'Wild' Gardens?
Discussion
I'm sick of my front garden (15m wide x about 10m deep). It's a mass of 20% grass, 60% moss, 10% weeds and 10% bald patches on crappy clay soil. A shrub filled corner one end and a beech hedge (in progress) across the front. In the long term I'm planning a large garage and extending the drive but realistically that's a few years away assuming we don't move first.
I want low maintenance not least because mowing this hopeless mix is depressing. It's uneven so a low setting on the mower results in scalped ant-mounds and a blunt blade not to mention my shins bleeding from the stones thrown out. My first though was to throw a sack of wild meadow seed all over it so in the summer I can say "It's meant to look like that" as I relax in a deckchair quaffing chilled cider. Thing is those gardens always look shaggy. Fine around a thatched cottage but perhaps not so in front of the 1980's detached cube that is 'Chez Flintstone'.
I made a start a couple of years ago on a narrow strip of ground the other side of the drive. Grubbed out a wild hedge, felled a 45' silver birch, laid weed mat, plum coloured slate chips and some giant bamboo grown from seed (currently 6' high but destined for better things
) I think the minimalist side (bamboo) will conflict with a wild patch on the other side of the drive so maybe when the weather improves I'll get to hire a mini-digger. I know it won't be as colourful but with a combination of stones and gravel over more weed mat it'll sure as hell never need mowing and I'll get the japanese looking garden I've always wanted. A little more effort in the short term than chucking a bag of seed but lazier in the long run.
Has anybody done either of these?
I want low maintenance not least because mowing this hopeless mix is depressing. It's uneven so a low setting on the mower results in scalped ant-mounds and a blunt blade not to mention my shins bleeding from the stones thrown out. My first though was to throw a sack of wild meadow seed all over it so in the summer I can say "It's meant to look like that" as I relax in a deckchair quaffing chilled cider. Thing is those gardens always look shaggy. Fine around a thatched cottage but perhaps not so in front of the 1980's detached cube that is 'Chez Flintstone'.
I made a start a couple of years ago on a narrow strip of ground the other side of the drive. Grubbed out a wild hedge, felled a 45' silver birch, laid weed mat, plum coloured slate chips and some giant bamboo grown from seed (currently 6' high but destined for better things
) I think the minimalist side (bamboo) will conflict with a wild patch on the other side of the drive so maybe when the weather improves I'll get to hire a mini-digger. I know it won't be as colourful but with a combination of stones and gravel over more weed mat it'll sure as hell never need mowing and I'll get the japanese looking garden I've always wanted. A little more effort in the short term than chucking a bag of seed but lazier in the long run.Has anybody done either of these?
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff