I liked both of the big garden designs this time (I preferred the one they didn't choose though), but not the small one. It looked to me as if it would be too much like being in a wooden box, but it's probably practical for people with two small children who most likely don't have a lot of time to look after it.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I couldn't believe that the people with the small garden ignored it for 3 whole years. It wouldn't have taken much to take up the old decking and have it replaced. I liked both of the big designs but couldn't see where that massive budget went.
6 years @Lizzie27!! I have friends who live in Ealing and know how small and over-looked those Victorian and Edwardian terraced gardens can be so that was a good solution altho I couldn't see where they'd keep the mower for that patch of grass. Scissors?
I really disliked the garden the big budget couple chose. Huge amounts of water depending on a well-maintained filtering and pumping system and just asking for blanket weed and duck weed and all sorts of other horrors. Didn't like the paths or the scrappy bits of wild meadow and who needs two fires in a garden that size?
Much preferred the other design which, I think, would be easier to use, care for and grow old with. It combined elegance with utility and plenty of options for nurturing and watching wildlife too.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I much preferred the other design too. I thought the one they chose looked a mess, ugly impractical paths and goodness knows where the £66,000 went, especially as all the big trees were only £5000.
I don't know how the small budget people lived with that garden for so long. Couldn't they have tidied it up at least?
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
The water feature - all that digging out, hiding pipes for the water and electricity to pump it from bottom to top again, the lining and loads of stone and gravel to hide it and those huge rocks all over the place.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
It would be interesting to have a programme revisiting these instant gardens after 1, 5 or 10 years. Might be of more use to those considering undergoing similar transformations as well.
I couldn't believe that the people with the small garden ignored it for 3 whole years. It wouldn't have taken much to take up the old decking and have it replaced. I liked both of the big designs but couldn't see where that massive budget went.
I couldn't believe they had children who they had never taken outside, choosing instead to keep the curtains shut, literally keeping the kids in the dark about the existence of the garden.
I don't think they actually said they never took the children outside, just not in the garden (which looked pretty hazardous for little ones). It's easy to say how could they leave it like that, but who are we to judge other people's lives? For all we know they could have full-on jobs and ageing parents or grandparents to look after as well as the children. And something in such a bad state can be intimidating if you don't know where to start and have other things to worry about.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I liked both designs, but i was very disappointed with the look of the winning one. What happened to the large pond? I thought it all looked a bit of a mess.
Ive only just got to watching this weeks episode due to life and I must say I was rather impressed with the finished design along with the fact that they also came under budget.
I would have put the cladding on the wall for sure though to give it that extra ooomph
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I liked both of the big designs but couldn't see where that massive budget went.
I really disliked the garden the big budget couple chose. Huge amounts of water depending on a well-maintained filtering and pumping system and just asking for blanket weed and duck weed and all sorts of other horrors. Didn't like the paths or the scrappy bits of wild meadow and who needs two fires in a garden that size?
Much preferred the other design which, I think, would be easier to use, care for and grow old with. It combined elegance with utility and plenty of options for nurturing and watching wildlife too.
I don't know how the small budget people lived with that garden for so long. Couldn't they have tidied it up at least?
I would have put the cladding on the wall for sure though to give it that extra ooomph