Looking for ideas and suggestions please !!!!

[craighutchins1983]

Hi all, hope you can help,
I have for the past week or so been clearing my garden that i have not touched since moving into my house, 3years, 3 skips and a wasp nest later (ouch, stung twice!) i have finally got it in a reasonable state, i have cleared the grass roots, brambles and tree roots and rotorvated it three times and raked it over to get to this stage.
sorry about the junk (no room in the skip lol)
i was thinking of trying to get it a bit more level with a larger rake as i only have a small one, and plant some grass seed and see how i get on until i get some ideas.
i was also thinking of decking from the back door out to just past the drain cover shown in pic as the ground is on a couple of levels with the blue bricked path into the alleyway at the side of my house, not sure how much this will cost in materials though.
i am here to get some ideas so please feel free to comment, thankyou in advance for your time.

Craig (with a sore back)

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 29 May 2009
• 2

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 29 May 2009
• 2

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 29 May 2009
• 2

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 10 Sep 2009
• 1

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 10 Sep 2009
• 1

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 10 Sep 2009
• 1

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 10 Sep 2009
• 1

 

[ColJack]

suggestions..

block pave out just past the manhole cover and replace it with one that you can put the blocks in.. this saves you having a manhole in the lawn...

as I see a telegraph pole behind the wall.. is that a public road back there?
you could create a parking area at the far end of the garden for your car.. or maybe even a garage?

 

[Thermo]

not bad going.

depends what you want from the garden

low maintenance

childrens playing

animals

somewhere to sit/drink/bbq

privacy

planting

etc etc

 

[craighutchins1983]

Thanks for your responses, have edited my post sorry
firstly yes that is a public road and have previously thought about having a parking area at back there, i am looking for a seating area for bbq etc and good for kids so no ponds for us lol

 

[Thermo]

if its kids then as big a lawn as possible. its the safest and best utility covering for a garden. I agree with ColJack about teh manhole. Bring a deck or patio out to just past the manhole for a seating area and hard surface that can be used in winter. Dependent where the sun is you could also look to put one at the far end. raised beds to the side are easy to maintain and also provide inmprotu seating as well as helping to break up the garden and keeping the kids off of the plants.

have a good look on some websites such as the bbc to get some ideas as well

 

[craighutchins1983]

regarding the raised beds at sides, how would i go about that ? thanks

 

[Thermo]

they can be done easily with sleepers (not reclaimed ones, they stink, leak creosote and shouldnt be used where children can come into contact with them.) They can be simply laid out to the height needed, brickwork fashion and screwed together, with wooden posts to the rear for support. A bit like big wooden bricks.

heres some we did earlier to give you an idea

Untitled

• Thermo
• 17 Jun 2008
• 3

Untitled

• Thermo
• 17 Jun 2008
• 3

 

[lahauteur]

If you do put a deck that covers the manhole make the trapdoor to access it really large, that way it won't be so noticeable.

 

[Thermo]

or do it the size of the manhole cover and do it properly so it wont notice like this one

Untitled

• Thermo
• 3 Aug 2008
• 3

or this one

Untitled

• Thermo
• 3 Aug 2008
• 3

find it if you can on the last photo!

 

[jackfoley]

heres some we did earlier to give you an idea
quote]

those look brilliant thermo.

how much did materials cost for that? what sieze timber did you use and what did you treat it with?
thanks

 

[craighutchins1983]

cheers thermo, saving my pennies now for materials for decking, what would you suggest about decking over the concrete area was thinking just digging foundations for posts and supports what you think ? dont really fancy digging it all up

Sorry about the very poor drawing but this is a very vague idea of how far out i would like to come with the decking, any suggestions very welcome

Untitled

• craighutchins1983
• 13 Sep 2009
• 1

 

[ColJack]

2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x"whatever size you need" direct on the concrete.
pressure treated of course..
stand on plastic shims to keep them off the floor and for leveling if you want...

cheaper option.. edging stones set at the lawn end and fill it with slate / stone chips....

another option.. slab it..

 

[Thermo]

the top picture is built over a concrete slab. Because of the depth of the door etc we used 4 x 2 for the framing, but it means more supports. We will always use 6 x 2 if we can. As col jack says, the supports can bear straight onto the concrete. We normally build the outside frame then the joists across. Then we put the blocks in and lift the farme up to the height and level. the trick is to have it a few mm higher so that its weight pushes the legs down onto the concrete firmly so that there is no bounce.