Ideas for my front garden?

[dtw]

At home I've only got a front garden (it's in a low traffic neighbourhood street like a cul-de-sac).

I currently have a raised pond and small greenhouse on one side (which are staying), a path down the middle and an area of mud/grass on the other side.
It's the mud/grass area I want to turn into a low maintenance area.

Next to the house there are some paving slabs (to stop my cats pooing under the window) then there's a row of lilies in front of that. There's a cherry tree half way down against the fence.

I'll try and post a picture tomorrow.

The 'blank canvas' is 2.5m x 4m long.

Any suggestions?

[dtw]

[Hot House]

Theers nothing better for low maintenance than
















































TRAMAC
love the smell of it on a hot day  ;D

[sand]

In our last house we soon exhausted all the space in the small back garden so we started on the front.

We removed the conifers and gravel that were left by the previous owners, turned the earth over and planted a potager.  A lovely mix of plants and vegetables, including beans, potatoes, salad and herbs.  It bordered a public footpath and had an old iron fence around it so was easily seen by passersby who would often stop to stare and chat when we were tending the plot.  The postman loved it.

Give it a go.

sand

[Bryan]

TRAMAC, what does this smell like on a hot day? What is it??

[emmy1978]

I have grasses out the front of my flat, they are really lovely and low maintenance, yet you can have so many colours and sizes and structures. I have spring and summer flowering bulbs in pots that just come up as they fancy and crocosmia too that seems to do it's own thing. I have a bay tree by the door, little lavender mini hedge in rectangular pot. Also a clematis and a jasmine in pots that flower at will, just need a water and the occasional tidy up. I also have a couple of roses but they're not so low maintenance as they could be, worth it though! Will wait to see the pic... :)

[Hot House]

TRAMAC, what does this smell like on a hot day? What is it??

ok got my fingers in a muddle

[Bryan]

I know what you mean Hot House, tarmac has a lovely aroma.
Don't know what it is like for a long while, but a passing wiff, just nice!

[Si]

My idea is a fruit garden with bulbs coming up in the winter and spring.

[emmy1978]

Nice, and summer, don't forget summer bulbs like acidenthera, lillies etc...

[chlodonnay]

We have a small front garden which we have filled with pots. We wanted to fill it with colour but didn't want to put beds in. We also wanted to be able to move things around, and also change the some of the plants each season. We have a large mimosa plant which looks good in a blue pot. We have window boxes filled with geraniums and lots of blue pots filled with lavendar, rosemary, thyme and sage (which all smell lovely!) Have fun! :D

[cambourne7]

pick up some bamboo hoops from a garden centre and place them along the middle of the area your looking to fill.

Then plant some climbing roses to climb over them.

Need a trim once a year and your done.

Alternative would be to hedge the area with lavander and fill with long lasting herbs and underplanted with spring bulbs. Next year you can replace the herbs with either more herbs or something else to keep the area fresh. Planted in the middle is a standard bay.