Garden planning - first draft

The compost heap can also be nicely packaged.

A compost heap remains a compost heap. I dislike the usual compost heaps just as much as the usual garages. Neither the compost heaps nor the garages can help it. ;-)

Or you drive to the green waste disposal site the few times when a lot accumulates

That is one of the considered solutions. Or order a green waste container that is delivered and picked up filled again. Maybe I’m also allowed to spread some on the field at the back; I have to ask the owner.

And throw away valuable biomass from your own garden. To then buy fertilizer. :D

I will buy compost worms for my tumbling composter. Yuck, how disgusting, but also bizarre. :)

One important point just occurred to me: don’t just think about the color of the flowers but also about the blooming times. The garden should look beautiful all summer, not just for one month.

Yes, I will do that. Thanks for the hint.

Quick composters are partly finished after 12 weeks.

I buy, see above, worms. :)

Make a concrete time specification out of it, e.g. 4 hours per week (= half a Saturday).

Good idea, we will do that.

Is the garden house intended as a place to stay or for storage?

Only storage for garden tools and “stuff.”

You’ve probably not counted in German bureaucracy ;)

So far I’ve mainly miscalculated without considering my husband. ;-)

You’re probably right, but I wouldn’t feel like carrying dishes, food, drinks 20m away from the house.

I repeat ;-) : So far I’ve mainly miscalculated without considering my husband. ;-)

There’s nothing against planning a seating area where each guest then carries their own glass of wine.

I think I am convinced. Maybe a small terrace right by the house, accessible from the living room.

I have drawn the bicycle stand to scale to the right of the house, near the carport.

Unfortunately, I cannot identify it. However, one should also consider at least covered bicycle storage, otherwise the saddle will be wet after the next rain. Also, check the household insurance conditions regarding theft. And then maybe also remember that one might acquire e-bikes.

Schlossgarten what does that mean to you?

The big boring park?
The formal layout?
The different rooms/gardens?

For me, it’s the formal layout and the different rooms?

It’s clear there’s no Asian garden here, Baroque there, water garden there, etc.
So, beds are needed.

Do you know granny squares from crocheting? The small squares that are round inside? You don’t like corners.

I would divide the garden into such squares. Formal, geometric and round inside.
Cost initially nothing.
For example
1. Water feature
2. Seating area
3. Orchard
4. Rose garden/flower garden/vegetable garden, whatever you want.

As a connection, I would create a meadow (which needs to be mowed twice a year) and keep the paths short with the lawnmower (cheap solution).
It works, we have no paved or otherwise fixed paths.

From the sightline house - field, you go for example only directly to the seating area, from there to the water feature.

Each area gets a different focal planting.
Plants preferably perennial, hardy, drought-tolerant. Final size should also be the maximum desired.

hm

In general, I still miss the concept.

I somehow also miss the basic elements of a garden.

Besides, I find seating areas reached by winding paths somehow more interesting and mysterious.

I would like several winding paths that lead to the round terraces, etc.

Paths are supposed to serve the purpose of somehow connecting elements like garden sheds, compost areas, third terraces or sun decks, carports, and useful plants. If you want, winding (that fits your ideas), but first I would rather plan the elements where they are suitable. The paths then emerge by not laying them out straight, but winding around bushes and trees so that the path itself is not visible in its entirety. That would be the meaning of "winding" for me. That is why I would rather start with the large elements like, for example, your three fruit trees or other bushes that first bring some structure.
Regarding the paths: precisely because of your age (you mentioned it yourself) and precisely because the most important element, the main terrace, is missing, I would aim for a somewhat straighter path layout. A fairy-tale garden can be quite tedious, labor-intensive, and impractical—especially when designed on a "small" plot. Then the winding path quickly becomes an overgrown trail where one constantly has to prune branches so as not to constantly carry morning dew and spider webs along.

That is intentional and is something I took from a thought by @ypg. I don’t want to look at a terrace and/or furniture but rather at greenery and flowers, especially when I’m inside.

I don’t know in which context that was. We have a roughly 40 sqm terrace where the furniture is not placed in front of the terrace window but rather along the house wall so that you can look through from inside to elements (main bed at the terrace, centered tree). Also, additional slanted seating furniture, which can be seen from inside or from other seating options, again gives the eye structure (flat in front, high at the back).

I have already expressed my opinion on compost but am happy to do so again. That thing is for a balcony, not for a garden.

Why would you need a composter on a balcony?
..
Before I start thinking about the type of composter here, I would simply plan an open space first. Many combine it with a small garden shed where the “junk corner” is behind it. For that, I was a bit attacked in another thread because some people think that everything belongs neatly inside the shed; I, on the other hand, also sometimes leave the wheelbarrow outside where my work tools for the next day are stored. But if you don’t even plan a shed, then somewhere a depot must be planned.

I want to open a separate thread for this or dock it onto an earlier thread.

No, better not. Just continue here. It is your garden thread anyway.

Suggestion:
In principle, I would start with your seating area inside the house: either the fountain in this visual axis or exactly centered from the middle window. Then to the left or right or both, a bench or two chairs so that the fountain can also be seen from outside. Compost could also go near the garbage bins, although I am currently wondering whether the space is even sufficient for your hedge snail. Your kitchen terrace would be quite close to the snail but could also be combined as a path right away. Personally, I would find it a hassle to circle garbage bins around, so maybe plan a direct street access?!
Then the fruit trees, which can also go to the south since they cannot block your sun: perhaps or for example in the rear third on the left side? Then you would have a terrace next to or near a fruit tree because shade providers are always welcome. Towards the field and around then perennial beds in your favorite colors.
I’m working in the garden now and taking your and my ideas with me (in my head). If you add a scale to your drawing and draw in indoor seating furniture, I will sketch my thoughts for you later.

One important point just came to mind: don't only think about the color of the flowers but also about the blooming times. The garden should look beautiful all summer long, not just for one month.

That's a pretty good tip. Do you have any concrete planting advice? Unfortunately, I (still) have no real knowledge of plants. But since I want a beautiful garden, that has to change :cool:

The question that just comes to mind: what are you DOING in the garden? What is it supposed to serve you for? You didn't mention that at all! And what I forgot to say: I have the feeling that you are focusing too much on the neighbors. Hedges and privacy screens result when you "work" on the house (or terrace) with the known lines of sight. I definitely miss views of the property areas with the house.