Small Suburban Garden Inspiration

As thoughts of Spring creep into my head I cannot help but ponder how I want to update our garden. We live in a Victorian terrace and we have a small front yard, a back yard and a small garden. It's quite a lot of garden considering the bijou size of our house. A couple of years ago we added a decked area to the back garden which you can see here but our old wooden planters are now looking very sorry for themselves. The non-decked area desperately needs attention. It's a task that needs doing but we don't have much budget for it, so we really need to think about what changes we want to make and how we can do them rather cheaply. 

I want some sturdier planters and am considering faux grass (living grass would not survive for very long as the area we're updating does not get enough sun and we have a puppy who loves digging up grass - not a good combo.)

I've collected a selection of inspiration shots, all of which include flower beds made from a variety of materials. Let's take a look...

As much as I love the look of railway sleepers, I'm not sure our budget will stretch to them

Rendered walls look good, but I think white would be a bad idea, on account of the amount of rain Manchester sees on an annual basis

Brick walls would look classic and in keeping with our house but we would probably need to hire someone to make them

I'd like to create a bench area around some of the planters to create extra seating space

Which is your favourite look? Have you designed your own garden, or have you hired help?

Claire x

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