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Not sure what to do with this muddy area in garden..
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24-04-2015 11:20pm#1Hi guys.
I'll preface this by saying I'm not great with DIY, but I'm willing to make an effort.
Pretty much, the back garden of the house has been neglected for years. It's been, essentially, a 'city dump' of sorts. It was disgusting.
Anyway, after a good effort today, the vast majority of the garden has been cleaned up, and looks a lot better. We hired a skip, and three of us got stuck in for the day.
I want to improve the garden in general. But I'm trying to tackle it 'one thing at a time'.
Here's a photo of a section of the garden, after our clean up today.
Effectively, the muck there has been there years. It's been there since the shed to the right was built. It was supposed to be carted off in a skip about 5 years ago, but laziness meant it never was.
Although it's cleaner, its still dire. I want to do something with it, but not sure what. The options as I see them are to...
1) Get another skip, a shovel, and throw all the cement blocks into the skip, and shovel away at the muck until it's all 'ground level'. Effectively, bin the whole lot of it.
2) Get a skip, get rid of the concrete blocks, and try to spread the muck out and level it off so it takes up the whole area. Keep the muck, but replace the bricks with something more presentable (coloured bricks, wood, fence/railing etc). Plant a few flowers or something.
3) Get a skip and get rid of the concrete blocks, try to put down some kinda garden tile or something on the mucky area that kinda 'ramps' down on the right, and make the 'rampy' section into a 'floor', and then make a square flower bed of the rest of it.
Either way, the horrendous looking concrete block divide thingy has to go into the bin. That's not staying. But I just dont know what to do with the muck itself. Bin it or keep it. My fear is that if flowers or such are planted, although theyll look nice, they wont be maintained and in a months time it'll be back to a mucky sludgy mess.
Has anyone got any ideas that can possibly be employed here to clean this area up a bit?
Here's a slightly wider shot of the garden:
There's obviously a lot more to do, but this small section of muck is my priority (cos it's annoying me) then I'll attack the shoddy doors on the sheds, etc. as I go along.
Cheers to anyone able to offer any insight or ideas here
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Raised decking over the whole thing? Removing soil to skip might cost a few quid so leave as is.
Blocks have to go either way. Maybe replace them with sleepers and level out topsoil and sow grass?
I think removing the soil should only cost the price of the skip? Or am I overlooking something? My initial plan was to just get stuck in with a shovel and bring it all to ground level (and then throw the blocks away).
I would like to do something in the area of flowers/veg there. Something a bit colourful or such. The raised decking idea is good, however, I kinda reckon I might end up "graveling" the bigger section of grass on the other side of the garden, and throwing a table and chairs on it.
If I do that, a decking area would become fairly redundant quite quickly, and be permanently unused (or so I reckon, anyway).Personally I would rip out blocks, level soil and bring in more topsoil and raise whole garden and sow grass. Maybe a few stepping stones instead of the path
Are you saying no concrete in the garden at all? Entirely covered with grass (with the exception of stepping stones)?genuine leather wrote: »You have a blank canvas kkv, so many possibilities.
The sun aspect would lend itself to your long term design for the garden.
Would it be used mostly on evenings/weekend.
Small partys or big partys
Family gatherings i mean..
Do you like gardening or prefer lower maintainance
Cooking food/Bbq spot wanted etc.
The above is all in my head. A great spot for those warm summer evenings. However, I'm a realist and know that while that'll go down really well, it'll also be completely neglected over the winter months.
So although I do kinda have that general 'social sun garden' theme in my head, I want it to be as low maintenance as possible.genuine leather wrote: »The soil against the garage plinth looks to have been put in at a later stage,on top of a path??
No drainage and wet soil,bad for the garage dampness, i would loose that first, it might be able to be ammended for a raised bed elsewhere.
The soil there was put in when the shed was built. It was excess waste that was supposed to be dumped in a skip at the time, but it never was (and then the garden became a dump, fairly swiftly).
