Pocster Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Hey all, So at my 'luxury HMO' ? I haven't touched the rear garden. It's about 5m x 6m. What's the *cheapest* way to make this low maintenance and practical ?. Decking????. Had someone look and he wanted 5k (!!!!!) - he was going to remove lots of soil. Not for 5k you're not! So I want somewhere the tenants can sit out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 You could pave the half nearest the house and have a step or 2 up to decking at the back, where you could have a properly fixed rotary washing line. Dig out where you are paving and put that under where the deck will be. Consider keeping some borders / planting pits. A bit of effort on design will cost next to nothing and the finished garden will be much better. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 I would never have decking because of potential creatures living under it. If you didn't want grass I would consider having some paving up by the patio doors, and then pea gravel on the rest. Should just be a case of scraping off the top layer / get rid of the vegetation, put down some membrane and then laying gravel on top. You can plant some evergreen low maintenance plants within the gravel if you wanted to. As many or as few as you like, or you could have planters but that would require someone to water them in summer. I've had success with Hebe, dwarf conifers and the like by planting them in the gravel - you don't want anything growing big in that small area although something to cover that back wall etc might be good. A gravel garden isn't no maintenance however and someone would still need to pull out the weeds that self seed in the gravel. How do you actually get into the garden? Looks like an escape tunnel at the back left . Something like this (random grabs). Thought the last one was a good one as you could have a matching step to go with the kitchen diner . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Davies Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 What's the significance of the existing row (or two) of rocks at an angle across? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 54 minutes ago, newhome said: I would never have decking because of potential creatures living under it. If you didn't want grass I would consider having some paving up by the patio doors, and then pea gravel on the rest. Should just be a case of scraping off the top layer / get rid of the vegetation, put down some membrane and then laying gravel on top. You can plant some evergreen low maintenance plants within the gravel if you wanted to. As many or as few as you like, or you could have planters but that would require someone to water them in summer. I've had success with Hebe, dwarf conifers and the like by planting them in the gravel - you don't want anything growing big in that small area although something to cover that back wall etc might be good. A gravel garden isn't no maintenance however and someone would still need to pull out the weeds that self seed in the gravel. How do you actually get into the garden? Looks like an escape tunnel at the back left . Something like this (random grabs). Thought the last one was a good one as you could have a matching step to go with the kitchen diner . Yeah someone ;'attempted' to get in at the back. CCTV up now. You can access the garden from either the kitchen or patio doors off the lounge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 40 minutes ago, Ed Davies said: What's the significance of the existing row (or two) of rocks at an angle across? Erm, no significance. Probably been like that since I bought the house. Perhaps previously there was a raised flower bed or something.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Astroturf? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Looks like my lad's uni rental garden. Throw in some cracked manhole covers and it could be. Cheeky f***ers have in the lease the boys are supposed to keep it in good order! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 5 minutes ago, Onoff said: Astroturf? Pretty spendy to do properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 53 minutes ago, Onoff said: Astroturf? ££!£!£££!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 10 minutes ago, pocster said: ££!£!£££!! https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-garden-patio/3g-quality-astro-turf-20-25m2/1325250024 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 6 minutes ago, Onoff said: https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-garden-patio/3g-quality-astro-turf-20-25m2/1325250024 True manchester a bit far ; but take your point. what about swap shop ? ”walk on glazing will swap for Astro turf “ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Can you not sell Walk-on Glazing to an obtuse person who runs a theatre? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 A roll of black polythene, a few tonnes of pink pea gravel, a shovel and barrow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 15 hours ago, Declan52 said: A roll of black polythene, a few tonnes of pink pea gravel, a shovel and barrow. Yeah; that's about as simple as you can get. One thing I do find is that the gravel can get stuck in the soles of your shoe's and then scratch my nice laminated floors ( yeah I know they'll scratch them anyway! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 12 minutes ago, pocster said: Yeah; that's about as simple as you can get. One thing I do find is that the gravel can get stuck in the soles of your shoe's and then scratch my nice laminated floors ( yeah I know they'll scratch them anyway! ) A mat at the door to wipe your feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 28 minutes ago, Declan52 said: A mat at the door to wipe your feet. Yeah for you and me. Rented property .......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 1 hour ago, pocster said: One thing I do find is that the gravel can get stuck in the soles of your shoe's and then scratch my nice laminated floors They’ll do that anyway with stilettos ? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weebles Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 We rented our old house out for 18 months before we sold it to fund this self build. We laid a load of bark chippings onto a membrane at the rear of the garden. No stones coming into the house.... The tenants did sweet nothing to the garden in 18 months so was a bit overgrown by the time they moved out. But it did prove to be low maintenance ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 1 hour ago, pocster said: Yeah for you and me. Rented property .......... Have a small patio area made with the cheapest slabs you can get. 3*2 concrete slabs X 10 will give you a decent size area. Then stone/bark the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now