Advice on garden improvements

LorraineP wrote (see)

 

 Here's my lovely garden - imagination required!  The photo gives the appearance that my garden is smaller that it is.  It's the top part that I want to work on for now.  It has a slight slope from the tatty fence towards the trellis fence in the middle.  It doesnt drain very quickly after significant rainfall and forms pools of water in various dips/hollows as the ground isn't very level and during drier periods the soil tends to be quite solid.

I am thinking of creating some raised beds, and hope, in the not too distant future, to get  a greenhouse.

Any thoughts / suggestions / advice would be welcome.  Just don't know where or how to start improving it.

 

May be you should make some raised beds in pattern shapes have a look on google some good ideas on there, make sure you add drainage in the bottom stones or something. You could buy some cheap seeds wild flower - good ones in 99p shop -sprinkle on and watch them grow or some plants, fox-gloves are nice and self seed them self well.  Maybe plan out on paper first you could use some thing like a garden hose to mark out shapes in the garden

Try the seed swap forum you could get some cuttings or seeds and some don't mind given them away to help others.

http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/the-potting-shed/seed-swap/64712.html

Thanks gardengirl 

I thinking stepping stones or gravel going to the beds and to your greenhouse would look nice, assuming this would be placed towards the back. Either way, I would suggest from previous experience that you get some weed control fabric or simillar placed under whatever you lay so you don't have to deal with the pesky weeds later and have it ruin your creation! You could also use some mulch fabric in the beds to stop weeds here too. I used this site when I made some home improvements recently and managed to get a lot of what I need from them : http://www.qvsshop.co.uk/landscape-fabric-115-c.asp. Good luck with whatever you do and happy gardening.

Thanks Harry, was thinking of putting the greenhouse on right-hand side, there is a bit of a 'recess' at the end of the hedge, and thought It would tucking but still get plenty of light as south is in line with the trellis fence. Then I could build my compost in that corner too.  My garden is an irregular shape as the top part used to belong the the house behind.