So here I am, never ever done the flower gardening thing that was P's department, only really been interesting in herbs and veggie stuff. Now though I've got a big garden which is kinda overgrown

Problem is I don't really know what I like, I know I don't want manicured and neat, and don't really like blousy, and every time I go to the garden centre I buy more lavender and am attracted to white flowers but other than that I am stuck. Theres a border that runs all the way down the side of the lawn and it definately needs widening, its full of brambles and a sad hydrangea. Think I want it to be jam packed full of sun next year, the only thought I have had is to plonk cosmos in there, but what else

Oh and theres a bit with 4 lilac trees and a couple of elderberry, its quite dark in there, what could go in as ground cover coz now I've cleared all the weeds its just bare soil and a bit of ivy

I'd concrete it over and park your car on it.

no you wouldn't.....................and you were in such a good mood, what happened , you reverted back to your life is crap til March mode again

You could plant loads of lily of the valley bulbs under the trees Del.... Other than that, I need a thunk...

snap

new to the whole flower thing myself you understand, but here's what I've found so far

You can get hardy perrenial geraniums with small dark flowers on that love crappy soil and shade
I'm bunging them under a tree
Daffodils are actually wild, woodland flowers, like crappy soil and dappled shade. who knew?
Poached egg plant, bees and hoverflies favourite, loves crappy soil...edges of paths etc. now is the best time to sow seeds in situ

well, it's a start

Carrots? Yay! Well done Impy. I pulled all mine up about 3 weeks ago and blanched them cos I left em too long last year and they got badly carrot-flied

Del - if it's ground cover under the lilacs, how bout periwinkle? ours is on the north side of a fence under a hoooooooge fir tree, so very dry, and it's fine. It's variegated so looks ok when not in flower (blue flowers so would look alright with the lilacs). It does spread quite freely, though mine survives the runners being periodically pulled up and hacked back severely!

I've got some flowering cherry saplings (pink), spirea saplings (white)and philadelphus saplings (white - maybe double, not sure which is which!) anorl if you want one of each for the border. Can all be left to grow big, or pruned back occasionally if need be. They're good for the back of border, or spaced out along it.

Loads of hardy perennials like in here

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Ooooh - blatant spamming - ban him

Del you just got there so I'd be prepared to sit back a while and leave it be and see what it throws up. There'll be perennials in there I expect. You won't know yet if it's a frost pocket or what so be patient cos you could waste money on plants that aren't hardy enough

I'll have to give this some thought Del !!

well? come on then, we're waiting with baited breath here!

Look at David's list then google them and look on images

Now what Wards says is what the books say - for the first season be patient, see what comes up, take notes on where the sun comes, where the shade is, the hot and cold bits etc etc. But I say where's the fun in that. Get out with a spade, make as many beds and borders as you can get away with, making them as deep as you can get away with. Get some bulbs in all of them now so you've got something to look at in Spring, even under the lilacs, snowdrops will be quite happy under there as they flower before the leaves form so make best use of the available light, bluebells might be OK too. The ivy should spread, can look boring, but with the snowdrops poking through can look lovely. For a bit of height under the trees, mahonia are happy in shade, as are hollies, periwinkle is good, as is ajuga (bugle) both can romp away but if it's ground cover you want.

Then get a tape measure and make a plan, decide what you want (herb beds, cut flowers bed etc), see what you've already got (patio, paths, shed, greenhouse, chickens ?) and what you must have (somewhere to sit, somewhere to play, compost bins, washing lines etc), then start putting things on paper. A lot of the time things'll just seem to go somewhere kind of naturally if you know what I mean. Get a soil test kit - if you know what your soil is like it'll save time and money later.
Once you're happy with the outlines, then you can start on the plants This is probably obvious, but to stock new beds and borders with perennials, and shrubs is expensive. I'd work with what you have already to begin with (if you don't like something it can come out later), buy a few plants that you really really like and fill things with annuals from seed. Much cheaper and can give a fantastic display in the first year. this gives you time to grow on small perennial, cuttings or perennials from seed for planting out next year.

Think I got a bit carried away - but I love making new gardens, it's what I really really want to do when I finish the design course completely and come home

Del is on a budget remember so I'd build on what I'd got which is why I'd wait and see what perennials come up. There could be gems in there. Anyway I'm a lazy tup and enjoy the wait and see route

I'm an up and at 'em kind of bloke - haven't got the patience

my husband is like that which is why we lose more perennials, shrubs and climbers at an astonishing rate. He was laying a path last week and I told him to leave the clematis well alone. What clematis he says. I goes out to point it out. Too bloody late

Well obviously I wouldn't just dig stuff up And anyway she's been there since August, anything that's in already will have made an appearance this year so she should have seen it either flowering, just after flowering or about to die back - that's plenty patient enough for me

Plough it and plant veggies

But an improvement on the 'concrete all' idea

when is the right time for fushia cuttings?
I've got a big old bush one that's about to get a rather drastic haircut

shan't feel so guilty if I can pot up some cuttings. This is definately hardy.....nobodies touched the garden in decades and the fushia has taken over the path