In article , Brian
writes
Greetings all

Our garden has been much neglected over the last few years, mainly due
to ill-health, but is now undergoing a complete transformation. It is a
typical terraced house garden (13 x 75 feet) and has recently been
taken back to bare earth. We have designed the hard landscaping and
will be doing this over the next month to 6 weeks.

Our problem is that neither my wife or myself have any knowledge of
plants, so feel somewhat daunted regarding a planting scheme. Any ideas
as to how we should approach this, or recommended books would be most
appreciated. Is it the sort of thing that we could ask a garden
designer to do, given that we already have a plan of the layout?

Thanks in advance,

Brian

I have several garden books which give planting plans at the front. You
could try some of the simpler ones and then change things gradually if
you want to put your own ideas in practice later on.
The old reader's digest book also has planting plans and why not have a
look at books in the library? Many books on plants give you simple
layouts of perennial or shrub borders that you could begin to plant and
adjust to the shape of your beds.

Before you do though why not go along to your local open gardens and
spot the plants that are growing well, this will give you an idea of
what you could grow and what type of soil you have in your own garden

There are loads of books with planting schemes that will be bound to
have one or two that you find attractive. Use the library much cheaper
than buying a book and finding it is too advanced or doesn't have the
feel of planting you want. Planting schemes will give you all the right
heights and growth patterns to suit your dreams, You can then learn
about the plants as they grow rather than feel you have to pick the
easier ones from the start
The only thing I would add is that if you want to choose your own plants
it's often better to buy one or two 'in flower' items per month than get
them en masse in spring or summer or autumn. That way you will have
round the year colour rather than a sudden blossoming in say May and
nothing more .

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Amersham Gardening Association
http://www.amersham-gardening.net