The garage isn't necessarily damp, to be honest. It's just dirty. The inside is all concrete, with MDF for a ceiling. It's constantly dusty and dirty and in need of being cleaned. I plan to tackle that by painting the inside floor, walls and ceiling (but the shed, too, is in disrepair).
This is the inside of the shed (an old photo, but still accurate enough):
The problem with the shed, really, is the doors. Behind where I was standing taking that picture, is a large steel gate that swings open. Big enough to drive a car in. So the shed isn't really insulated or anything. It was a shoddy build in the first place, and it will be addressed, but it'll be lower down the 'to do' list.genuine leather wrote: »The soil within the blocks looks like it could be ok for planting, with some work.
That's what's in my head at the moment.. Thinking something colourful (ie; flowers) could do the job, with a small bit of effort?I'd make the buildings the first priority, you have a lot of damp on the walls, looks like gutters are damaged or completely missing. I'd also clear the soil away from the building back to the correct ground level - have you damp problems inside the buildings?
The smaller of the sheds (the unpainted one) doesn't have any guttering, but the roof is angled backwards (onto a wall where the water can run down it). The guttering on the bigger shed is in tatters and is broken directly over the door (so you get soaked going in or out of it). That'll be getting revamped.
As above, no real dampness, but in the winter, there's a never ending issue with condensation forming inside the freezing cold shed. The shed needs insulating, but the way it was built doesn't really lend itself to doing this properly. I presume insulating it will be wildly expensive.
The doors on both sheds were taken from houses that were getting new doors. They should have never been put on in the first place (but they were cheap! :rolleyes: ), so the doors need re-doing on both sheds.
From reading the replies so far, from ye guys, it seems that moving muck away from the shed is a good idea, anyway. So I'll do that. I'm leaning towards then turning that raised area into a flowerbed area?
Get rid of the blocks/concrete, and replace with sleepers. Something like this?
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/non-creosote-railway-sleeper---4ft-642015
Make a 'square' shaped flower bed, re-do the concrete in front of the miniature/kennel style shed, and throw some gravel or paving stones or something on the (soon to be) flattened side of the flowerbed (on the right)?
Essentially.. is this a worthy plan of action?
EDIT: As an aside, I'm not sure what I mean by 'freshen up concrete'. Try and smooth it out with an extra 'coat' of it, or make a thickish (3-4 inches) layer of muck and put down a paving stone type set up?
Also, does anyone have any idea of an alternative to wooden sleepers?0 -
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You don't have to remove all that soil (red area), just about the width of the path that's already across the front of the shed. You could then merge the red and green into larger single flower bed, bordered with sleepers or garden bricks. A trellis fixed to the back wall could support a few climbers.
Yeah, you're right, alright. A smaller/narrower path would be better, to match up with the one opposite it. A trellis was on my mind for that wall, alright, but I don't really know what a 'climber' is (large/tall flower or such, is what's in my mind?).
Today I ended up completely sidetracked, and started working away on the opposite side of the garden (the longer part). I just cleaned it up a bit.
Before (well.. during.. i forgot to take a proper before)
After:
Then I dug up all along the side the whole way down:
Then I found out that the concrete I'm lifting, which was put down by my dad, was done at the same time as the path against the wall:
So that'll end up getting tore up, too! More work. Haha :P
My plan for this side of the garden is to put a single line of red bricks, like these I seen in woodies;
And then use them as a 'frame' for a load of decorative garden stones/gravel. Throw a table and chairs on it and that section's finito?
The only real complication comes in the form of a feckin' manhole! :rolleyes:
But I think I'll just have to settle for a slightly raised 'lump' in my stone/gravel area. Can't think of a quick and easy fix for that.
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HeidiHeidi wrote: »If you're going to do gravel you'll need to line the area with something, otherwise you'll just wind up with a gravelly weed bed!
