Six years ago we moved into our forever house and we have just finally finished making over our garden. We first started with this makeover three years ago and have I think we have accomplished quite a bit.
Because this makeover was rather big, I have split it into two posts. This first post shows the changes to one side of the garden and next week, in the second post, I will show all the rest.
One of our ‘must haves’ when we were picking our ‘forever home’ was that it needed to have a garden that had the sun for most of the day, and it was big enough for us all to grow into. We found our lovely house and the garden ticked all the boxes – it faces pretty much south and it had a lot of space for us to work with.
This is how it looked when we first moved in:
We lived with it like this for about three years. This gave us more than enough time to work out how we used the garden and what we wanted from it going forward. We decided we wanted to expand the patio by the house, get rid of the little patio area at the bottom of the garden and add a decking area where the last of the sun hits so we had somewhere to eat out in the evening.
I’ll show the decking in the second post but below are pictures which show some serious landscaping work that took place. We didn’t do this ourselves, we got a local landscaping firm in to do it. Our skills certainly didn’t stretch this far:
When the work was all finished, with the help of my mum (as I am not that green fingered) we planted trees, shrubs and plants in the bottom bed. It then stayed like this, patio completed, for the next three years!
This now brings us to May this year when my hubby and I decided we wanted to get it finished. We didn’t have a lot of money so we did this last bit on our own. This included removing all the odds and ends in the side bed (which took a good couple of days as it was thick and full of random stones).
After clearing the space and seeing how many rocks we had we then decided to repurpose them and make a small rockery. I also got my upcycling hat on and sanded down and repainted the old patio table we had been given, but more about this table in the next post.
So, to the final reveal! Below are pictures of what it looks like now:
We are so happy with how it has turned out. We now have a delightful space to spend time in and we have all been using the garden so much more.
Below is a list of the materials we used and what we had to buy:
- Membrane – £12 per roll. We used one roll for the whole of this bed (purchased at Otter Nurseries)
- Rockery stones – repurposed from the tidied up bed
- White sparkly stones – We found these by chance at The Range – 4 bags for £15. We used 12 bags for this bed.
- Purple slate – Again from the The Range – 3 bags for £18.
- Easter Island Head – an anniversary present from me to the hubby (it reminded me of him after a few red wines and me after a bottle of Prosecco!)
- Plants – 1 plant, 4 grasses & 12 rockery plants = £70 (again from Otter Nurseries)
- Plum Spider Swing – This was our birthday present to both the girls. Cost about £170 in April 2016.
So apart from the swing this part of the garden cost us just under £140. We chipped away at this over a number of weeks as we couldn’t give it all the time in one go, but if we added all the hours up it would have taken us one full weekend.
I think you will agree that our garden has now been transformed, it really makes me smile when we spend time in it. Please come back next week where I will be sharing the second part of the makeover – the decking, the upcycled table and our new gorgeous (but reasonable) rattan furniture.
Lets get organised – and chill out in the garden!
Jo
X
Oh it looks fab! And I’m impressed at how much you did yourself, and for £140, that’s amazing! It looks lovely, especially the shot with the striped chair and palm tree, it looks very tropical! Hope you get to enjoy spending time in it this summer #HomeEtc
Thank you for your lovely comment. The deckchair was a wedding pressie 11 years ago, certainly lasting well. The Palms do help you feel like you are somewhere else on lovely weather days. X
Looks great! I love a garden make over. I can’t wait to get started on ours when we move to our new place!
#BloggerClubUK
Very impressive Have been in my house less than a year but this has given me some ideas for my garden already………
Thanks Mary. It is nice having it done now. X
Lovely Jo, I’ll have to come round and enjoy a natter and a coffee in it! Praying for nice weatherxx
You are so right Mel, we definitely need a coffee date, I’ll message you. X
It looks gorgeous. We have moved into a new build and are a creating a garden from scratch, it does all take time. You have done a lovely job xx #HomeEtc
Thanks for your lovely comment. It is nice having a blank canvas, good luck with it & I’ll love to see it when it’s done. X
What a lovely space to spend the summer. Well done! I bet the girls love that swing. I wish we had enough space for one! #BloggerClubUK
The girls are never off the swing, my youngest just chills out on it all the time. Thank for the comment Catie. X
Jo it looks gorgeous!! You must be so pleased. I really think you did the right thing in terms of spending time using the space so you could get the best idea of what you wanted from it. It will be many years until we get round to transforming our garden but you’ve given me plenty of inspiration and I look forward to seeing the next stage X
Thanks for commenting & lovely to hear I’ve helped with inspiration. X
I love seeing garden’s before and afters as our garden is next on the list of parts of the house to sort out 🙂 Yours is looking gorgeous! We just need the right weather to enjoy it fully 😉 #HomeEtc
Thank you for the lovely comment Gabie. I look forward to seeing yours when it’s done too. X
Looks lovely Jo . We are in the middle of doing ours and this year has been difficult because it is such a mess. I want to make sure we use our space wisely – we have a play area with a trampoline and swing and a summer house. We need to get rid of our greenhouse and make a new area for the guinea pigs! Hopefully we can do work soon and be able to enjoy it next year.
