I am starting a brand new garden from scratch

The whole garden is still covered in weed fabric and the first plants will be put in the first week in september, I had notification that the apples will be sent then. I have 6 very thick strong stakes and some rubber ties, will need to get at least one post in before then. On a slant and thumped in as deep as possible. Hope I don`t need two per tree. So far, plans are only on paper, I still need to work out where to put 3 x standard invicta gooseberries, 2 x Ben conan blackcurrants and one transplanted hinnonmaki red gooseberry, which will be a very sharp sprawly bush when grown. I`ll have to prune regularly, to keep the centre open and I will try to form a short leg

I was given a small pot plant by a visitor, I don`t want to put it in the ground so have finally put it into a salt pot today, I think I can neglect it, called fleabane. I might split in time and transplant next to patio edges, not sure

I am also going to transplant 2 hydrangia annabelle from very hot and dry to shadier, also will transplant 6 beautiful DA roses from the allotment, have already got the sharp pointy shovel, will need to prune down and cut a diameter of 16 inches.

I am going to make another rose bed in the front with them and a new rose bed in the back, between the patio and apples, plenty of room for a wiggly loose triangle shape. I have plenty of hellibores and echinacea to transplant by the apples. I will also make a small comfrey bocking 14 bed. It doesn`t move, had mine on allotment for 9 years, loved by bumblies and makes the best compost

I saw lots of foxgloves locally this week, they look majestic and stunning, never grown them and are they worth the effort?

oh Gordon Bennett, not foxgloves, I maeant hollyhocks. Are they worth it?

craftyone I love your garden ideas.
I posted on the 7th to say how much I am enjoying the metamorphasis of your plot.
Its better than live TV !
Please, please try to post some pictures.

A few foxgloves look good in a patch of wild flowers, like cornflowers, poppies, salvia, lungwort etc giving height. But I think they spread.

For barren subsoil , white Dutch clover as an alternative lawn will nitrogenate your soil and look and smell pretty and please the bees. It can also be mowed, although I personally prefer it long and floral.

I'd say avoid pea gravel and go for large stones. Cats love using fine gravel as litter. I'd also think twice about bark paths, especially near any grass, as blackbirds just delight in scattering it everywhere when hunting for insects. As I get older my garden is less manicured and turning into a natural woodland and wildlife sanctuary. Why did I spend so long gardening when I could have just sat and appreciated it a lot more?

Interesting about the white Dutch clover. I am not having a lawn, otherwise I would be interested. I have made the bare bones of a sanctuary of sorts on my patio, just one small area, already bordered by 6 very big blueberries in very big pots that look like half barrels

Its the only place in my garden where I am overlooked and only from one direction so I bought 2 on ground planters with trellisses from wayfair. I put them together, they are push fit plastic and about a metre wide each and 1.5m tall. Instead of filling the planters I have found the right size troughs and will put them in the planters, to make it easier for me. I am also getting willow screening to put on the back of the trellis, will look nicer than plastic

A gorgeous bistro set of round flat table and two seats with mesh bases and backs arrived from john lewis, expensive but beautiful quality and very comfortable. I moved 3 large heavy salt washed pts into that area and a royal garden plant stand.

I have to add the plants next. I want more permanent plants in the salt pots, 2 are tall and straight like chimneys and the other is a large trumpet shaped pot. East facing close to a wall if anyone has any ideas

I hope you are able to post a photo of your garden! What a lot of work it's been, but sounds very rewarding.

I think I would be at a loss if I had to start from scratch. Our small back yard has been a work in progress for many years, with hard-scaping done with salvaged bricks and cement blocks; plants added and subtracted as they worked or got eaten by our many local deer.

So much inspiration can be gotten from books at the library, or magazines. Yours sounds a lovely mixture of fruit and flowers.