How do you mean? I was going to 'frame it' as per my above post, with red bricks? Kinda like this (but on a much lower budget! :P )
Is that what you meant? Or are you talking more in terms of killing/smothering weeds? In which case I believe I can buy plastic sheets or nets or such to put down, after spraying weed killer everywhere?Also you have the makings of raised bed in the green area, would you consider keeping some space for veg??
That whole (green) area will be dedicated to planting something. I'm not sure what yet. I think my dad would like to do some veg stuff (give him something to do with his evenings i suppose?). But I'd like something more colourful.
Can you mix and match when planting (ie; a mish-mash of flowers and veg?) Or are they best separated altogether?
My initial idea was to use the green area for veg, and the red area for flowers, and the concrete would be replaced with a more attractive divider, but I do agree that a pathway would be better, which limits my space there a little. So I presume it'll be one or the other? (I suppose veg? I can always put flower pots around the garden elsewhere?)And if its raised id hack out that concrete around it and leave it visible but at least the gravel would go flush with it, you could also use a wire brush on the cover and try find a spray/hammerite to get the closest colour to the gravel so that it blends in. Dont weld it shut with paint mind !!
I think I prefer your first idea of just covering it with stones. I don't think I'd like it being visible at all, to be honest. Not an attractive feature to display, in my opinion
Today I just did some small power washing. I only had an hour or so in the garden. Still, it's better than doing nothing, I suppose. I'll spend a few more hours in the garden tomorrow, hopefully (weather depending!).
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Well I've started to make a slight bit of progress on the corner that I initially started this thread about.
I spent some time today with the pressure washer on the wall behind it, and on the muck itself (to try and soften it up, as it'll be getting shovelled a lot on Friday, when I hire a skip to take as much of it away as I can). I pulled away the blocks and they're now waiting for the skip, too.
Today I went out and got some stuff for covering the muck and dirt and killing weeds when I get as much of it up as I can (for when the decorative stones are going down on the larger part of the garden, and for when the flowers or vegetables go in on the smaller section).
Would anyone be able to tell me, in the first photo in this post, the kennel-type shed on the left, the ground in front of that is about 3 inches of cement over a muck base. Would it be realistic for me to be able to smash that in bits and get rid of it, and re-build it as a ramp that goes straight to the ground (using some of the blocks I removed as a base, and some tightly packed muck?).
Or would that all be a bit much for someone so new to doing this kinda thing?
Cheers
Quite enjoying my gardening adventures! 0 -
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To be honest, Dubl07, I don't think I'm gonna interfere with the manhole cover itself. I think I'll just learn to live with a slight 'hump' in my gravel (or I might just throw a load of gravel down and try to 'raise' all the gravel to that height, so it evens out, but I'm not sure if that might become very costly.
I'll figure out something.
Planning to go and buy some bricks today to edge with. Anyone here got a preference on what kinda edging might look best. I threw this together (Woodies have red bricks at 79c each, and grey ones at 59c each, so that's where I'll pick them up, I think).
I think I'm leaning towards the red outline/grey inline one, but I'm not sure. I like the alternating patters but I think I might get a bit confused with regards to what to do when I get to a corner (google isn't giving much help in terms of image searching that pattern hitting corners).
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Deleted User wrote: »
Would anyone be able to tell me, in the first photo in this post, the kennel-type shed on the left, the ground in front of that is about 3 inches of cement over a muck base. Would it be realistic for me to be able to smash that in bits and get rid of it, and re-build it as a ramp that goes straight to the ground (using some of the blocks I removed as a base, and some tightly packed muck?).
Or would that all be a bit much for someone so new to doing this kinda thing?
A couple of slaps of a sledge would break that up in about 2 minutes.0 -
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Be aware that unless the colour is distributed throughout the block it will wear off in short order and it probably won't wear off evenly. (Speaking from bitter experience.)
Haha. Funny you should mention that, but it's not (as seen below). I just assumed all bricks were like this if they were being used for edging. I didn't really think twice about it.
