How I Designed My Garden (Part 1)

This is Part One of a Two Part series on how we transformed our garden to the garden we have today. Using the experience I have gained over the last twelve years, I give tips and advice that you can use in your own garden.
Instagram: / murphysgarden_

[@kayluley3209]

wonderful presentation....highly informative.....so much better than most garden videos👍

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you so much for watching and for your lovely feedback 🐶🪴

[@carolcampbell2041]

OMG!!! I love your garden. Love the structure, textures, and beautiful walkways. And the dog!!! So sweet.

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you so much Jenny and Murphy 🐾

[@raefaulkner5497]

Your hard work is paying off, its evolving into a gorgeous garden.

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you

[@awildapproach]

Oh wow, you’re both so smart and it shows in the way your garden looks now. You’ve done a fantastic job, and it’s inspiring to see the space before, during, and after, like you’ve shown us.☺️Thanks for sharing!🌞🌻🍁🌹🍂🌾🌱

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you for your very kind comments. Not sure that we are smart, we nearly always do it wrong before we work out the right way of doing it. But I think we’ve learnt just as much from the mistakes- it’s all a steep learning curve!!!

[@awildapproach]

@@MurphysGarden I think that’s sometimes the best way to learn with something like gardening. It teaches us what works and what doesn’t in our spaces. Every garden microclimate is so individual to it. 🙂

[@MicheleYoung-w5s]

What a task! And you handled it beautifully!❤

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you

[@calittlegarden-3311]

Love the sitting arch!!beautiful garden

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you Jenny

[@slashingbison2503]

Plant a meadow in that grass section, win-win.

[@patriciahogg5763]

Excellent overview! Thanks for sharing. Impressive! 🌻🌻🌻

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you

[@sunitashastry5270]

A lot of work - but it truly all works. Thanks for sharing.

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you

[@thereserooney3713]

Your garden is beautiful, well done, I have a similar problem with the wind and got some very good ideas from your video . Thanks so much ❣️

[@MurphysGarden]

Yes, it’s so destructive and rather disheartening at times but we will keeping trying!

[@rinskeraphael8755]

Love your garden.❤️🌹

[@GardenDiaries1]

It's sooooo beautiful 😊

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you so much

[@laurenb6451]

Very nice video and garden. It’s nice to hear that you “usually did it wrong,” which to me means that you figured it out yourselves. Would that more people did this in every aspect of life instead of being spoon fed the “experts’ way.

[@MurphysGarden]

Yes, a steep learning curve but so much more rewarding in the end

[@Rustytoolgardener]

Just found your channel. Great garden. You design like I do. Trial and error. Canadian winters are such that we can’t plant everything that you do, but we get great ideas still.

[@MurphysGarden]

Lovely to have you join us from Canada, it’s great to share ideas from across the world!

[@awizenwoman]

Having a swimming pool is for fitness and enjoyment not delusions of grandeur. Filling it in seems madness to me.

[@MurphysGarden]

It was more of a concrete sheep dip than a ‘nice’ swimming pool and was filled in by the previous owner for health and safety reasons!

[@MultimediaIreland]

So true on patience, I just created a border (shaped like a crude fish), the back of the border plants will take a few years to establish, while the front plants flew up, so I have the backwards effect right now, with the back of the border plants small and looking like the front. It will balance itself in time. Love your garden, it looks fantastic.

[@MurphysGarden]

Patience is definitely something that you are forced to learn in gardening whether you want to or not! However, time flies and before you know it Mother Nature does her thing and you get something much better than you could ever have imagined (and you get the credit for it!). Hope your new border thrives, so exciting watching it develop - happy gardening!

[@soniatriana9091]

Thank you for your lovely video, full of many real life scenarios & how you solved & achieved the garden you now have! I’m already a pretty avid gardener, but I like hearing & seeing what others have done as well. Your advice/tips are excellent for anyone, but particularly for new homeowners & new gardeners! Listening to your calm voice was also a nice experience & a definite way to relax while enjoying your garden!!! Great job!! Beautiful garden & what a gorgeous countryside!!!

[@MurphysGarden]

Thank you for your kind words

[@Amanda-w6q5i]

The older is better

[@MurphysGarden]

Oh dear, we should have saved ourselves the trouble!

[@rinskeraphael8755]

i’m amazed by your hard work. Its beautiful 🤩🤩

[@chrisdooney5374]

Any tips on a layout for a largish back garden? that has a bit of a dip at the back of the garage an electric pole and a oil tank .. I have no idea how to make it look less disjointed, would be really grateful for any advise

[@MurphysGarden]

It’s difficult to suggest ideas without seeing the area but I’ll have a go! Trellis is a good way of disguising an ugly oil tank. Try and incorporate a row of trellis with climbers growing over it and make it look like an intentional design rather than one piece placed in front which is obviously hiding something! Dips and slopes are always awkward so try and terrace the area and create different levels with steps, this makes the garden more interesting. We have an awful electric pole in our garden and I would love to have it moved but this isn’t possible, it would probably cost too much. I have added height in the form of hedges and we have the pleached hornbeam row so that helps to distract the eye making it less obvious. Hope this helps a bit but think outside the box and distract the eye using prominent features and allow ugly eyesores to disappear. Good luck