It really is a work in progress Canadiangran, I have just ordered the new hotbin mini because I have had the old design on my allotment for very many years and it has produced wonderful compost, I never had to use manure because that compost with added comfrey leaves did actually produce black gold. I am leaving the old one on the allotment. This new one is only 45 x 45 cm and the same height. I also ordered a seating storage box from costco because I have decided to give up the remaining half of my allotment next spring, I have net covers to move here and several plants etc. It looks as though the box is another thing for me to assemble but ok, I manage fine ding that. I will need the storage

So I have one more half barrel sized pot to use, made of plastic but it looks exactly like a barrel. I already have 6 with thriving blueberry plants, I think I will put an allotment blueberry into that barrel, it will take 3 large bags of ericacious compost, I know they grow well here. I then have 6 salt pots to fill, small to medium sized and 3 quarter sized barrel designs in plastic and that is it, as well as the two large rectangular planters,so much better than the 42 salt pots that I had to keep watered. I can see a mass of tulips in the rectangular planters, followed by easy pelargoniums. Son is here for a couple of days soon, he can help me move a few things, I need to get the positioning right because once filled, they will be too heavy to move

The other side of the plastic trellis seems to be evolving as well as the utility space behind the garage, which thankfully is paved. I am expecting the willow screening to arrive tomorrow, it will disguise the trellis somewhat

I picked off the ben conan blackcurrants last week, the easy way but taking out the old branches (pruning). They were all black and very large berries, ben sarek is still not ready to pick. I am glad I have chosen ben conan for here and two plants is ample. I will move the two rhubarb plants and see if I can get at half a dozen roots of bocking 14 comfrey, which the bees are loving

No point in me keeping the half allotment now, somone else will love the fruit and shed and storage etc but a round trip of 24 miles each week is too long and I cannot justify it for the future as I can grow most things here. I did a massive amount of apple thinning last week, disturbed dozens of damaging earwigs. Weighing up the cost in miles v me buying apples for a couple of years. I am thinking of bocking 14 along the wall at the back, it is very lovely.

Craftyone, I am interested in trellises to stop being overlooked. Trellises look pretty in themselves and unlike screening trees are effective immediately. I have wondered if planning allows one to have a trellis twelve feet high if it's not at the boundary. Your planting scheme sounds really beautiful.

Alexa it isn`t beautiful yet but at least now I know I want to work in compartments or `rooms`. That plastic trellis is with a planter, from wayfair, it was easy to put together and yesterday I put a good trough into each planter for ease of use and I unrolled willow screening, I bought 1.5m tall willow and plastic ties from primrose, it was easy to fix and will let the wind blow through and is now giving me the privacy needed for that one area. I also put together a plant stand from wayfair by poppy forge, so now the structure is in place for that area and I will start to fill with plants and tulip bulbs later in the year

I ordered a very nice bird bath, rspb, from amazon and have decided to put a solar pump in there, so the water bubbles and to make it easy for little birds.

Re trellis height Alexa, I don`t think you can be stopped from putting in a non permanent structure for screening

Craftyone, I've used not willow but split bamboo cane screening for adding to a 'gazebo' from the garden centre to make it more of summer house and it has been really successful. I put the same screening on fence panels around my patio and it has lasted for years and still does the job and looks good. My son used willow and he's pleased with it.

I like the split bamboo screening too. It is the one I would use if I were inserting screening into the soil because the willow would form roots pdq. Right now I am picking blueberries twice a day, so are the birds.

I went and got another kg or so of blackcurrants from the allotment yesterday. It is like selling my other house, I feel as though the allotment is starting to release me and I am glad of it. I will go back again when the weather cools down in a few days, I want to start moving things slowly, such as these stakes which I love
www.harrodhorticultural.com/steel-plant-stakes-rust-finish-2-pack-pid9441.html
my son in law would like my old bigger hotbin, so I need to empty that this autumn, rinse and crudely pack in large plastic for him to transport. I bought myself a mini hotbin and have already filled it from the allotment. It will be very hot inside the hotbin, in a few days and I will be making compost for here. I will need another mini here because I can keep a mini topped up but not the bigger one, not efficiently, my garden will be too small to provide enough for it

