For some back story my wife and I bought this ex 1930's council house ~9 months ago and spent the summer doing the interior. Now that it is summer (and the inside is finished) i finally get to work on my garden
Being a novice at pretty much everything DIY prior to buying the house - i figured i would post progress as i go - partially to see where i went wrong in a few weeks time and partially because i want to show off the hard work (whatever the outcome).
I'll even through in some before and after shots of the house if i remember.
Now, the garden hadn't been touched for a good 15 years when we bought it - from the house the garden looked like it extended maybe 20feet from the house. It was badly over grown with trees, bushes and sofa's.
Prior to signing on the line i had already been to the council offices / Google and found the boundary so knew full well that a fair sized garden awaited me.
First weekend in the house i decided to see what i had bought (besides the sun was out so i needed an excuses for a BBQ in my new pad). I filled up on beer, got out the chainsaw, hired a petrol strimmer and set to work...
Much larger than i expected - the overgrown "stuff" extended from the fence posts you can see on the left across the garden and then down to the bomb shelter (yes, a bomb shelter) - the above picture was taken ~3 months after "trimming" most of the growth came from bramble and the green bush stumps you can see towards the back.
This is some of the stuff left after being cut - filled ~60% of the garden.
The bomb shelter was quite a surprise - the neighbor had told be that it existed when i went to view the property but i hadn't expected the size of it (roughly 3m by 2m) - just about big enough for a tool shed and a few bikes.
The roof on it leeks badly, the walls let damp in and the door is a new addition so i can store my tools somewhere other than the kitchen floor (wife stopped that little habit once i tiled the floor).
The plan is to cover the roof in Bitumen paint, exterior water sealant on the walls then run electric and possibly a water pipe down to it (reasons explained later).
General plan for the garden is;-
Replace the fencing in the far left (the one being held up by twine and snapped fence posts).
Cut the trees at the end down to a manageable height (~12 feet, picture is taken facing south so that end of the garden gets the sun all day)
decking area to the left of the bomb shelter all the way up to the (new) fence
Pond to the left of the garden this side of the decking (between the white chairs and the bushes)
Remove the above mentioned bushes and replace with more fencing.
Flatten Lawn using the pile of top soil (taken from digging up front driveway) and re-seed.
Use rest of the topsoil to form a veg patch (soil mixed with the ash from the fires - that's good fertilizer right?) veg patch will be where the pile of soil is atm.
Build compost bin next to veg patch.
The decking area will be the BBQ spot - it gets sun all day and the plan is to build a brick BBQ onto the side of the bomb shelter (hence electric lighting and sockets for music).
I'm also wanting to build a castle out of little ferns with a moat on the right hand side - pretty sure that wife has vetoed that idea - but when i get around to it I'll probably sneak it in when she's away for the weekend and hope she doesn't notice.
This weekend will be spend removing the rest of the junk, seeding the lawn, repairing the bomb shelter roof and digging the start of the pond.
Edit - i also have a vixen and four cubs living in my garden.
Being a novice at pretty much everything DIY prior to buying the house - i figured i would post progress as i go - partially to see where i went wrong in a few weeks time and partially because i want to show off the hard work (whatever the outcome).
I'll even through in some before and after shots of the house if i remember.
Now, the garden hadn't been touched for a good 15 years when we bought it - from the house the garden looked like it extended maybe 20feet from the house. It was badly over grown with trees, bushes and sofa's.
Prior to signing on the line i had already been to the council offices / Google and found the boundary so knew full well that a fair sized garden awaited me.
First weekend in the house i decided to see what i had bought (besides the sun was out so i needed an excuses for a BBQ in my new pad). I filled up on beer, got out the chainsaw, hired a petrol strimmer and set to work...
05/2010
After cutting and burning the bushes that ran from the left hand of the pic all the way to the...
Much larger than i expected - the overgrown "stuff" extended from the fence posts you can see on the left across the garden and then down to the bomb shelter (yes, a bomb shelter) - the above picture was taken ~3 months after "trimming" most of the growth came from bramble and the green bush stumps you can see towards the back.
This is some of the stuff left after being cut - filled ~60% of the garden.
03/2010
This is about 1/4 of the bushed that were cut down - most went to the local tip - the rest got...
The bomb shelter was quite a surprise - the neighbor had told be that it existed when i went to view the property but i hadn't expected the size of it (roughly 3m by 2m) - just about big enough for a tool shed and a few bikes.
The roof on it leeks badly, the walls let damp in and the door is a new addition so i can store my tools somewhere other than the kitchen floor (wife stopped that little habit once i tiled the floor).
The plan is to cover the roof in Bitumen paint, exterior water sealant on the walls then run electric and possibly a water pipe down to it (reasons explained later).
05/2010
First time the garden has seen a lawnmower in ~30 years.<br><br>Hopefully the green will come...
General plan for the garden is;-
Replace the fencing in the far left (the one being held up by twine and snapped fence posts).
Cut the trees at the end down to a manageable height (~12 feet, picture is taken facing south so that end of the garden gets the sun all day)
decking area to the left of the bomb shelter all the way up to the (new) fence
Pond to the left of the garden this side of the decking (between the white chairs and the bushes)
Remove the above mentioned bushes and replace with more fencing.
Flatten Lawn using the pile of top soil (taken from digging up front driveway) and re-seed.
Use rest of the topsoil to form a veg patch (soil mixed with the ash from the fires - that's good fertilizer right?) veg patch will be where the pile of soil is atm.
Build compost bin next to veg patch.
The decking area will be the BBQ spot - it gets sun all day and the plan is to build a brick BBQ onto the side of the bomb shelter (hence electric lighting and sockets for music).
I'm also wanting to build a castle out of little ferns with a moat on the right hand side - pretty sure that wife has vetoed that idea - but when i get around to it I'll probably sneak it in when she's away for the weekend and hope she doesn't notice.
This weekend will be spend removing the rest of the junk, seeding the lawn, repairing the bomb shelter roof and digging the start of the pond.
Edit - i also have a vixen and four cubs living in my garden.