New to gardening

[Mcvj]

Hi everyone,

We've just moved in to my sisters house and she has a relatively small garden, about 10x15 ft and I would like to start some gardening. Any ideas on where to start?

[nungate]

What's already growing there?

[Mcvj]

Nothing! its just a rectangle bit if grass, great light towards the from of the garden though. There are even any beds yet so I suppose I'll have to sort some of them out first?

[maggiebee]

Start with a piece of paper, draw the rectangle and plan from there. If you want to be really precise you could measure out and use graph paper. Good way to try different options before starting digging and could save a lot of time and effort.

[nungate]

I can see a few options, first to wait and see what if anything pops up come Spring. Dig it all over now, plan out beds, do you want flowers/shrubs or something more productive like veggies and fruit? Mark out areas you want for planting, lawn, veg patch, flower beds etc. Which way does if face, north, south? all of this has a bearing on what you can plant.

[Mcvj]

Flowers and shrubs I reckon. A lot of planning is involved here, a lot more than I originally thought... Thanks guys :)

[HowardKennitby]

remember to note which way North is when you start planning.

[nungate]

Just watch out for the height and spread of any plants or shrubs you might choose, yours doesn't seem like a large plot of garden so you wouldn't want just one plant to take over. Why not get a gardening book from the library, and maybe research some plants online or start visiting garden centres? Good luck with it, and if you need help just ask on here there'll always be someone here to give you advice

[Maydup]

Don't be put off by vegetable growing, its so satisfying eating your own produce in the summer time.

If you do feel like giving them a try, start with something you enjoy eating. Easiest are beans, runner or dwarf, new potatoes are easy too and courgettes, which take plenty of room but grow like mad.

[Squitty]

It would be really nice to find a little corner for a herb box.
I made mine out of gravel board (really simple squares). this allows you to have different soil for different herbs and you can grow mint without it spreading where you dont want it.

[chelle7272]

i've grown courgettes in pots in the garen so you can restrict the room they take up. Maidup is right they grow like mad, are very tasty and quite pretty when in flower too.

[rowanwitch]

BBC virtual garden allows you to play around with plands and some plants then view the effect in '3d' really easy to use, its a tiny plot though so I would consider something like a courtyard style garden with a central water feature and use the verticals/walls and fences and space in corners and sides to make a cool green oasis

[Robinia]

I don't think you can read too many gardening books :o) It's still early and we might have some more bad/frozen weather so over the next few weeks look for some inexpensive books (charity shops are good) and get some ideas of what you'd like in your garden.
This looks like a good buy to start you off...
Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

With the right planning it's amazing what you can fit into a small area but don't be frightened of making mistakes...I made a lot when I started and some I'm still living with. :o)