I can`t do anything else right now, much too hot to plant anything, too dry

I need to be able to make some curvy informal paths, by myself and at long last have worked out how, after buying and moving a few 450mm pavers for my hotbins, I need space in front for shovelling compost as well as to stand them on. I only plonked them down roughly for now but will bed them down properly on sand in a few weeks, good enough for the purpose. I can handle these and use a spirit level

Back to my path idea, wonky shapes of various pavers in sizes I can handle with my 2 wheeled wheelbarrow. Various spacings and bedded as horizontal as possible, creeping thyme in between. No bark or cat-friendly gravel. I want to get cracking in the garden but it is too hot and too dry and I want my new patio laid before I can close the gate and potter without some kind hearted man offering to help

I can anticipate this path being of varying widths and meandering but still defining, one side for fruit and bee friendlies and the other for roses and hellebores

Craftyone, I enjoy your gardening diary.

I planned my garden twenty years ago from a neglected big plot on a south facing slope. My house is a semi and I do like seclusion secret garden idea. The north, upper side is bordered by tall evergreens with a public path and green beyond them. One of my most useful screening trees is a deodar in the middle of the garden which I top pruned .

Most of the garden is covered with grass which I left uncut all summer for the frogs and other wild things. I have a jasmine in flower right now which I planted in terrible subsoil where an old garage once stood, right up against the boundary hawthorns. The jasmine has climbed up into the overgrown hawthorn trees and smells tremendous especially after rain .

My paths are slabs set into the grass. I did actually get them mowed by just one mower breadth on top of the slabs as they don't stand proud of the ground.

sounds lovely Alexa.

I don`t know if I said but I have decided to give up the part allotment that I retained this year, very much the fruit and roses half, 50 x 10` but 12 miles away. I cannot live without blackcurrants, eat them every day all year round. I have 2 types on the allotment, Ben sarek 9 years old and can be planted close together and 2 small Ben conan, it produced the first good fruits this year. I picked ben conan a few weeks ago, branches full of fat luscious ripe berries, easy to pick because I pruned and pick the old way in one go. Ben sarek is ripening intermittently and the berries are not at all as large or luscious as ben conan. I have finally decided to move both ben conan to here, I have already ordered two of the same but no matter, I can keep the size under control by pruning

I cut my carefully pruned gooseberries invicta and hinonmaki reds, cut down from home pruned standards. The hinonmaki are young and will move easily, very spikey, birds don`t touch them. I already ordered 3 purpose grown invicta standards. Today I moved my 5 foot iron poles, so I am ready. Two moved hinonmaki and 3 bought-in standards. Plenty of new growth on the reds and the invicta on the allotment also producing plenty of new growth for whoever takes over

I am quickly shifting what I can when I can, may be getting a new car and want the donkey work done in my yeti. All collapsible cages are now here as are gravel filled weighted bags. Two more runs will do it but not yet, I am not giving up until I have harvested my apples, october

I will move 2 rhubarb roots, bocking 14 comfrey and 6 roses and son in law will have 2 blueberries and my hotbin. That is the big hotbin, I am being practical, one of me and so I ordered 2 x mini hotbins for here, to get quicker compost from a smaller amount of waste. One is almost full after one week but I am transporting comfrey, windfalls and chopped twigs to it

So my hydrangeas annabelle, not looking that happy in the garden, it is too hot and sunny, same all over the garden so they are going to have to go, I made a mistake. I will put my allotment roses in their space instead. The back garden will evolve but around my fruit, which has priority, that plus comfrey to feed everything. I will grow some veg too

My basic instincts, always has been, fruit and veg and then flowers to make a mix. I am waiting for the builder, he is going to build the patio but keeps putting it off. He will do it but his job on this site is tiring as it is.

My memory can sort of smell and taste those generous ben conans, and juicy invicta and hinonaki red gooseberries.I cannot say "you lucky thing!" as you put much love into your gardening and you are reaping your rightful rewards.

