Back yard ideas

6541

Hi all, I have a back yards that is absolute mush, a mix of compact stone and mud. It's like a half arsed attempt at tarmac that was put down in the 1970's.
The question I have is, what is the absolute best material, maintenance free to get put down / put down myself, concrete, tarmac. brick ?

Thanks in advance.

phildub

6541 wrote: »

Hi all, I have a back yards that is absolute mush, a mix of compact stone and mud. It's like a half arsed attempt at tarmac that was put down in the 1970's.
The question I have is, what is the absolute best material, maintenance free to get put down / put down myself, concrete, tarmac. brick ?

Thanks in advance.

Our back yard has a small patio area and then an area of concrete and then tarmac at the side leading to the driveway. It was all done at the same time about 15 years ago.

The patios colour has faded and 2 of the front blocks leading to the concrete (you step down from patio) have become loose, in the process of getting them fixed now and I suppose 15 years is a good time to last. Concrete has many hole in it from wear that we are also getting fixed. The tarmac (when washed) looks like it did on day 1! I will say that the patio looks lovely and all tarmac and all concrete might not look as asceticly pleasing but you mentioned brick, that might be nice

6541

Thanks for reply. I was expecting you to say concrete. I go out on the Covid walks and look at ppls drives etc. My unscientific opinion is that I see a lot of wear and tear on tarmac but concrete looks to wear better. Interested in a couple of opinions!

listermint

Tarmac in a back garden.


How depressing....

phildub

6541 wrote: »

Thanks for reply. I was expecting you to say concrete. I go out on the Covid walks and look at ppls drives etc. My unscientific opinion is that I see a lot of wear and tear on tarmac but concrete looks to wear better. Interested in a couple of opinions!

Well I mean the concrete lasted for over a decade just fine! I agree with the other poster, tarmac may not be the way to go in a back yard we just have it where we park the cars along the side of the house

Stigura

Tell ye another snag with tarmac?

When I bought this place, step out the front door and I was standing on the surrounding countryside. Field, basically. Fine and lovely, in nice weather. Once the rains started though? Chuck in five or six Dogs and ye have utter hell! Because ye walking in and out of mud!

Council road making team stretched the road right down the track and into my 'garden'. Thus I now stepped out onto proper, council road quality tarmac.

Snag: Look at any established, single track country road. Grass down the middle. Where no tyres rub it out. And, no tyres rub out the grass which is now swallowing (and breaking!) up my tarmac.

bfclancy

listermint wrote: »

Tarmac in a back garden.


How depressing....

very depressing, do a bit of maintenance (unless some medical condition prevents them from doing so), have some greenery, somewhere for the bees to pollinate, bit of grass, some shrubs, i have low maintenance shrubs, never need a thing done with them, some weed stop, some decorative stone, lovely. Nothing more grim than a concrete or tarmac back yard

6541

bfclancy wrote: »

very depressing, do a bit of maintenance (unless some medical condition prevents them from doing so), have some greenery, somewhere for the bees to pollinate, bit of grass, some shrubs, i have low maintenance shrubs, never need a thing done with them, some weed stop, some decorative stone, lovely. Nothing more grim than a concrete or tarmac back yard

I hear you and am all for environment. I have a huge garden so pollination is not a problem. I just want maintenance free back yard !

Car99

Stigura wrote: »

Tell ye another snag with tarmac?

When I bought this place, step out the front door and I was standing on the surrounding countryside. Field, basically. Fine and lovely, in nice weather. Once the rains started though? Chuck in five or six Dogs and ye have utter hell! Because ye walking in and out of mud!

Council road making team stretched the road right down the track and into my 'garden'. Thus I now stepped out onto proper, council road quality tarmac.

Snag: Look at any established, single track country road. Grass down the middle. Where no tyres rub it out. And, no tyres rub out the grass which is now swallowing (and breaking!) up my tarmac.

And why didnt you keep the grass in the middle from growing ? A good of of salt every so often would have stopped the grass.

...Ghost...

Depending on the size on the yard, maybe printed concrete? Looks a lot nicer than suicide grey. Add a couple of raised beds and chuck in some shrubs that need little to no attention. Sorted.

Mimon

...Ghost... wrote: »

Depending on the size on the yard, maybe printed concrete? Looks a lot nicer than suicide grey. Add a couple of raised beds and chuck in some shrubs that need little to no attention. Sorted.

I'm in similar situation and have been weighing up a few options for the top of the garden and edging towards this.

Can't go too far, maybe 12 feet as there is a gas line beyond this. Want to keep mostly grass but need a slightly raised dry area as the garden is mush from November until mid March.

Would an area packed with hardcore and topped with fake grass be doable either?

ted1

Synthetic grass?
Tarmac or concrete would be depressing

Mimon

ted1 wrote: »

Synthetic grass?
Tarmac or concrete would be depressing

Yes. My garden is unusable in the winter so would be nice to be able to walk on a small part of it at least.

awec

6541 wrote: »

Thanks for reply. I was expecting you to say concrete. I go out on the Covid walks and look at ppls drives etc. My unscientific opinion is that I see a lot of wear and tear on tarmac but concrete looks to wear better. Interested in a couple of opinions!

