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Past it and pregnant! would love a great garden for the arrival of our first child. somewhere to chill (for me) to entertain (for my husband) and somewhere safe for the baby as it grows. we live in an old cottage with 6 foot brick walls around our garden a few pots and lots of unwanteds. no wow factor curently and would like lots of wow!

Hi riles,

First check if your property is listed - if it is the walls around the garden will be too.

I would love a walled garden like this - the WOW factor is easy to add... the walls can be used to grow things up - Clemetis, Ivy, Roses, Fruit - the list is endless...

But what do you want from your garden - how much time do you have?

I would create beds underneath most of the walls - work out the best place for a seating area - and get some colour into the garden - remember you can paint the walls - could be very mediteranean - but peach works better than blue in our climate... then attach trellis to walls - buy some larger feature plants - for instant effect - remember evergreen shrubs - like Choysia can add interest all year round and are easy to look after...

I could also look contemporary - paint walls a steel grey - add crome - visit builders yard for metal ducting get it cut into planter lenghts and then add hardy bamboos. grasses and palms... job done

Angela

Best thing you can do, for yourself and baby is lawn the whole garden. We had the same dilemma when we moved here 4 years ago. Our son is 3 now and boy did we make the right choice! He's into football already, rides his bike and scooter up and down the garden all the time. If we had put in flower beds and borders like we originally planned they would be trashed by now. Its gonna get worse too, as he gets older and brings friends round to play.
Best thing we ever did - lawned the lot!
I do have a few pots with flowers in for a bit of summer colour and I kept the tree at the end of the garden (well - he'll need something to climb in a year or two). I can move the pots out of the way when he's playing out there. As for seating - the fold up type is best - it can also be put out of the way when mini Beckham decides to practice.

Yep lawn is definately low maintenance for kids but eventually you'll want something more. Consider picking a select tree like amelanchier lamarkii or magnolia stellata that will grow as your child does. Photos of the young'un standing next to it each year could be fun. Once they are teenagers it could be lovely.