be a decent size. You can get different types - some are more of a bright green leaf, others more yellow / lime green. Another shrub worth considering is hydrangea - although mostly not evergreen but beautiful flowers, again in so many different varieties, including climbing forms. I’d go for a paniculata variety like ‘limelight’ which is fast growing, or it’s smaller cousin ‘little lime’.
PRO
Carla / kolours.space
last year
Hi Andrew, the hardest to do is build a good soil Economically and keep weeks out. It's so hard and requires maintenance and passion. I have had an allotment for some vegs and mostly herbs and shrubs and if organic weeds will definitely be happy too.

It's important that before you start planting you answer to yourself:

What's is your level of time and commitment?

Green or colour?

Eating area or just to watch?

Colour of fence?

Lawn or more tiles / decking?

Carla
Ricky Watkins
last year
If you're a complete beginner have a look at the website garden on a roll they do all the hard work for you. Personally I think it's a great idea for beginners.
Andrew Bishop
Original Author
last year
Where do I find a reliable PH tester. Looking online all the reviews are so varied and cannot trust them. Local small garden centre did not have any. Any ideas?
PRO
Carla / kolours.space
last year
Hi Andrew, PH is important but you can just take time to build the soil little by little and experiment without feeling too worried. The more you do the more confident you will be.

Soil is like skin needs moist and feeding. When I start with a very weak soil I stir and add compost and top soil.

Don't feel you need to do all this year. At the front maybe put a big pot to now, so looks good and allow you to develop knowledge at the back at your own time.

The biggest source of knowledge on gardening is a neighbour but read a little first so you know a little too.

Your lawn definitely needs top up some seeds and fertiliser to get brighter
Sonia
last year
I used this type many years ago from my local garden centre.

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