Ideas for a small garden area please

[dconklin]

My Aunt and Uncle had a big (no wait huge) Cedar tree taken down last year. It was there for so many years that they now feel like there is a big bare spot in their yard. Well there kind of is as this thing was huge! They would like to change the area where the tree was into a small flower garden. It will be a few feet from a public sidewalk and a patch in the yard by itself (not up against the house for example.) They were thinking of a raised bed, but we are all trying to come up with some good ideas. I think they want the bed to be maybe 5 feet or so, doesn't have to be exact tho. It will see plenty of sun too.

 

[Becky]

I'm having trouble picturing it, do you have any photos? Do they have a particular shape in mind (eg round, square, etc)?

 

[dconklin]

I don't have a picture at the moment, but I think I will be there over the weekend. It will pretty much be a stand alone garden in the middle of a small section of grass. It won't be a border to the house or anything. My only concern is that people will step on the flowers if it is not raised (so many people trespass through their yard as a shortcut) or if it is raised, they may trip over it. Tho it is close enough to a street light that you could see it at night. Even tho people are not supposed to trespass, you can still be responsible if they get hurt

 

[PaulineG]

Unfortunately, with today’s busy lifestyle, most of us don’t have time for a large garden, as they require a lot of maintenance work, so we replace this by visiting farmer’s markets or, even worse, buying vegetables and herbs at the grocery store that have been sitting there for days. The truth is that one can have a small garden anywhere. All you need is a bit of time and the desire to grow some vegetables and herbs in your domicile

 

[dconklin]

I'm having trouble picturing it, do you have any photos? Do they have a particular shape in mind (eg round, square, etc)?

Sorry it took so long for the photo. We were there on Sunday and then my Uncle had to get rushed to the hospital so it was a busy couple days.

Where I circled (well tried to circle but not good with that haha) is where the tree used to be and they are looking to put a small flower garden. It can be a little bigger and we are open for opinions on shapes and designs. The sidewalk is here at the bottom. They do have a garden in front of the house which is just out of the picture.

 

[Becky]

Oh goodness, sorry to hear about your Uncle! Hope it was nothing serious and that he is on the road to recovery.

Thanks for sharing a photo, I think you are right about having a raised bed there, it would look really nice and it would be easier to maintain than a regular flower bed. How high were you thinking? Something above 1ft or higher should hopefully mean that people don't trip up if they do take a shortcut. As it will be quite a size it would be difficult to get to the middle so how about having either a medium sized shrub or small tree in the middle? You could have perennials around the outside for a bit of colour, maybe interspaced with small evergreen shrubs for some winter colour.

Alternatively you could have a large shrub or small tree instead of a raised bed. Something like a magnolia perhaps? They look so beautiful when covered in flowers and smell divine! You can get some varieties that don't grow too big if that is a concern.

 

[dconklin]

Oh goodness, sorry to hear about your Uncle! Hope it was nothing serious and that he is on the road to recovery.

Thanks for sharing a photo, I think you are right about having a raised bed there, it would look really nice and it would be easier to maintain than a regular flower bed. How high were you thinking? Something above 1ft or higher should hopefully mean that people don't trip up if they do take a shortcut. As it will be quite a size it would be difficult to get to the middle so how about having either a medium sized shrub or small tree in the middle? You could have perennials around the outside for a bit of colour, maybe interspaced with small evergreen shrubs for some winter colour.

Alternatively you could have a large shrub or small tree instead of a raised bed. Something like a magnolia perhaps? They look so beautiful when covered in flowers and smell divine! You can get some varieties that don't grow too big if that is a concern.

My uncle is still in hospital but doing much better thank you! He suddenly started to not feel well and they found an artery bleeding internally. The poor guy has had more then his share of health problems lately.

We are open for ideas for the height and the size of it. People do use this as a shortcut but just to the right (barely out of the picture) is a big street light so it would be seen at night as long as they were paying attention. It used to be a huge tree (much taller then the house.) It seems so bare there now after seeing that huge tree there my whole life!

A medium sized shrub with flowers around it sounds like a great idea. You could definitely see the shrub so I would imagine that if you tripped over it, the homeowner could not be sued. I know my aunt has had a thing for marigolds lately and mums too. She does have daffodils and mums along with a couple others in the garden in front of the house to the left just out of the picture. In the back along their deck they have rose bushes and marigolds.

 

[TheBrit]

I don't know where you are or what the soil type is but have they thought of a Heather Garden. They are all evergreen species and relatively low maintainance. With the right selection (any reputable garden centre can advise you), they will have colour all year round and provided they have the right conditions to thrive can be an eye catching feature, especially in a front garden (yard).

 

[happyflowerlady]

I can see the issue with people walking through the yard, and would either squash the flowers, or trip over the border if it is a raised bed garden. I think what I would do is plant some flowers that grow too tall to walk over. A nice stand of Cannas, or even some sunflowers and flax would look beautiful in that spot, and would not get walked over like pansies would. Then you can fill in with some of the shorter flowers around the base of the tall flowers.
A nice shrub, like an azalea, would also be to large to walk over, and could have flowers around the base.

 

[Jeanne90]

Maybe you can plant shrubs like what happyflowerlady suggested and trim them into shapes.They will certainly look neat like this pic:

Another plan is to plant lots of colorful flowers. I'm sure passerby will mind their steps when they see those beautiful flowers like this one:

I found this pic from this link, I think it is beautiful :

 

[Philphine]

I can see the issue with people walking through the yard, and would either squash the flowers, or trip over the border if it is a raised bed garden. I think what I would do is plant some flowers that grow too tall to walk over. A nice stand of Cannas, or even some sunflowers and flax would look beautiful in that spot, and would not get walked over like pansies would. Then you can fill in with some of the shorter flowers around the base of the tall flowers.
A nice shrub, like an azalea, would also be to large to walk over, and could have flowers around the base.

this is kinda what i did, but my mound is out of the way and in my back yard. i bordered the bottom with some good sized rocks and try to grow flowers on it.

kinda wondering what the area looks like, if you have a wider angle shot. like does it get shade for maybe sitting out there, like a second out of the way outdoor area. then you could maybe put a park bench or something right in the main pathway people use, or one on each side of the mound so someone would have to walk into the bench before they got to the mound to trip over it. maybe even some huge rocks like people get big enough to sit on (though i have no idea what it cost to get and place them). 'cause i'm guessing people who would walk through someone's yard might do something to whatever's out there to block their shortcut, and you can't do much to a rock.

 

[GardenSketch]

Sorry it took so long for the photo. We were there on Sunday and then my Uncle had to get rushed to the hospital so it was a busy couple days.

Where I circled (well tried to circle but not good with that haha) is where the tree used to be and they are looking to put a small flower garden. It can be a little bigger and we are open for opinions on shapes and designs. The sidewalk is here at the bottom. They do have a garden in front of the house which is just out of the picture.

Love the visual dconklin! How did your garden turn out last year? If you're playing with ideas for layout, you can try the GardenSketch app to easily visualize your plans and pick the best one -- all without getting your hands dirty!

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[Amy Atz]

I would recommend a small tree, such as a Crape Myrtle, because it won't take up a huge amount of space. They could surround the base of the tree with small evergreens or flowers that bloom during different seasons. I like to use bulbs because they are low maintenance as long as you find varieties that can withstand winters in your area. The bulbs will add a splash of color to the yard early in the year and then the Crape Myrtle will flower later in the summer, so they will have something pretty to look at for months.