What is your "yeti"?

I admit to now being shattered and my body is doing its cooling job ie perspiring all over, cue is to drink an awful lot more water. So I could not sleep last night, head was full of that stuff with hidden meanings, going into a new job but being late, couldn`t find my things etc I gathered that this was the push I needed to get that very difficult trapezium shape sorted, all down the side of the house. Wonky up and down, yes there is soil but also horrid builders rubble

I had already bought and assembled 4 good plastic 1 x 1m raised beds but they looked such a mess wherever I placed them but I bear in mind that they are out of sight. Logic hat had to come on and I decided that the veg would need maximum sun, now placed in a line E/W measuring 4 x 1m, just 20 inches from the house wall. They looked like waves on the sea. 4 tall metal posts hammered at the 4 corners and string line near the ground parallel to the house. Beds temporarily moved away

Spirit level and rake out and what a difference that made once that line was in place. One at a time the beds were put in place with just a tweak here and there, helped by my spirit level. I am happy

By 9am this morning, dressed in mucky clothes from the allotment yesterday, I was waiting for a very old fashioned factory store to open, 12 miles away. They mix all sorts of bags of composts, soils etc. I bought 25 40litre bags of very good stuff and my car was laden to the top and groaning. I offloaded and started that soil work

At least 8 of those bags will go into the 4 beds and I will be sowing phacelia (green manure) as soon as it arrives. It will be ready by october and I will chop and lightly turn, then cover until spring and maybe then worms will return

That is the beds sorted but having experience of raised beds on my allotment, I need to allow 20" each side for kneeling. Last thing today, I will rake and smooth that space all around the beds, my aim is to cover with a doubled over length of non woven weed matting, the heavier one of 76g. I ordered non woven matting this morning, I always used it for paths on the allotment and 9 years later it was still reasonable. The 50g weight will be used to cover for winter

I am back out in a mo, have recovered some energy and drank 2 full glasses of water

oh I forgot to say that I have resited the hotbins, had to prep the ground for 6 x 45cm slabs. I put th slabs all in a line, bearing in mind that I have to keel and rake to get the compost out, hotbin and 2 kneeling slabs, repeat once. Raked, weed cover over and pretty reasonable non-wobbling slabs now. Don`t know what I would do without a rake and my spirit level and my sun hat

I did 2 full hours up on the allotment this morning, glorious wide sweeping view and silent apart from birds. I do need to get my arris in gear, just in case I get another car this autumn. I cleaned and I lifted and brought 37 bricks home, always useful for holding weed cover down and possibly for making a rugged path. A bin thing I bought from lakeland ages ago, you hang a bag of comfrey in it and add water and it makes liquid manna for plants, no more tomato fertiliser needed. Some tools and a watering can, plenty still there to enable me to keep my plot tidy

Hotbin is now emptied and was very full of black gold, now around roses, blackcurrants and on a bed which would be ideal for beans next year, a good start for a new person. I washed the hotbin and am hoping that son in law comes to fetch it soon. It stands on several 45cm slabs and I want to bring those slabs home, practical head says that I need to extend the hotbin area at the new house one row is not enough. Raking out today, on a kneeler and really I need 3 rows for comfort

My 3 allotment apple trees look wonderful now I have deprived earwigs of their cosy homes, in apple clusters. I like to do the thinning early and watch the earwigs fall down before they cause too much damage. There is one apple that I just have to have again, so I ordered it, only 10` tall. It is so disease resistant and stores very well most of the winter. I have an apple storage cabinet in my garage. The apple is pig skin sold by Ian Sturrock, not at all cheap counting postage but my word what a lovely apple, large and shiny. The one on the allotment is 5 now and laden with apples. I had some for 3 years so far, took all tha apples off in the first 2 years. It is a very neat solid little tree, very close to my blackcurrants and roses

Did I tell you that most of my precious gardening stuff `vanished` during my removals. I am having to start again

