Garden Nitemare!!!!

KTWILLS

My garden is a total nitemare, its quite steep and is overgrown with weeds, stingy nettles and brambles (how it was when we bought the house) and i cant let me children play there or dry my washing effectively. The other houses in my row (its a terraced house) all have stepped gardens because of how steep the incline is so i would need to keep inline with those i would think?? arrrggghhh!!! I dont know where to start with it tho i was hoping to find a garden makeover show to help but there doesnt seem to be many out there - anyone know anywhere i can apply? Or have any tips on where to start???

Thanks a lot x

Mankysteve

Got any piccies.

Rent a bush cutter and invest in a mattock.

KTWILLS

Thanks :-) I do yeah but for some reason i cant post attachments?? Not sure why, mind u i'm new to all this lol!

Kay_Peel

You have a rough idea of what you need to do because you have a 'template' from your neighbours' gardens. So, instead of thinking about Garden makeovers and landscape design, I think I'd be going for a cheaper option - a first class builder. Once the structure is right, you can plan your garden.

I've got one working for me as I'm writing to you!

I had investigated landscape companies and they were just too expensive. Their ideas were a bit too fancy for my budget and really my main concern was to get a safe, workable solution to some problem areas.

I found a good experienced builder and told him what I needed. He charges me 100 pounds a day and he's worth every penny. The work will take 5 days and all the sand, hardcore, gravel, cement etc will be extra. So far, I'm delighted with the results. But this is what a builder's good at - building landscapes and structures.

If you don't like the existing layout of your neighbours' garden then do a Google Image search for 'steep garden design' or something similar. It will give you hundreds of thousands of photos that may inspire you and give you some ideas.

Good luck!

KTWILLS

Thanks that really helps, i was thinking of the finished garden rather than like you say getting my structure right to work on the rest. I like the thought of it stepped and ive got an idea in my head of what i want it to look like lol its just getting there, but it doesnt seem so daunting now :-)

Optimisticpair

KTWILLS wrote: »

Thanks :-) I do yeah but for some reason i cant post attachments?? Not sure why, mind u i'm new to all this lol!

I've been here ages and only just found out... if you are using Enhanced Interface in your options in your User Control panel on here you need to upload your image to a place on the net like photobucket first which will give the piccie you uploaded there a url. When you post then click on add image a box appears asking for the url.

Not tried it yet but that's the instructions I got from a thread on here. I'll see if I can find the thread though for you.

Sorry I can't find the thread but just tried as above and it worked.

Kay_Peel

The other idea that I thought about may be a longshot. It depends on where you live and how bold you are.

Last year, I went to an exhibition of work by landscape design students at Manchester Metropolitan University. There were some pretty impressive projects - mostly based on reclaiming community spaces - but also featuring real life gardens had that had particular problems and challenges for them.

There are many colleges and Universities with students studying horticulture, design and gardening at various levels. Perhaps there's one near you? And perhaps it's just the kind of project that a student would be interested in?

As I say - it's a long shot and just a thought!