Concrete just needs to be washed.

It gets dirty looking, can have green staining etc depending on what's around you.

Garlinge

I like stone chippings/gravel. I have several paths of same and a circular area where it replaced the last of a small lawn. I can get around various planting beds with ease. It is also deemed a security feature as noisy to walk on. The stones look well in rain also as turn a rich yellow/cream. I prepped areas of gravel first with layer of larger stones etc. In time I have had to 'top up' but that is relatively easy job just cost of another delivery of stone.

Cerveza

A load of 804 and some chip on it. Keep it simple or do the Dermot Bannon on it.

...Ghost...

Mimon wrote: »

I'm in similar situation and have been weighing up a few options for the top of the garden and edging towards this.

Can't go too far, maybe 12 feet as there is a gas line beyond this. Want to keep mostly grass but need a slightly raised dry area as the garden is mush from November until mid March.

Would an area packed with hardcore and topped with fake grass be doable either?

Anything that can help drain the rain water away is good for preventing that mush. I had a similar issue in the front garden years ago and the topical solution was to lay a couple tonnes of pebbles on top of an underlayer. However, I did want the pebbles as a finish.

Synthetic grass comes in many grades. If you get a cheap option, the poster above is correct, it's terrible. But there is some good stuff out there that looks and feels great.

ted1

Mimon wrote: »

Yes. My garden is unusable in the winter so would be nice to be able to walk on a small part of it at least.

Why is it unusable?

Mimon

ted1 wrote: »

Why is it unusable?

Clay soil that apparently was compacted by machinery being parked on it when they were building the estate. Water is very slow to drain and in winter is wet all the time.

ted1

Mimon wrote: »

Clay soil that apparently was compacted by machinery being parked on it when they were building the estate. Water is very slow to drain and in winter is wet all the time.

Would a French drain not sort that out?

Mimon

ted1 wrote: »

Would a French drain not sort that out?

Was looking at that and maybe a sump at the bottom of the garden. Would imagine would need lots of good topsoil also. Clay is full of building waste also. Not in a position to do any digging myself and have other priorities with doing up the house.

ted1

Mimon wrote: »

Was looking at that and maybe a sump at the bottom of the garden. Would imagine would need lots of good topsoil also. Clay is full of building waste also. Not in a position to do any digging myself and have other priorities with doing up the house.

A pick axe and shovel. And you’ll dig a few trenches in a day.
Or a mini digger with a driver is about 30 euro an hour

Cerveza

It’s only a rooter you will get with €30 a hour.

Mimon

ted1 wrote: »

A pick axe and shovel. And you’ll dig a few trenches in a day.
Or a mini digger with a driver is about 30 euro an hour

Would love to be able to but back is in bits, just about able to go to work. Don't think mini digger would fit through door at the side of the house.

Fine Cheers

OP, what size roughly are you thinking of and have you a budget ? Sounds like cars won't be accessing the area so that is a factor.
Gravel chippings on hardcore probably cheapest.
Other options as already stated are concrete, tarmac, paving bricks, patio slabs etc.
I have seen concrete done in squares with paving bricks in a grid along the dividing lines which looks well.

kravmaga

6541 wrote: »

Hi all, I have a back yards that is absolute mush, a mix of compact stone and mud. It's like a half arsed attempt at tarmac that was put down in the 1970's.
The question I have is, what is the absolute best material, maintenance free to get put down / put down myself, concrete, tarmac. brick ?

Thanks in advance.

Have you a photo of what it looks like now.

Put down artificial grass instead of tarmac, concrete , cobblestone or brick.

Do you get the sun in the back yard?

https://artificialgrass.ie/?gclid=Cj0KCQiApY6BBhCsARIsAOI_GjaWpKpkYYfnAZgslhRjFZIpF5eCsl22hSxgpnYX4vhroWDcif54S4MaAr4VEALw_wcB

6541

Hi All,

Thanks for the reply's. So yes I get the sun in the back and also a car can't fit around the back. Have a look at the attached. Thanks a mil.

6541

Fine Cheers

Not as bad I was expecting, photos are a great help.
I see you have a good bit of paving already ?
You have good clean edges to work to, I take it the plan is just to fill in between the paving and concrete path at house.
No doubt you'll get plenty of suggestions here, but for me coloured gravel is one option that would look well.
See here for ideas (no connection whatsoever, just a google search)
https://www.drivewaypaving.ie/paving-gallery/gravel-gallery/
Done properly it would be self draining. Also might soften up the area with all the hard surfaces there already (getting to sound like Diarmuid Gavin :rolleyes: )
Relatively simple installation and generally maintenance free save the odd top up.
Maybe the narrow area around your shed (?) could be concreted like a path.

Ginger83

Another option that might look nice is slate chippings. You can get ton bags of broken slate with some lovely colours.