How long did yours last? Were they the same kinda thing (about a half inch of colour)? For 59c it's hard to complain, all the same...Go for it. Its not complicated. Its about the best project to learn on. Keep the mix dry ish. It will help with slope.
I'll give it a shot alright. Sure if I make a mess of it I can always knock it down with a hammer and start again! I'll have to google it a fair bit, though.OP, there appears to be an awful lot of litter shown in the above photo. Fine if it's just sitting on top ready for clean-up but if that's typical of what's in the soil I'd be inclined to get rid of the whole lot and bring in some nice clean topsoil.
Enormous amounts of litter, and I've no idea how it all actually got there. There were household items thrown out (there was even a mattress sitting there for years!) but litter like that, which seems to be completely through the entire lot of muck (ie; if I dig down deep into it, there's still litter!), I've no idea how that got there, or got so bad.
I'll have a skip here on friday (albeit, possibly a small one) and all that's going in the skip are the blocks I took away from that area, and as much muck as I can possibly get into it (from both sides of the garden, although the longer side of it seems to be relatively litter free, and much cleaner in general).PS have you considered how you're going to lay the brick edging, you probably need to set them on a bed of mortar to keep them level and secure.
My rough idea was to dig about the height of the bricks down into the muck (so when the bricks are in place, they'll be level with the path already in the garden, or just ever so slightly raised). Use any flattish object I can find to try and flatten out the muck a bit. Then put down that weedkiller cover stuff.
After that, I was gonna throw in a bit of sand, and use that to create a more 'level' surface (so the brick would be on a flat layer of sand, which is on top of the weed killer cover, which, in turn, is on top of the the muck).
It seems the simplest/easiest way, and I got the idea from this guide online.
Today I got some of my edging bricks:
I settled on the alternating pattern, but I'm not sure which I prefer, black with red, or red with black.
But I think I may have 'unearthed' ( ) another issue.. probably a more difficult one..
I was going mad with the pressure washer the last couple of days on the paths and stuff. Then today we got some very heavy rain. Although I do think my pressure washing contributed heavily to it, the bottom of the garden, where I plan to edge a fair bit, keeps on flooding.
Now, in fairness, the above picture is the worst it's been. Two days ago I was pressure washing and that area 'flooded' up, but not as severely. The following day, the water was all gone, and the muck was just a bit damp looking.
With grass there, I wouldn't be too fussed, but because I'm planning on doing brick edging with decorative stones and such, I'm a bit worried this may be a bigger issue than I'd like to think.
Does anyone know of a quick or easy way to prevent this?
The garden falls towards the house, but the path in the picture above, that leads to the back door, is slightly raised in the opposite direction (so effectively, the garden gradient is V shaped, and where that water is collecting, is the lowest point).
Normally I'd be able to pop a practical solution into my head, but I'm a bit stumped for this one... I know that the grass, muck, etc. will eventually suck up all the water, but I don't want all my stuff at that end being submerged every time it rains if I can help it. 0 -
Also, for the other / smaller side of the garden (where all the litter is), I'm planning to do a raised bed. I've practically narrowed my decision down to two types of edging, but unsure which to pull the trigger on.
Anyone got any thoughts?
I'm in two minds of this concretey looking one (in yellow/gold) to continue with the theme of using bricks/stones in the garden:
or copying what Homebase have done in their showroom, and using two decking panels on top of each other to create an edging:
The decking, being two layered on top of each other, works out about €10 more expensive to cover the same distance as the stone ones, but the decking is taller (I'm not sure if that's a plus or minus to me, though). I'm leaning towards the scalloped stone edging for ease of use and affordability, but the decking does look nice (maybe not nicer, though?). The decking would be easier to cut to size, should that need occur..?0 -
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Today I picked up a few more bits. Settled on the decking to frame my raised flowerbed idea. Picked up some Woodies Compost and some bark chips to decorate the flowerbed with, and a handful more bricks as I reckon I'll need more red than grey.
