newbie with inherited neglected garden

[bobble]

Hello to all,

very new gardener here (although i used to help my mother when i was young). i've finally got a place with a little garden that needs attention. i'm excited to start doing something to it, and the therapy feeling that gardening brings, but no idea where to start!

it's a bit of a job, so i'll post in the main forum a description and some questions if that's ok, and maybe i can make my patch of hard earth, scattered gravel and one rose into something eventually lovely

 

[Chuck]

Welcome to the forum.....................How big is the garden and what do you want to grow. Pics will help along with dimensions

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome to the forum! A blank canvas can be a great thing - I look forward to hearing about your plans Where are you in the world?

 

[firelily99]

Welcome to the forum, this is a good place to be if you are new to gardening. First off would be some dimensions and what kind of light that you get in the garden area. How much full sun does it get throughout the day?

 

[bobble]

Hi all,

thanks for the welcome

it's probably about 8x8 feet square, faces south east and gets the morning to midday sun, but goes into shadow as the sun moves round to the west because it's in the inside corner of the building.

i'm in south east uk, and the soil looks to be freely draining lime rich loamy soil. habitat: herb rich chalk and limestone. we don't get much rain.

the garden itself slopes slightly away from the house, and starts with a rose, weeds, and lots of dumped fertiliser, then a huge overgrown sage plant that is more a low and spreading bush with thick gnarled stems, and the rest is barren, hard dry soil with some gravel on it that's escaped from a nearby path.

first thing i need to do is stop the neighbouring cats using it, lovely as they are, they're digging it up. there was a hyacinth but they trod it into the soil.

i have some small pots i can put into the loose soil and sew small handfuls of seeds in. that might stop the cats meanwhile.

my grand plans are to have herbs near the house (rosemary, some of the sage, mint etc), i'll keep the rose bush, then at the borders the tiny leaved plant called 'mind your own business' that spreads quite healthily. and flowers behind it, fuschia size type things.

but i've got no idea what to do with the bare bit at the bottom of the slope. gravel and alpine/spreading plants? or shall i soak it with water and dig it over?

my main limitation is i have no transport to buy big things like turf.

and i'll take some pictures to give a better idea what it's like.

 

[Becky]

Sounds good bobble, looking forward to seeing some photos. So are you aiming for a kind of cottage garden look?