Robajobs work in progress!

I've a reasonable sized tidy garden but over the years bringing up kids (and other expensive and time consuming passtimes) it had got into a state of neglect. Conifers lined both sides of the garden at the back aswell as three at the back fence. A total of 17 most of which were over 15' tall and some over 25' Four more at the front, a grand total of 21. Quotes I had to cut them down and dispose of them were between £1800/£2500......I bought a chainsaw and some ladders!

This was, if you like 'phase one' and by far the most challenging not least because the local authority wouldn't let me dispose of the wood in bulk even though it's classed as non-commercial waste. I had to do it in stages basically a bit at a time and take it to the garden tip in the back of my mondeo hatchback! Not idea but it saved me a lot of money!

I don't have any pictures of the garden full of conifers but i guess you can imagine! Second phase was to extend the patio area and build a small retaining wall because the back garden slopes fairly steeply.

The first picture is of the patio construction. The fence in the background and the bare soil shows where the conifers were cleared. Photo taken winter 2010


After that was finished I built a lean to to grow climbers and add a bit of shade.



This shot was taken a few days ago. Honeysuckle, clematis and Jasmine grow up it.





Last year:
The bare soil you see in the first two shots now have plants!! The greenhouse at the back was bought off good old ebay and I stuck it at the back where an old shed stood.
Last year:
Looking out from the patio windows. On the left where 7 conifers were I planted Lupin, Verbascum, Russian sage, Snapdragon, Geranium and Nemesia. All grown from seed or cuttings.




This next shot shows another retaining wall halfway up the sloping lawn to make a level area. The patio area at the bottom doesn't get sun until the afternoon so the idea was to move the patio stuff there, where it gets sun most of the day. If it ever stops raining and we actually get some sun this year!!
The bottom left of this picture where the acer is in a big pot. This area is going to be a pond. But that is an overwinter job this year. Give me time too to save some money for materials!

 

I think I've run out of space on that page, more to follow lol

 

Wow what a vast improvement, it look really good.

Rusty

 

i am loving your pictures and looking forward to seeing more i really need to sort my garden out now

 

Robajobs, you wouldn't think it was the same garden, you've done a great job transforming it.

 

Looks great, very neat and tidy

 

Thank you Sheal. One of the downsides now is that it lacks mature tall shrubs. The fences look awful but they're not mine. I have some deciduous Azelea and Camilia that i'm growing on in big pots that should hide them but they're not quite big enough yet.

 

Unfortunately gardening is a game of patience and time Robajobs, frustrating though it is.

 

Another job that needed doing were the Privet Hedge at the front which was getting to big and taking too long to cut. It needed to be pruned by half so I left it to do in the winter
Easier than I thought. Hardest part was to cut it level so using a string line helped.




Lots of hedge to get rid of!



With hard pruning I wondered wheather it would grow ok and but although not perfect it grew better than I imagined.



The hedge seems nicely compact now


Hope this helps anyone that has fears about hard pruning Privets!

 

Lawns

In the first two pics you can see the stump of a mega conifer, The conifer was maybe not as high as some that were cut down but it was a type of conifer that grew wide. The lawn beneath it was none existent and the grass around it were full of moss. Late summer I began work raking out the moss and weeding. There was hardly any grass left so was in two minds whether to returf it. In the end I chose probably the easiest option and seeded it.




After a few weeks (helped by the daily rain) it finally began to take shape.


This 3rd pic shows the lawn with it's 1st cut in the Spring of last year. Yes, I know i need a 'proper' mower lol

 

lovely!!!

whatdyamean a proper lawnmower???? same as mine that

 

I had that lawn mower ! I agree, AWFULL !

I binned it and got a petrol one

 

you should of seen what i was using before:-

 

Perhaps they should get together. They may produce little hovers...

 

The garden's coming on well Robajobs and what a difference pruning the hedge has made.