I agree, but would say £150 - £200 per day and would guess that the work might take two men one week. That’s perhaps £2000 in labour costs. Add to it the cost of raw materials, a digger, skip hire, turf, plants, VAT and you have soon reached £5000. With luck there might be change to buy a new set of garden furniture but even that can easily reach £500.
For the higher price you could probably get a water feature, maybe a pergola and classier paving rather than the ubiquitous Bradstone. You might want to consider the option of taking electricity to the end of the garden as well.
Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket, you’ve got me dreaming of a beautiful new layout now!
I disagree entirely about the brick beds.. beg borrow or steal a jet washer and spend the day REALLY cleaning them and any paving around them. Even you can manage that... ;-) Then take the top six inches of old soil out and check the drainage is good through what is left and replace it with good compost.. ( you can chuck the old stuff up the garden ) that will give you a great start and something to plant up while you think about what to do with the rest. You can spend almost any amount on "landscapers" If the patio is really uneven and past it then hire a local builder to relay the slabs. there are thousands of designs all over for the size of garden you have. I think you are half way there.
I have topped up the beds with good compost, and the plants that go in seem to do well, I had tulips in early spring, one is my profile picture. The soil level never stays up though, after a few weeks there’s always about 6 inches of brick showing on the inside! I suppose it’s gravity plus rain!
I disagree entirely about the brick beds.. beg borrow or steal a jet washer and spend the day REALLY cleaning them and any paving around them. Even you can manage that... ;-) Then take the top six inches of old soil out and check the drainage is good through what is left and replace it with good compost.. ( you can chuck the old stuff up the garden ) that will give you a great start and something to plant up while you think about what to do with the rest. You can spend almost any amount on "landscapers" If the patio is really uneven and past it then hire a local builder to relay the slabs. there are thousands of designs all over for the size of garden you have. I think you are half way there.
I have topped up the beds with good compost, and the plants that go in seem to do well, I had tulips in early spring, one is my profile picture. The soil level never stays up though, after a few weeks there’s always about 6 inches of brick showing on the inside! I suppose it’s gravity plus rain!
yes my raised beds do that too.. just add more compost and put in even more plants! what ever you decide to do remember its the plants that are expensive for fully mature examples. Height seems to be expensive but necessary so shop around. I just bought a cloud pruned tree at Homebase for 40 quid. I see you have a greenhouse so maybe have a go at propagating more of what you would need? I would really cut back those large shrubs to revitalise them. Clematis will take a year or two to get established but could romp away to cover the walls and fences I am quite excited for you!
I can't really see whether the patio slabs are badly damaged or just overgrown. If the latter, a cheap alternative (maybe while you save up for what you'd really like) could be to clear the grass and weeds out of the patio area and go over it with a pressure washer.
Hi Jenny, they aren’t terrible but are quite uneven in places, and there’s a change of level/material down to the concrete that used to have a shed on.
I also have have the dreaded mare’s tail, in abundance, especially coming up through the cracks. The brown stuff all over the patio is what i’ve killed in the last few weeks. Next year i’m going chemical free and i’ll try to pull up the first shoots as soon as possible.
Oh dear. If you want your contractors to (try to) get rid of the marestail, or make the foundations thick enough to discourage it from coming up between new paving (if that's even possible), make sure you ask them to include that in the quote. It would be a shame to have all that work done and then have marestail coming up all through it.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I disagree entirely about the brick beds.. beg borrow or steal a jet washer and spend the day REALLY cleaning them and any paving around them. Even you can manage that... ;-) Then take the top six inches of old soil out and check the drainage is good through what is left and replace it with good compost.. ( you can chuck the old stuff up the garden ) that will give you a great start and something to plant up while you think about what to do with the rest. You can spend almost any amount on "landscapers" If the patio is really uneven and past it then hire a local builder to relay the slabs. there are thousands of designs all over for the size of garden you have. I think you are half way there.
I have topped up the beds with good compost, and the plants that go in seem to do well, I had tulips in early spring, one is my profile picture. The soil level never stays up though, after a few weeks there’s always about 6 inches of brick showing on the inside! I suppose it’s gravity plus rain!
yes my raised beds do that too.. just add more compost and put in even more plants! what ever you decide to do remember its the plants that are expensive for fully mature examples. Height seems to be expensive but necessary so shop around. I just bought a cloud pruned tree at Homebase for 40 quid. I see you have a greenhouse so maybe have a go at propagating more of what you would need? I would really cut back those large shrubs to revitalise them. Clematis will take a year or two to get established but could romp away to cover the walls and fences I am quite excited for you!
The greenhouse is next doors sadly!
i’ve just Bought some Clematis to climb the trellises i’ve Put on the garage walls, hopefully they’ll hide the ugly brick! I really want to knock the garage down and have more garden but it’s a brick built detached garage, it would knock a lot off the house value sadly.
The Camellias can’t be cut back at the moment as there are blackbirds nesting in them, which is lovely actually, I see dad popping in and out for takeaways! I’m going to buy a hedge trimmer and do them in September I think.
Donyou keep adding compost to your beds even after putting plants in? Do the plants cope ok?
I can't really see whether the patio slabs are badly damaged or just overgrown. If the latter, a cheap alternative (maybe while you save up for what you'd really like) could be to clear the grass and weeds out of the patio area and go over it with a pressure washer.
Hi Jenny, they aren’t terrible but are quite uneven in places, and there’s a change of level/material down to the concrete that used to have a shed on.
I also have have the dreaded mare’s tail, in abundance, especially coming up through the cracks. The brown stuff all over the patio is what i’ve killed in the last few weeks. Next year i’m going chemical free and i’ll try to pull up the first shoots as soon as possible.