It looks amazing Jo, you have done a fab job. I wish I could be more creative with our garden and make it look like this. Maybe next year will be my year x #bloggerclubuk
Oh you have no idea how much hope this gives me. Our garden seems to be in a constant mess at the moment. Our fence panels need replacing (current ones are falling apart and look so unsightly). I’m hoping once we’ve done those it will spur us on to do more. You’ve achieved so much in using a relatively small budget too.
You’ve done a lovely job – a big change. The rockery is fab! #HomeEtc
I love the white stones and plants. Gives the garden a real coastal feel, really in keeping with where you are. Lovely! #picknmix
Thanks for the comment Lisa. The stones were one of those found and brought on a whim but they do just work. X
I just love your garden makeover, the patio is gorgeous, love the little touches like the coloured lights on the fence. You are inspiring me to finally tackle my own garden! #picknmix
Thanks for your lovely comment, and it is so nice to hear I’ve helped with inspiration. The lights are one of my favourite parts, especially when they come on at dusk. X
It looks so nice! It was worth all the hard work! I really like your chairs and the terrace bit! #PicknMix
I love a garden makeover and you’ve done a great job here! Lovely low maintenance planting and it looks like it works really well for you as a family. I love the coloured lights on the fencing too, such a lovely little touch! Thanks so much for sharing this with us at #SharingtheBlogLove
Thanks for the lovely comments Katy. The lights are one of my favourites, especially when they come on at the end of the day. X
WOW! what a transformation!! No wonder you’re proud of it — it looks amazing Jo!! 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to #HomeEtc — Caro xx
Ah thanks Caro, it has certainly come out so much better than we imagined. X
Looks great! Our garden is such a mess, the grass is so patchy and just looks awful, nothing we do seems to help 🙁 x #PicknMix
Top job – looks really good and definitely a big improvement from before! Well done! #marvmondays
Thanks for the comment James. C
LOVE a good garden makeover and it looks amazing 🙂 My twins would love that swing too!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing – great job 🙂
#HomeEtc
Thanks you for the comment. My youngest would spend hours on that swing if I let her! X
That looks great – love the edging you’ve chosen. And gardens take time, especially with our weather! Let’s hope you have plenty of sun (and time) now to enjoy it to the fullest! #homeetc
Thanks for the lovely comment Stephanie. This weather we have had this weekend has certainly helped us get out and about and use it. X
Wow, what a transformation, the garden now looks amazing. I can’t believe you did it all with such a small budget
#HomeEtc
Thanks for the lovely comment Elena. YouTube did become our friend while we were doing it. X
Thanks for the lovely comment Elena. YouTube did become our friend while we were doing it. X
Just popping back to say Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove . I read part 2 as well and you have done a brilliant job, I have garden envy! Laura x
Thanks for popping by and reading the posts, and for your lovely comment. X
Oh wow what a transformation – looks like a great place to spend those lazy summer evenings. I can’t believe what good value it was either. My poor garden is in need of a major overhaul, thanks for the inspiration! #sharingthebloglove
The evening out there have been lovely, very relaxing & chilled. Thanks for your lovely comment. X
You’ve done a great job and I love that swing and seat set! Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix lovely
Stevie x
Wow I love it, that swing is brilliant and love all the colours. Your furniture looks lovely too. thanks for linking to #PickNMix
The girls love the swing, and I have spent a lot of time pushing it too! Thanks for your lovely comment as always. X
Wow, that’s fantastic! We could never create something so gorgeous if we tried, haha. Absolutely love it and that swing is awesome. Thanks for linking up to #MarvMondays. Kaye xo
Oh wow Jo! That looks fantastic! I definitely have edging envy. I love the way the areas are clearly defined and yet everything works perfectly together. I want to come and sip a gin! Thanks for linking up #bloggershomes xx
I was excited to come across this post as I am currently making back yard plans. We moved in earlier this year and have only grass out the back yard (with bunnies and a dog running around), I am so excited to get started on our makeover, I’m off to read part 2 now!
Wow! This looks really incredible. Well done, guys! Beautiful garden.