Any ideas for a small concreted yard?

Monkster · #1 (**permalink**) 12-01-2007, 12:34 PM

I live in a terraced house in the middle of town and have a concreted back yard approximately 16 ft x 6 ft which at the moment is incredibly bare and boring, apart from a nice, grey wheelie bin and small bike shed. ( Yes you're right they are boring too!)
I feel it is now time to brighten the place up and encourage whatever wildlife I can to it as it can be quite depressing especially in winter.
I also don't get much sun, neither does the yard, probably from dawn till about 10am (Then it goes next door for the rest of the day!) so it is very shady.
I have had a few excellent suggestions from Nightshade, Badgerwatcher and Goosey, for which I would like to say 'thanks' they are very helpful. I am also open to any other ideas before I make a start on it.
Thanks

goosey · #2 (**permalink**) 12-01-2007, 01:09 PM

having lots of pots can be an advantage as you can move them around constantly to show off what ever plants are at their best. Apart from Mahonia and campanula, Bugle weed (Ajuga Reptens) does well in shade and will attract any passing bees, butterflies and hoverflies. Monkshood (aconitum fischeri) is also good for shaded areas(very appropriate don't you think!) and cardinal flower also for butterflies + bees.(Lobelia cardinalis)

'Don't be scared of height just because it's a small area it will really improve the effect.

Try to buy bigger, established plants for an immediate impact. you'll probably have to wait a couple of months untill the garden centres are raring to go, but it'll give you plenty of planning time.

If you use slightly larger pots you can always underplant with bulbs for next spring (in the Autumn) like snow drops and grape hyacinths.

Ivyweed toad flax (cymbalaria muralis) is a beautiful spreading little plant which self seeds everywhere, it started in our street about 10 houses up thr road and it's climbing up the walls of most houses gardens now including ours.

Good luck, it will be really fulfilling when your effort starts to pay off and hopefully you'll start a trend and your neighbours wont want to be out done..

badgerwatcher · #3 (**permalink**) 12-01-2007, 02:42 PM

I'm so glad you like ivy-leaved toadflax, Goosey. I love it, and it certainly prettifies a wall. I was going to mention it before but thought people might feel, as so often happens, Oh, it's just a weed! But I love the 'weeds'!
And I love all the little things that self seed in walls, mosses, ferns, wall-pellitory, and that lovely little ferny plant with yellow flowers, and Oxalises, (a wonderful wine red one with yellow flowers) and good old Herb Robert!
And Ajuga Rutens, (is that the deep-red-leafed one, or is that the one you mention?) a wonderful plant, as it spreads, and the flowers come out like little sky-blue pagodas. It's gorgeous. And some of the variagated dead-nettles are very pretty too, in tubs, spreading and trailing.
Don't do what I did and plant a very small bay tree!
Next time I looked, (bit absent minded) it was twenty feet tall, and sucking all the water out of the foundations of surrounding houses! I exaggerate slightly, I caught it in time, but only just!

Japonicas are good, that one with red flowers, chaenomeles is it, climbs walls?
And my passion flower vine grows up my house, covered in flowers all summer and autumn, and is still covered with lovely orange egg-shaped fruits (can I eat these?) which are a good splash of colour, and something is now eating them, a bird I think.

smartie · #4 (**permalink**) 12-01-2007, 03:19 PM

Lavenders and bergamot will grow well in pots and are good for bees and hover flies. Lavender will grow anywhere - you'll probably find it seeding in cracks in the concrete. It's also very tolerant of drought, which bergamot isn't - you'd need to water that regularly. Even the smallest water feature will increase the wildlife possibilities. Thymes are good for underplanting and any little cracks and will give you something to eat as well.

You could encourage ivy and honeysuckle over the shed to make it less boring and to encourage small wildlife. After a couple of years you'll probably need a machete to get the bike out, but never mind

goosey · #5 (**permalink**) 12-01-2007, 03:56 PM

why dont you take some before and after photos at various stages? it would be great to see and may inspire others with yards who may think there is nothing to be done.

nightshade · #6 (**permalink**) 12-01-2007, 04:06 PM

Hello Monkster,I think someone said paint the walls white,are they stone
or brick?(a photo would be good)how high?
I would put in a couple of arches (around seven ft.high) at one third intervals
trellis down alternate sides to allow access but give additional growing space
Any tubs or planters should be terraced (staging),again to increase your
growing area plants as already suggested by the others (I do like ivy leaved toadflax)water feature is a must ,a basin fixed to a wall tiny pump,copper pipe riser to a tee drilled with tiny holes to give a curtain drop back to the basin or whatever
Hows that for a start?

Monkster · #7 (**permalink**) 12-01-2007, 05:59 PM

Thanks for the help.
Good idea...I will take a photo to let you see what I'm working with.
That's the easy bit though, the hard bit for me is trying to work out how to put it on this site!
Please bear with me......I may be some time.......

Buzzy · #8 (**permalink**) 22-01-2007, 04:38 PM

Hello monkster,
Please ignore this advice if you rent your place, but if I had such a back yard I would seriously consider biting the bullet and taking the concrete up, if at all possible and trying to re-establish a soil based garden that encourages a food chain to hopefully attract a full range of wildlife visitors to your little patch. If not, why not consider building raised beds instead of using pots. Not as mobile, but if carefully sited and planned in the right place will give pleasure whilst giving a home to a greater range of soil based organisms - providing the building blocks for a decent, wildlife attracting food chain.

As for the planting advice, I would personally focus on native species as far as possible.
Hope this helps.

Monkster · #9 (**permalink**) 22-01-2007, 10:31 PM

Hi Buzzy
Thanks for your thoughts on my little yard, much appreciated.

I think digging it up might be just a little radical for me, ( I won't have anywhere to stand when I hang my washing out....I know... I do lead an exciting life!) but I could definately build a raised bed down the side by the wall, after I've painted it (like that idea). And if it encourages different types of wildlife and organisms that would be a bonus.
I've still to take my photo as the weather has been so horrible and dull lately,(excuses...excuses) and upload it, somehow, on the site. That is my next challenge.

Thanks again.

wyevilla · #10 (**permalink**) 23-01-2007, 08:51 PM

If you go for the pots and planters option, I would seriously think about clumping them together. This is likely to reduce the watering requirements as the plants and pots will mutually shade. Also the nooks and crannies between pots (and underneath) can provide a refuge for many types of invertebrate.

To soften the hard edges of a yard, you can place pebbles, rocks, logs and driftwood. Again all provide niches for small creatures to live and hibernate (do make sure you obtain this from a sustainable source).

Additionally, now a-days you can purchase invertebrate hibernating quarters along similar lines as bird tables and boxes. however, if you like a challenge its possible to make your own customised to your own design.

Hope this helps.