nicky99

Garden of rented property - design advice

The landlord is really nice and when we moved in said we could dig up whatever we wanted to make beds which is why I've felt ok about digging up the grass in the recess and expanding the existing borders.  I'm reluctant to start taking up more of the lawn though because I think it's nice for kids to have a lawn (we don't have children but it is sort of a family sized house so would guess when/if we move a family might move in) and the thought that I might have to re-turf when we come to leave!

I have lots of pots on the patio (moved from a place with a terrace) and am planning on growing some veg in troughs and planters on there as well but the patio is at one side of the house and the garden is the other side so when in the garden you don't see the patio plants at all.  I'm happy with the patio but less so with the garden.

Any suggestions for fast growing shrubs that will make a border look a bit more cottage garden and less structured?  I have some annual seeds saved from plants from last year and will be sowing beans and sweetpeas in amongst the hedging but it looked a little stark last year so need some more oomph I think.

I think I will also put a couple of larger pots on the grass and just repair in the autumn. 

(The flower beds I have put in the recess are the same level as the grass was so shouldn't cause a problem with any possible damp proofing and I split the beds with a gravel path so as not to potentially block the air brick with soil).

Thank you for your help and sorry for the questions, I find it quite hard to see in my head what should happen!

Garden of rented property - design advice

I saved tons of seeds from my plants from last year so will be sowing them and hoping they come up but I really struggled to make the borders look anything but blah last year.  Maybe I just need to go crazy with the seeds and hope the plants take over the borders?

If I put pots or troughs on the lawn, is there any way of stopping them from ruining the lawn underneath (like raising them on bricks) or would it be a case of either moving them before they do damage or resowing grass seed in autumn?

Thanks for the reply!

Garden of rented property - design advice

Last spring we moved into a rented house with a garden (my first garden!) and a separate patio area.  The garden is a rectangular lawn surrounded by stake fencing and newly planted hawthorn hedging but the fencing is quite low and the hedging is not fully established yet so the garden is quite open and unsheltered.

In the Autumn I dug up an area of the lawn which was tucked into a recess of the house and put in two square metre raised beds as well as a flower bed and a small rock garden for alpines but the main garden is still just an expanse of lawn with little of interest.  I am planning on increasing the width of the borders around the garden where the hedges are planted in order to be able to plant some flowers, etc, but don't want to dig up anywhere else on the lawn as it's not mine!  Has anyone got any advice about what I can do to add interest to a rented garden which will have to remain predominantly lawn?

Sorry for the long post!

Advice on small greenhouse / shed

Hi, we moved into a rented house which has a smallish garden, and then a separate largish patio area, but with absolutely nowhere at all to keep garden tools, lawnmower, etc.  I wanted a greenhouse but because of the way the garden is set up there wasn't really anywhere to put it, so we compromised and bought a potting shed type thing from ebay for the patio.  It has slanted windows and a potting shelf so seedlings and plants will get lots of light and then underneath we have shoved all the garden tool things.  The company we got it from offered different sizes (I think we got 4x7' as it needed to tuck in next to the patio gate) and was the only place I found that did smallish sheds.  So it's worth having a look on ebay!

Garden of rented property - design advice