Any ideas for a small concreted yard?

[Monkster]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Monkster]

Hello Wyevilla
Thanks for your help too, very kind.
I will take all the advice and ideas that I have been given and work out how best to go about changing it for the better.
I have a lot to go on so thank you to everyone who has helped!!
Can't wait to get started on my transformation now!!
Gotta go.....lots to do!!

[Kymba]

Monkster dont know if you saw this posted yesterday in the Forum "Wildlife Gardening info" by aeshna5....
For those that may be interested I noticed while in newsagents that currrent BBC Gardeners World mag has 10 pages of wildlife gardening tips.

I thought you might find it helpful

[Monkster]

Hi Kymba
No I didn't see that....thanks for letting me know .
I'll just nip off and get myself a copy.
Thanks

[arvensis]

Instead of digging it all up, how about digging up maybe a third or a half of it? You will still have somewhere to put the washing line! A couple of logs placed in a corner for invertebrates could also be a possibility.

Mark

[nightshade]

I was thinking about the boring bike shed,is it boring because
of the construction ? you could use some nice tiles on the roof
if it is open on the front you might even get bats if it is not draughty
A picture would be nice

[Varan Komodosky]

Just come across this thread, very interesting to me because not long ago I lived in houses exactly like this in Burnley, Lancashire. In one house I partly knocked the outside toilet and shed down to about 3 feet, lifted the flagstones, bricked across the doorways and had a lorry load of topsoil delivered to fill up what was then beautiful raised beds. Worked a treat! I've used old galvanised dustbins as containers, my most successful plant was a mighty gunnera, nearly filled the backyard and drove my ex mad (obviously so mad she ran off with a builder - still, the best revenge you can give a man who takes your wife is to let him keep her - or vica verca)!

Creepers work very well. Virginia Creeper worked well for me, although it might look a bit bare in winter. I tried Russian Vine once - not recommended. Too fast, too big, too Russian Viney. Although it did attract an interesting selection of bugs and such.

How about covering the whole yard with a glass-substitute and having a walk-through cold house? Your own personal jungle then, no limits. Just imagine! Growing bananas outside in Barrow!

[Monkster]

Thanks for your thoughts Varan.
I like the idea of the galvanised dustbins, but I think I may just give the Gunnera a miss!
It’s a real pain to have such a small space to work with and the back door and gate also limit my options, so any suggestions are always welcome.

[oceanroc]

Hi Monkster.

I won't give you any more advice except to say that I used to grow sage in pots (ordinary and blackcurrant sage). The bees loved it! Oh and I once grew a 15 foot bean in a pot and ate off it for months!!

I know what you mean about downloading photos. I have only managed three so far and am slightly daunted by the whole process.

I downloaded mine into picasa, then edited them (just made them smaller) in Adobe Photoshop, and finally maneged to load them onto the forum! I guess with practice it will become easy...

Good Luck

[nightshade]

Trellis the walls on the sunny side(after painting them)space it 3" off the wall
grow Honey suckles or Cematis choosing them to get flowers all summer
the spacing will allow birds to nest
May to october is possible (some are evergreen) Goosey and Varan have good
ideas Gooseys garden is a fine example

[pressld2]

Herbs are always good in containers. Others have already mentioned lavender, sage and thyme and I would add rosemary to the list. I love the smell and insects seem to like it too. Plus you can't beat fresh herbs in your cooking

Dave P.

[Monkster]

Hi Oceanroc, Nightshade and Pressld2
Thanks for your input .
I cannot believe that I haven’t thought about putting herbs in before.….great idea….. useful …. and it will be the best thing about my cooking as well, unfortunately!!
I love the smell of honeysuckle too so thats another plus.
I have actually mastered this uploading photos business now so I will search through my photos and find some of the photos of my yard. Don’t get excited though and definitely don’t look at the WAB members gardens after you’ve seen mine!
Thanks
Suzanne

[Monkster]

Well, there we are...photos at last
Unfortunatey the troughs went up before I had chance to paint the wall (over zealous husband ) but there's still time.



Hope my neighbour doesn't mind me putting their washing on the Wab


Note the insect hotel propped up on the wall.....no guests at the moment though



It looks very claustrophobic now I look at it .....I feel quite sad for myself

On the bright side though we have just taken on half of my uncle-in-laws allotment, which is absolutely fantastic, birds, insects, flowers, vegetables, trees the lot so I'm not too downhearted.

[goosey]

Good for you Monkster - we all have to start some where .
It must be great to have an allotment , hard work I should imagine but a place to escape, keep fit, fresh air and fresh fruit and veg - brilliant!

[Varan Komodosky]

Hmmm, not much room for a pond there, although half an old whisky or sherry barrell works quite well.

Good luck with the allotment, I've got yearnings in that direction myself... Unfortunately my (just as crazy as me) significant other actually fears vegetables and thinks they are poisonous. Not too much point in it.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Varan Komodosky

Unfortunately my (just as crazy as me) significant other actually fears vegetables and thinks they are poisonous. Not too much point in it.

more importantly they also take up valuable space in the fridge which could otherwise be used for beer