Do i need any special care if I want to remove the paving? Mortar is more or less gone so it should be easy I suppose, but do I need to do something if for example I want to put grass there? Other than putting grass seeds on the soil..
I don't think it will be too hard to take up the crazy paving. It's a particular garden style, but it's a bit pointless (IMO) to have paths which you will never use, especially given the fun you could have with the space. You'd need to improve the soil well after removing the slabs and mortar.
Then between them, you could grow some interesting grasses and ground-covers to provide contrasts in texture without requiring masses of work--things like Miscanthus sinensis 'Ferner Osten' or Anemanthele lessoniana, coupled with Bergenia 'Bressingham White' and Geranium 'Biokovo', for example, in large groups of each, or other plants that would associate well with your rose. Or else you could have lower-growing shrubs such as Hydrangea quercifolia, Potentilla fruticosa and rosemary; you could adapt your choice to suit your pocket and take advantage of plants that were on sale (street markets and the 'remainder' displays in large garden centres are very good ways to find things, btw). It should be easy to pop in bulbs around all of these, but I'd avoid going for anything too heavy-looking in favour of more sophisticated narcissi like 'Thalia' which will bulk up and flower for a long time, and small bulbs.
Thanks those are great suggestions!
Do I need to add any consideration to drainage etc? I am really a newbie on all these things, sorry if the question is silly. I suppose that given the fact there is already a lot of grass and the paving takes a small part, nothing needs to be done apart from adding some soil to fill out the space?
Funny thing is that Google maps has images of the front garden from way back (2008) is the latest. It was really different back then -- still had the paving but there was a lot of plants, not just bare grass, including shrubs around the conifer, etc.
I wonder what made the old lady who lived here remove all those.
I expect her relatives hooked them out to cut down on the maintenance.
I'm afraid if that was my front garden, I'd clear the lot, including the tree as it is likely just to get bigger and bigger. It adds nothing to the style of the garden as it is. There are far more attractive trees available now. Get rid of all the paving and then you have a blank canvas to work some magic on.
You actually have the makings of a formal partarre
I agree with @K67, I took one look at the pictures and fell in love! The bare bones are perfect for formal structure and that tree is too big and too isolated.
I like Italian based design so I would leave the hard landscaping, remove the tree, replace with a young cypress totem in the centre of each section and probably a stone structure like a fountain, water bowl or sundial in the centre to give the basic quincunx.
Keep the paving for the slightly aged/raggedy look but clean it up
Replicate the cypress/rose (cypress centre, four rose surrounding also quincunx) combination in all sections
Not sure there’s is much value in keeping the grass
I don't dislike the Italian based designs at all, but we prefer something else.
Probably I will start trying the following which is simple enough to undo in the future if we don't like (and simple enough that I can do myself).
Plant some shrubs/plants of various heights to give structure on the road side and on the left (driveway) side, nothing very tall. And then keep some grass on the rest, with curved edges separating it from the shrub/tree border. For the edging I can re-use most of the rocks that currently surround the tree, the grass patches, and there is some more at the end which cannot be seen in the photos. That will give it a look which is not radically different.
I expect her relatives hooked them out to cut down on the maintenance.
I'm afraid if that was my front garden, I'd clear the lot, including the tree as it is likely just to get bigger and bigger. It adds nothing to the style of the garden as it is. There are far more attractive trees available now. Get rid of all the paving and then you have a blank canvas to work some magic on.
Yes, definitely, she was getting very old (she passed away at 103 before the house was sold), so I suppose maintenance was the main issue.
For the tree, unfortunately my wife likes it too much. I like it as well and although I wouldn't mind a different one, this one is already grown so it's more instant
Another thing to consider is that this is all surrounded by a retaining wall, and the tree has been there for a long time, I think removing it can cause more issues than leaving it.
You shouldn't have to worry about drainage at all, but be aware that the fact this is essentially a raised bed means that it will sit quite dry in the summer. I don't know about you, but having to constantly mow/water/faff about with the front garden is a bit of a nuisance so I tend to think using self-sufficient plants in the front is a good idea. I'd gently discourage keeping a lawn in that area (unless you particularly love the mowing over lumps thing), but you can achieve the same restful look with ornamental grasses that won't need cutting and will produce silky flowerheads in late summer. The sun will come through them between your shrubs and it will look fantastic from indoors. The ones I mention above are quite tall, but you could also use shorter grasses of course--the only thing to watch out for is looking for varieties that will not just be flattened in the first heavy shower and never stand up again.
As to soil preparation, when you've taken out the mortar and paving, your best bet to give the plants a good start is to dig everything over well and dig in plenty of well-rotted organic matter. To keep costs down, you could see if your local council or a local stables can offer compost or manure. Then rake over until it's flat and you should be fine to plant. To help them get established, some blood, fish and bone and mycorrhizal fungi will help a lot. With the grasses, too, you can buy a few larger pots at this time of year and divide into several smaller rooted sections that you can plant a bit further apart to fill up the space quickly and inexpensively.
It looks as if your area has some reasonably well-supported 'walls' around it, but if you find weak spots then you might want to fix those when you remove the paving.
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I'm afraid if that was my front garden, I'd clear the lot, including the tree as it is likely just to get bigger and bigger. It adds nothing to the style of the garden as it is. There are far more attractive trees available now. Get rid of all the paving and then you have a blank canvas to work some magic on.
I like Italian based design so I would leave the hard landscaping, remove the tree, replace with a young cypress totem in the centre of each section and probably a stone structure like a fountain, water bowl or sundial in the centre to give the basic quincunx.
Keep the paving for the slightly aged/raggedy look but clean it up
Replicate the cypress/rose (cypress centre, four rose surrounding also quincunx) combination in all sections
Not sure there’s is much value in keeping the grass
good luck, it looks like fun!
As to soil preparation, when you've taken out the mortar and paving, your best bet to give the plants a good start is to dig everything over well and dig in plenty of well-rotted organic matter. To keep costs down, you could see if your local council or a local stables can offer compost or manure. Then rake over until it's flat and you should be fine to plant. To help them get established, some blood, fish and bone and mycorrhizal fungi will help a lot. With the grasses, too, you can buy a few larger pots at this time of year and divide into several smaller rooted sections that you can plant a bit further apart to fill up the space quickly and inexpensively.
It looks as if your area has some reasonably well-supported 'walls' around it, but if you find weak spots then you might want to fix those when you remove the paving.