Hello Kate,

I would plant along the fence if it were my property, but the species selection will need a bit of care in context with your climate region and the available light, particularly in winter.

Pebble mulch might worth considering instead of bark. Pebble blends come in a range of colours that can compliment the building colour scheme and will be less prone to blowing or washing away in heavy weather.

It might be possible to allocate a portion for a kitchen garden, maybe outside the laundry door, with some fresh herbs to have on hand.

You will need to do a fair bit of soil preparation too by the looks. To keep the soil health over the long term, particularly for a kitchen garden, here is a clever low-cost DIY composting solution that is ideal for confined spaces:

This is a plastic bucket with the bottom cut off buried about two thirds into the soil. The cap is a ceramic plate from the op-shop.

Kitchen scraps go into the top and because the bottom is in contact with the soil it doesn't take long for the composting to happen. The plate keeps vermin from raiding the contents.

Two or three of these will take most family kitchen scraps. Performance may vary in colder climates.

Looking forward to hearing what you decide to do. Have some fun!

Hi Kate, Our advise for this area would be to make sure you place rich garden soil to begin with, also because of the narrow garden bed there is a few options for plants you could use I can suggest, they will also depend on whether this area gets any sun or not.

But here are a few low maintenance plant suggestions:

• Bamboo
• Mother In Laws Tongue
• Silver Lady Fern
• Lady Palm

Photo: Mother In Laws Tongue

Hi Kate, I would consider a Chinese Star Jasmine creeper along the fence line supported by Reo mesh. Would look lovely.

Fantastic idea for compost James, luv it might steal your idea.

Hi Kate,
A simple structure would look wonderful , I would only plant one side and use a pebble mulch, add good soil and a watering system making it easier to maintain .