And found this lad on Donedeal. Not sure how they're making any money, but they're great value, so I'll be getting my stones off Strata Group! :P
http://www.donedeal.ie/gardenplants-for-sale/decorative-stone/9150326?offset=290 -
Filled another skip today.
Despite busting my hump for hours to fill it, the 'after' looks depressingly similar to the 'before' (at the start of this thread). Bit annoying.
Found another manhole.. yay.. I wonder if I find a third one will I win a prize!? :P
On the plus side of things, though, we did clear out the small shed (well, brother did, while I was digging away)
and I amused myself with the pressure washer for 2 minutes. Goes to show the dirt that builds up!
That strata group will be delivering my 850kg of Pink Granite decorative stones on Tuesday they reckon. I had hoped that i'd be doing my bricks/edging on monday, but it looks like I'll have to put the stones to one side, and get yet another feckin' skip next week. Skips are far and away the most expensive part of this effort so far (and I'd say they will be until the doors on the sheds need to get changed. I predict that being the most expensive aspect altogether of the whole garden).
(as an aside, I realise I'm pretty much talking to myself here at the moment, but if mods don't mind, I'm gonna keep rambling on? I'd like to keep the thread to document my progress to, if nothing else, keep myself sane ) 0 -
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Deleted User wrote: »(as an aside, I realise I'm pretty much talking to myself here at the moment, but if mods don't mind, I'm gonna keep rambling on? I'd like to keep the thread to document my progress to, if nothing else, keep myself sane )
Thanks for the entertainment :P0 -
Well today I made a little big of progress.
I've decided to focus on one area at a time, so I've just shoveled a lot of soil from the longer side of the garden, over on top of the smaller side (the side i plan for a flowerbed). This means I can work on getting my bricks and stones in place, but unfortunately means I have to neglect the other side of the garden for a short while.
So, I shoveled and raked and just cleaned up the right hand side a little bit...
I sprayed about a litre of weed killer over the area, and then put down some weed killer cover...
and then I (finally) made a start on my brickwork..
It's just being sat on a small foundation of sand. The bricks are a little rocky when in place, but I'm tapping them down with a jump hammer and a piece of wood, which is forcing them into the sand, and making them sit a little more sturdy. The above picture is how I left it tonight. I'm not gonna continue on until I see how it looks tomorrow.
I'm gonna have a few areas that will be troublesome. The bottom of this pic, for example...
The footpath is all over the place.
A friend suggested breaking off all those bits with a hammer and running lengths of wood/joists the whole way down the path. Then place the bricks against the wood (as the wood will be straight).
Then remove the wood (leaving a gap between the bricks and path), and fill with cement. This would mean my bricks are straight, cemented in, and my path will be wider... would this work?0 -
So I took up all my bricks, and decided the best way forward was to straighten my edges, first, and then work on brick-related activities.
Unfortunately, there's not as much cement to be made from the bag I bought, as I thought there would be! This effectively means that I just half-filled my holes today, so i can get a start on doing the brick work. I'll pick up another bag o' cement (a proper bag this time, of just cement, and then two bags of sand) and finish the cement on Friday or Saturday.
Here are my before and afters for that...
Also, the Strata Group / Breffni Couriers arrived with a big bag of happiness (not drugs).
A friend of mine also is working on his garden, and through miracle of miracles, he needs soil to level things out. A good bit of it too, so i may have offloaded some of that! Fingers crossed. He said he'd have a look tomorrow.
So tomorrow, if nothing else, with a straight-edge to work with, I should (should) be able to lay my brick edging and throw my stones around the place.
My concern now, really, is.. is the (beach) sand that I'm using for the bricks sufficient? My fear is that after a couple of weeks, the rain will cause the sand to disintegrate into nothingness and my bricks will have sunk all over the place and be lopsided and wobbly and such!?
Anyone able to comment on that?0 -
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