Oh dear. If you want your contractors to (try to) get rid of the marestail, or make the foundations thick enough to discourage it from coming up between new paving (if that's even possible), make sure you ask them to include that in the quote. It would be a shame to have all that work done and then have marestail coming up all through it.
Its a nightmare, I didn’t know how bad it was the first summer so I pulled it up and put it in the compost bin, a year later I realised what i’d Done and that the whole binful would have to be thrown away!
i’m trying To have a zen like approach to it and not letting it upset me!
You have the bare bones of a nice garden. The cheapest option is to work with what you have and turn it into what you want. I guess you don't have much of a budget so here are my (cheap) suggestions for the short term: 1. Tidy it all up. Prune back any overgrown shrubs, get rid of all weeds - if you need to use weedkiller, so be it. Any weeds in the paving areas - ie non planting areas, use something like Pathclear which will effectively kill the soil and prevent more weeds coming through. 2. Invest in a pressure washer and clean all the old slabs, paths, concrete area. 3. Get rid of the washing line and invest in a whirly (rotary) clothes drier and install it on the concrete bit behind the garage. You can put some pots there to tart it up a bit. Or even cover it in artificial turf if you can't stand the sight of it. 4. Reshape the lawn so it is a bit more interesting - a curvy deep border next to the left hand fence perhaps. 5. Keep the grass cut regularly - reseed any bare patches and fill in any hollows. 6. Plant some trailing plants in the brick planters to soften the edges. All of the above you can do yourself and will cost hardly anything. ~£100 and you can do it all in a weekend.
Now for the landscapers: 1. Get them to relay your existing patio slabs and deal with the level change. 2. Personally I would lift the path to the right and do a curved path through the grass which will be more interesting but that could be done with reusing the old slabs. That would also give you an opportunity to have a planting bed at the RHS.
Landscaping costs for the above if reusing existing slabs - 2 men for 2 days at £200 each = £800. + small amount for materials (sharp sand to relay slabs etc - say £50). Depending where you are in the UK. Look for small local companies - even a jobbing gardener could do the above and be much cheaper. Ask at your local garden centre for recommendations or your neighbours.
Longer term plan could be at some time to lift the concrete at the back of the garage - or you may even want to put a small greenhouse on it in the future if you really catch the gardening bug. And perhaps when money allows, to replace your existing slabs with something prettier.
'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
Unless you want to lose all the flowers for next year I wouldn't be cutting / trimming the camellia at all in September, prune as soon as its finished flowering obviously it not be appropriate this year.
Unless you want to lose all the flowers for next year I wouldn't be cutting / trimming the camellia at all in September, prune as soon as its finished flowering obviously it not be appropriate this year.
Oh really?
I might end up trapped never being able to prune it if the birds come back while it’s still flowering next year?
Well it up to you you can prune it but like a said you are going to be cutting off nearly all of the flowers off which start forming during the summer months.
Posts
Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket, you’ve got me dreaming of a beautiful new layout now!
I have topped up the beds with good compost, and the plants that go in seem to do well, I had tulips in early spring, one is my profile picture. The soil level never stays up though, after a few weeks there’s always about 6 inches of brick showing on the inside! I suppose it’s gravity plus rain!
The greenhouse is next doors sadly!
i’ve just Bought some Clematis to climb the trellises i’ve Put on the garage walls, hopefully they’ll hide the ugly brick! I really want to knock the garage down and have more garden but it’s a brick built detached garage, it would knock a lot off the house value sadly.
The Camellias can’t be cut back at the moment as there are blackbirds nesting in them, which is lovely actually, I see dad popping in and out for takeaways! I’m going to buy a hedge trimmer and do them in September I think.
Donyou keep adding compost to your beds even after putting plants in? Do the plants cope ok?
Its a nightmare, I didn’t know how bad it was the first summer so I pulled it up and put it in the compost bin, a year later I realised what i’d Done and that the whole binful would have to be thrown away!
i’m trying To have a zen like approach to it and not letting it upset me!
1. Tidy it all up. Prune back any overgrown shrubs, get rid of all weeds - if you need to use weedkiller, so be it. Any weeds in the paving areas - ie non planting areas, use something like Pathclear which will effectively kill the soil and prevent more weeds coming through.
2. Invest in a pressure washer and clean all the old slabs, paths, concrete area.
3. Get rid of the washing line and invest in a whirly (rotary) clothes drier and install it on the concrete bit behind the garage. You can put some pots there to tart it up a bit. Or even cover it in artificial turf if you can't stand the sight of it.
4. Reshape the lawn so it is a bit more interesting - a curvy deep border next to the left hand fence perhaps.
5. Keep the grass cut regularly - reseed any bare patches and fill in any hollows.
6. Plant some trailing plants in the brick planters to soften the edges.
All of the above you can do yourself and will cost hardly anything. ~£100 and you can do it all in a weekend.
Now for the landscapers:
1. Get them to relay your existing patio slabs and deal with the level change.
2. Personally I would lift the path to the right and do a curved path through the grass which will be more interesting but that could be done with reusing the old slabs. That would also give you an opportunity to have a planting bed at the RHS.
Landscaping costs for the above if reusing existing slabs - 2 men for 2 days at £200 each = £800. + small amount for materials (sharp sand to relay slabs etc - say £50). Depending where you are in the UK. Look for small local companies - even a jobbing gardener could do the above and be much cheaper. Ask at your local garden centre for recommendations or your neighbours.
Longer term plan could be at some time to lift the concrete at the back of the garage - or you may even want to put a small greenhouse on it in the future if you really catch the gardening bug. And perhaps when money allows, to replace your existing slabs with something prettier.
Oh really?
I might end up trapped never being able to prune it if the birds come back while it’s still flowering next year?