I hope these type of requests are allowed here. Otherwise just let me know and I’ll remove my post.
I’m soon moving to a new house and it has a little garden area of 5.5 m wide and 4.4m long. And surrounded by a tall hedge (that I don’t want to remove)
At the moment, as you can see on the pictures below, it’s all tiled. I initially intended to remove about a third of the tiles and make a mos, clover and wild flowers lawn that my cat and dog can use now and then. Then maybe make some tall planteres for wild herbs from stacking the removed bricks up in a square and adding some wood planks.
But now i got the idea of asking you guys if you have any better ideas for how to use this space for a little sanctuary for me and my pets. I’d love to see some inspiration, sketches or ideas from you on how i get more use out of this space. Maybe removing the tiles is not the best idea?
I live in Denmark so the climate is a bit mixed. I’m not a big gardener type of person so something simple that mostly takes care of itself is ideal. Lavenders, sage, oniongrass types of herbs and Viola tricolor and wild flowers for easy and pretty colors.
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Great space! Depending on how much rain and snow you get and if you are thinking of replacing the tile anyway, you might look at some water permeable options like these.
The teak ones especially are easy to move around if you want more or less grassy space for your pets over time.
Allowing the water to run into the ground is good for your hedge and good for the water cycle in general. And it would mean more days where you can use the space because you’re not stepping out into puddles.
This is a great idea. I didn’t think about those at all. It’ll allow the soil to be more stable in winter when it’s wet and rainy.
Step 1: which way is N/S and which hemisphere are you in?
Great question. The garden is facing directly south so gets lots of sun (northern hemisphere) the only shade comes from the hedge
Some vertical planters might go a long way in maximizing space. I would plant a lot of vines (peas, cukes, squash, beans, etc) on trellises all within that border hedge. Maybe one side could be an herb/greens wall with tiered planters
There’s a pretty lively community around balcony gardening. I’d maybe look to them for inspiration on maximizing the space
Greta thank you for mentioning that community. I do actually also get a roof trace of similar size (bit smaller) on the house that I still don’t know what to do with so I’ll go ask there probably
I would keep the tiles and construct some planter boxes for your desired plants. That way, you can move them around, and if you decide you want the patio space back you can just move the planter boxes somewhere else.
If you are going to leave the tall hedge, I would personally leave the tiles and change the feel instead with lots of potted trees and plants. You essentially have a lovely outdoor room, not a yard. Maybe swap out the large picnic table for a more intimate garden bistro set with chairs and/or a loveseat with cushions/pillows? A small outdoor rug? Surrounded by potted plants of various heights that you can arrange and layer continuously as desired, this can become a beautiful little garden haven that is both cozy and comforting while easy to maintain.
No telling what quality the ground is under those tiles, and I would imagine that the hedge is going to impact growth ability of whatever you plant in their place.
I second this. My space has a couple small but well established fruit trees that I adore and definitely dont want to remove. It took almost 2 years before I realised I couldnt get anything to grow because the fruit trees just choke them out before they could get established.
I’ve been using large pots, sometimes partially burried in the ground and it’s working out. Even though I find the fruit trees will send roots up into the pot, they dont get in there until the other plants can get established.
I plan this year on transplanting some flowers into the same space they occupy, but without the pot and we’ll see how they do now they’re well established in that volume of soil.
Great ideas. I’d assume there to be sand under the tiles. Probably good for wild flowers that thrive on poor soil.
You might want to have small warm light strips around the space too!
I don’t have any ideas, but love the post idea. Im moving into a new place soon,ight try do the same.
