Beginner Gardening: Starting a new Garden from Scratch...ideas?, 1 by viqarqadir

viqarqadir wrote:
Hi everyone

I recently bought a house in Italy. I am currently planning to start a garden from scratch. Since some of you may already have gone through the process, your opinion and feedback about the choice of plants, the sequence of planting and any other ideas will be very welcome. Here's a little bit of background information about the location and climate.

It's in the Treviso city in the northern province of Veneto. Considering the location and the climate, it could be USDA zone 9a/9b. The winter temperature goes down to -12 centigrade for brief periods while the summer temperature can go up to past 40 centigrade for some weeks. The house is south facing with a front yard and a west facing side yard in an L shape. The soil is rich and clayey with good drainage and the water level is about one and a half meters below the surface. There's a river at the back about a hundred meters distant and a very small stream runs along the front of the property line so I think it would be a good place for weeping willows although the lot size (300 square meters) is not suitable for big trees.

The grand plan is to put one medium to big sized tree (8-12 m) and two small to medium sized trees(6-8 meters) in as soon as the ground is levelled and the lawn has been put in. Next come the Shrubs vines and then perennials and annuals.

I am thinking about covering the fence all along the property with vines. Since these vines need to provide privacy as well, I'm going for evergreens with some deciduous specimens weaved in. The perimeter fence length is about 90-95 meters. I am planning to plant the following at the front fence:

2 of Wistaria sinesis 'alba'
2 of Clematis Armandii 'apple blossom'
1 of Clematis 'Miss Bateman'
1 of Lonicera Japonica

Questions:
The total length of this fense is about 26 meters. These should be enough to cover it? What else can be planted here? The same questions about the side fences that are facing west. What kind of Vines can be planted there?

The trees:

I have decided on the following two:

Choinanthus Virginicus for mid spring/early summer interest
Magnolia Stellata for winter/early spring interest

Questions:
I am looking for suggestions on a big tree (preferably fast growing) to provide for autumn interest, shade and to make a centerpiece for the house from the distance. I have short listed Ginkgo Bilboa and some Variety of Liquidambar but any suggestions will be welcome.

This is my first post on this portal so please excuse anything out of keeping with the decorum here.

My first Early Spring blooms:



Best Regards

Viqar Qadir.