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What should I do with this?
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What should I do with this?


We recently purchased a property whose front garden was a mass of weeds, thorny brambles, and overgrown bushes. I've cleared the mess, and want to do something simple with it while we carry out renovations. For now, I'd prefer not to invest too much effort or money, as once renovation work starts, it could be damaged. Any recommendations?

by FlawedImage

45 Comments

  1. trekken1977

    No effort and no money plus it’s going to get damaged soon anyway all whilst heading into winter? Nothing.

    Just start planning for next year – maybe toss in soil conditioner if needed.

  2. Jeoh

    Get a mattock and dig out the remaining roots, then mulch it with bark until you’re ready to make it look nice? No need to rush 🙂

  3. RegionalHardman

    Dig through a few bags of compost then pick up some perennials and bare root hedge plants – they can be as little as £2 each.

    Plant the hedge at the front, you’ll need maybe 8-10 bare root plants. Then pop the perennials everywhere else

  4. therealharbinger

    Heathers.

    Plus they’ll look fantastic come spring and be full of bees.

  6. Street-Leg4212

    Make it wildlife friendly please God, I think you have a duty. Don’t just grass it or bark it that is unbelievably lame. Just make sure the renovations dodge it, I’ve managed in my tiny garden.

    Massive pond!

  7. Ultrasonic-Sawyer

    Where does the sun come from? 

    What are your plans for where the pavement meets your property? 

    My first instinct is to think hedge or fencing, as Hedging can take time. 

    Then you can feel free to wreck the inside area as you refurb (dumping rubble, rubbish, walking over it. Etc. )

    Then as time goes along practice with whatever sparks joy for time to spend. 

    I’d personally go little veg patch first year for fun while building some borders of simple thrown down seed. 

    Then after a year or so I feel you’d be at a point to know what you want to do long term, what use or aesthetic you may like, how much time you may have to maintain it, and other stuff. 

  8. luala

    If you leave the soil bare it’ll get clogged with weeds again. You could exclude light but that tends to be ugly as you’ll want to cover the ground for a year with something like fabric. I suspect you probably have a few weeds left so it might be best to do a cheap and cheerful ground cover which will last and help keep the weeds down until you’re ready for a long-term planting scheme. If you do something low growing and monoculture you’ll easily spot when weeds pop up and you can get rid of them. If you hurry you can probably put something like grazing rye or crimson clover in as a green manure. You could also wait until spring and plant something like forget me not, creeping thyme, white clover…basically any close ground cover that you can buy in bulk as a seed.

  13. ThrowawayCult-ure

    buy a bunch of nice native flowers and ground covers and chuck them down. when renovation is done put in some fruit bushes like currants, jostaberry, peaches, haskap. many ornamental perrenials can be grown from seed: artichokes, globe thistles, primroses, native bellflowers. growing food at home is fun, can be pretty and is good for the enviroment too.

    In such a big space you could make some mounds, fertilise and toss pumpkin/butternut squash seeds on in like april and you should get a great harvest.

    then once a year you can mow the lot down to like 4cm after seed set and itll bounce back

  15. ninoruk86

    Definitely a Wildlife Garden! You should check out Joel Ashton on Youtube he has a tour of his front garden in each of the seasons, which should give you some ideas with what to do and what it will look like.

  16. Rude-Leader-5665

    without wanting to offend other people on here, I’d honestly just turf/seed it for now. it will look nice, will be better than mud, and add a bit of colour. Leave it for a year or 2 and you’ll get a vibe for what you want to do with it.. look at neighbouring houses for ideas maybe?

    one thing to note, if you go down the route of lots of shrubs etc, autumn can be a pain as i can already see leaves in the street. if the wind blows against your favour, your shrubs will just collect all the leaves and look all ‘meh’. I opted for part gravel on mine with lots of pots of colour in the summer, then i clear it for the winter so i can get rid of the leaves easier.

    for now though. grass and leave it. once you finish your renovations, you’ll probably know what you want to do with it.

  17. Negative-Cause9588

    For an interim solution, I’d chuck down clover seed. It’ll be something you can then dig in once the renovations are done; it’s green and pretty and good for bees. Yes it’s a monoculture, but it’s better than nothing!

  18. Tudor_Cinema_Club

    Build another property on it and rent it out.

  19. Rojaml

    Wild it! Let it be a nature haven with native grasses shrubs and wildflowers

  22. Supersonic_77

    Personally i would grass seed the middle and plant along the front and along the fence, seasonal perennials so something is flowering all year round.

  26. Odd-Contribution5016

    if you hate your nighbers plant a white pear tree in the senter . hardy. free fruit. butieful white fragrent flowers.
    its a set and forget . for the rest id personly do what street-leg4212 said and just plant native flowers.
    with natives you dont need do much their already use to your climent and soil

  28. Remarkable-Worth-303

    Tarmac. Then charge people to park there during the working day..

  29. IdioticMutterings

    Don’t do anything with it until after the renovations.

  31. OJ_drinker

    till it, add compost, mulch it then plant whatever

  32. Starry-Night-4998

    I would plant a tree and leave the rest alone until after reno. I also have a bare grass patch in front of my house and looking to plant either a magnolia or an ornamental cherry asap, to give it a season to grow right away, while I’m figuring out what to do with the rest.

  33. Acceptable_Bunch_586

    Get a packet of wild flower seeds and throw all over, they might come they might not. Low effort environmentally friendly.

  37. BigGingerYeti

    Nice patch of veggies and bee friendly flowers I reckon.

  38. Emegoze

    Plant a tree or two there, something fruit bearing for God sake

  40. That_Hospital_3224

    No asphalt or brick….

    I would out some hedgerows at the front. Put a nice fruit tree. Lots of beds with different flowers. Put a bee hive.

  41. BumblebeeNo6356

    Put in a hot tub and invite the neighbours over

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