Hi, Looking for a bit of landscaping advice. I have a fairly boring lawn at the minute (see images), which is very sodden and unusable at this time of year, especially from the midway point to the back of the garden. I want to keep some lawn but also do something nice in the borders and to the rear. Trimming that Ivy right back (rooted on the neighbours side) and putting up some trellis etc as in the other image. I am thinking a nice randomly shaped lawn with a gravel path around it (see AI images) . If I dig the path down deep enough and back fill with hardcore, could it act as a kind of soak-away and thus help keep the lawn a bit drier in the colder months? Would you think this is all doable by hand? I can't afford a landscaper as they charge such ridiculous amounts. Anyway appreciate advice and thoughts. Thank you. P.S it is a South facing garden, if that makes any difference.
That looks doable @Beatts if you are confident about laying those neat block edges. I couldn’t do it! Whether this solves the drainage problem is uncertain without knowing more about your soil, ie whether it’s clay, loam or sandy and whether there’s a reasonable depth of soil below the turf with no barriers like stones or rubble. If the goal posts are to remain, the design may make playing football difficult, especially with loose gravel which will travel. A randomly shaped lawn can also be more laborious to mow and edge, so bear that in mind. Once the drainage issue is clearer and resolved, a simple rectangular lawn for playing on with larger borders for planting is what I would suggest.
I agree with @Plantminded about the possible drainage situation. Also the shape of the lawn looks good but is it practical if you have children? Most of my lawns have curves in them as they look better on the eye but take longer to maintain although that area shouldn't add too much time to it. If you do decide on that shape then it would be better to have the lawn marginally higher than the brick border so you can run the mower over it.
