My Garden Project

rhysduck

rhysduck

rhysduck

Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2009
Posts
6,704
Location
Caerphilly
Whilst not at the scale of some of the gardens on here I thought I'd make a little thread on the most major project going on in the house at the moment. The Garden!

For a while now it's not been what we wanted. The decking was ok, but then started to rot and fall apart due in part to whoever put it down had used numerous bricks, wood and even carpet to level it all off and a large part of it wasn't treated so has rotted. It's never been nice to walk on and the little un needs something she can safely play on in the summer. Patio is going down in its place, hopefully within the next 2 weeks.

This was the state of the patio/decking area before I started ripping everything up.
IMG-20190308-134434.jpg

Pictures during the big rip up:
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And this is where I'm at now (after numerous car loads to the tip from removing a ton of crap underneath the decking):

img-20190408-175828.jpg

More pics:
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img-20190408-175847.jpg

Will be taking the current slabs up that you can see in the last picture as I want the new patio to be level with the drive and not have a lip. Also if the new patio was laid on top of the current slabs then it would come rather close to the DPC of the house.

That takes us onto the bottom area of the garden...

This is was sometime ago looking like this...
IMAG0119.jpg

And it now looks like this after removing all of the shrubs/trees
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and this is how it looks currently after removing the middle wall separating the two tiers and a whole load of earth...
IMG-20190407-190457.jpg


I THINK we may patio this area in the same stone as the main patio area... But we may deck this area... Thoughts?

Before that happens I've still got another layer of brick (the white line in the last photo above) to remove and then the earth to level it all off..

My reasoning behind this is to have the area (assuming we patio it) slightly lower than what it has been. This area is going to have rattan seating with the pizza oven and bbq there for foods.

Also going to have a fire pit of sorts there too.

So that takes us up to current progress...

One thing we haven't decided on is what to do with the unturfed/earthy area on the bottom right of the lawn... I was thinking of decking this small area so the BBQ and Pizza Oven can live there and then the main area at the bottom used for seating...

Still to do (Will be updated):
  • Remove existing concrete slabs
  • Remove trellis from garage wall
  • Decide on decking or patio for bottom area
  • Decide on what to do for the little unturfed area on bottom right of lawn
  • Build up small retaining wall on bottom right of lawn.
  • Replace bottom two fence panels.
  • Paint all fence panels.
  • Replace gate to drive.
  • Make new step into garage.
  • Paint garage door.

Thoughts and ideas most welcome :)
 
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For me, decking of any sort should always be a fall back option when you can’t afford to do it properly and use something more substantial such as paving etc. Decking has a shelf life and unless it’s treated and looked after several times a year it will inevitably fall to pieces and look pants.

Similarly, a pizza oven, fire pit and bbq area is perhaps a little over the top given the size of the garden.

A space to BBQ certainly but don’t spend a fortune on a properly built pizza oven when you may use it twice a year - the idea may sound great but unless you are Jamie Oliver and have half an acre, dont bother.

It’s important to ‘zone’ a garden but try and make sure those zones are accessible, require minimal maintenance and look smart - with a little one, do not underestimate the importance of space for her to run about on - I.e. lawn
 
Semple said:
Progress looking good! Hopefully you've got some nicer weather upcoming to continue.
Click to expand...
Hopefully but it's look a wash out this weekend :(
fastwunz said:
For me, decking of any sort should always be a fall back option when you can’t afford to do it properly and use something more substantial such as paving etc. Decking has a shelf life and unless it’s treated and looked after several times a year it will inevitably fall to pieces and look pants.

Similarly, a pizza oven, fire pit and bbq area is perhaps a little over the top given the size of the garden.

A space to BBQ certainly but don’t spend a fortune on a properly built pizza oven when you may use it twice a year - the idea may sound great but unless you are Jamie Oliver and have half an acre, dont bother.

It’s important to ‘zone’ a garden but try and make sure those zones are accessible, require minimal maintenance and look smart - with a little one, do not underestimate the importance of space for her to run about on - I.e. lawn
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. After a chat tonight we think it's going to be patio'd.

I already have 2 pizza ovens (1 still boxed from last year) of which we use quite regularly in conjunction with the BBQ. I'd love the room for a purpose built pizza oven though!
 
rhysduck said:
Hopefully but it's look a wash out this weekend :(


Thanks for the input. After a chat tonight we think it's going to be patio'd.

I already have 2 pizza ovens (1 still boxed from last year) of which we use quite regularly in conjunction with the BBQ. I'd love the room for a purpose built pizza oven though!
Click to expand...

Oh I see! I had visions of a brick one with a chimney!
 
Some progress.. actually a fair bit of progress since my last update.

Removed the existing concrete slabs from near the house weekend before last. Most came up fairly easy with a bolster chisel and lump hammer. Some were proper stuck though! They'd been laid on a bed of concrete.

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Then Travis Perkins messed the order up middle of last week so builder had to delay until this week. He started Monday morning and has made good progress the last two days.

This is as of yesterday evening...

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Stones are "Calibrated Indian Sandstone" in the Lakeland colour. Page 44 of the Travis Perkins brochure.

They're 900x600 slabs

https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Natural-Paving-Classicstone-Lakeland-Paving-Slab/p/9000197493
 
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lovely slab, but they are around £20 per slab for 900x600. How much did all that set you back ?

The progress to date, is lovely. So many options with that garden and levels you could work with.
 
Finished! At least the top part of the garden is!

I'm impressed and pleased with how it's turned out. Glad we went for the better slabs.





kai said:
lovely slab, but they are around £20 per slab for 900x600. How much did all that set you back ?

The progress to date, is lovely. So many options with that garden and levels you could work with.
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Thanks. Can I ask, what would you do with the rest of the garden?
I'm thinking of slabbing the bottom area (flat) as well (as I have a few left over too)

Slabs alone came in around £1000. All in was £2200. (5 tubs of grout!!)
 
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rhysduck said:
Can I ask, what would you do with the rest of the garden?
I'm thinking of slabbing the bottom area (flat) as well (as I have a few left over too)
Click to expand...

For me you have a blank canvas. Personally, i would look at raised beds or sleeper work. Look at building down from a tiered approach. Couple of ton of compost, timber frames then maybe a feature such as a monolith.

stuff like this: http://www.contemporist.com/13-mult...-you-inspired-for-a-summer-backyard-makeover/
 
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