I had no clue of the size of my back garden until now, I used one of those laser thingies. My patio is/will be at right angles ie 2 at right angles, like a set square. Patio area is 295 sq`

Main garden, presently covered in black weed fabric roughly 30 x 20 = 600sq`

Trapezium shaped hidden bit is roughly 192 sq`. I have to allow proportionately more waste for the house wall and footings

Tbh that is a good big area for a new build. My present allotment is 500 sq` and that includes shed, compost etc

One side of the back, north facing but it gets east/west sun in high summer is 30`. That pleases me because my new apples only need to be 5` from the neighbours fence, same as allotment centre and they never grow too big or too wide and there is always pruning. Now I have finally decided on the apple positions ie 5` from fence and 5`, 15` and 25` in a row. The 4th apple will be at right angles to the 5` corner apple at 10` from that apple. I did 10` spacings on the allotment and it is ample for that size rootstock, M26

This is all consuming because I don`t have much time left, trees and bushes will start arriving in september and I will move my own bushes in october. I cannot face having to organise the plantings in a hurry. I want to get posts in last week in august. Good job I found my lump hammer, the posts are good, long and very thick. I need to drive 4 posts in beforehand, at a low angle and then another 4 at the opposite angle. I need to buy 2 more posts, I bought 6 online and they are way superior to anything I can buy locally but p and p would make it too expensive

Working hard, Craftyone! NB you might need to replace salt as well as water.

My gardening ethos was labour saving plus seclusion. Thus I did not bed down my lawn- set slabs in sand byt merely dug some turf out to make them level. this has worked except where tree roots have raised them. This slabs I removed and did without, as the roots keep that square dry anyway.

Did you plant the apple trees 5 feet from boundary so you get all the windfalls , or for legal reasons?

I have 3 M26 apple trees on my 10` wide allotment, down the centre, 10` apart and the branches are all within the 5` each side. I can easily get to them for thinning etc. I think I took off 2/3 of the apples this year but it is worth it as the remaining apples grow large and healthier and the trees don`t get stressed

I must say that I am enjoying my time in my new garden. Tackling small parts in stages is working for me, the areas I have been working on down the side are very awkward shapes. Yet more buying and transporting today, in total today was 20 bags of various composts/soil, a bag of gravel and 3 more slabs. I feel that this carrying is making me strong but I do roll from the car into my sturdy 2 wheeled wheelbarrow

An area 3 x 3 slabs is now finished, was fiddly at times, stopping any wobble. There was another awkward trapezium space between them and the patio edge, too small for any planting. I had some tough straight rubber edging, sawed bits off that for containment. I put weed fabric down and mixed the gravel with some grit and covered the fabric. Looks pretty tremendous if I say so myself.

I put several bags of topsoil into the raised beds and they are now full enough, they are 10" high and very good solid beds, better than the ones I had previously. I am hoping phacelia comes tomorrow, I want to get it sown while we have some rain

Your slabs in sand sound good Alexa, mine are in soil. I definitely don`t want lawn and evolving is what is happening.

I copied this:

"Phacelia is a quick growing green manure so it can be grown after an early crop is harvested. ... It is most useful for early spring crops where the farmer wants the soil to warm quickly, and where a weed-suppressing residue is not needed."

The blue flowers look pretty rather like loveinamist.

I think I am making progress, hammered tall stakes in to show me where the apple trees go, strangely suddenly I see height appearing. I have decided to make a patch with mixed gound covering thymes, I ordered 8 variations x 3, so quick quick I need to uncover soil and stones and prep for them. I know where to put the thymes now, around a tall solar water feature, it looks as though that will be the focal point. I put the feature in place just now, looks nice. I put stone chippings in the base for weight

Three more trugs of stones ready for the tip. Ground is not bad, it certainly seems to have improved somewhat since I added some humus and ph is approximately 6.3. I think I will concentrate on herbs and bee plants. Perhaps rock roses instead of roses in the soil but the way this is evolving, I can`t say for sure