Whilst writing a post a few weeks ago, I realised that I had never written up our mammoth garden makeover that we embarked on last year. If you were following along on social media, you would have seen blood, sweat and tears thrown at the project to which we gave everything. It was only going to be a small project but once we started, we were too far in to stop so just kept going.
We moved into this house in 2007 and the garden was not really practical for kids and dogs but it worked, then in 2012 we had our Astroturf installed. This to date is still one of the investments which I feel has had the most significant impact on our house, it just opened a section of our garden up to use.
Last Easter, we decided to tackle the mountain of a garden that was left. We had got some gardeners/builders out to have a look at our garden, one said it was just too big a job for them and the others just disappeared, so we had little choice to do anything other than doing it ourselves! The plan was just to level out the bottom of the garden and maybe put a small decking at the top, what we ended up with was 3 tiers, complete with a huge decking that looks out over the town, a tier with a raised bed to grow our own vegetables and a bottom tier where I plan to set up my bird feeding station etc.
Neither of us had any experience and there were no plans drawn up, instead, we took it as it came along, facing each challenge as it came. I never realised how expensive building materials were, or how heavy!
Our first challenge came with the materials, you see, we live up a hill, so it is 18 stairs just to get up to our front door, and then the back garden goes up from there. Unfortunately, the delivery trucks crane did not reach far enough to get the materials to the top, so everything you see below has been carried up the stairs by us both trust me, it was hard work and during the heatwave of the summer last year, almost impossible but we had little choice.
I have lost count of just how many deliveries we had or how many bits of wood we moved up the garden to complete to build, but it was a lot, that much I do know. There is no need to go to the gym whilst you are working on a garden project like this, trust me!
During the 4 month overhaul of our garden, we shifted so much muck, dug far too many holes and built things that we would never have dreamt we could have managed before. Looking back at it, I can’t even believe that we managed to complete the project we did, in the time we did. Don’t get me wrong, there is still so much left to do, however this summer I am looking forward to getting the most out of it.
We will be looking to get the stairs completed and it all painted up by the May half term, this will allow us time to get the last bits in time for the summer. I’m hoping that I may even become a little better when it comes to keeping plants alive and be able to start growing our own fruit and vegetables and become a little more self-sufficient. We have never grown anything successfully in our garden, so I can’t wait to get started. If like me, you are a newbie when it comes to growing your own, this post on 5 Great tips for growing your own food in your garden is the perfect starting point.
There are still a few things to do before we are ready to get stuck in with growing our veggies, we really need to look into getting a new shed to store our tools and even buy some tools. There are a wide range of garden tools out there too so I need to look into which ones are best especially as you can now get eco-friendly garden tools.
Anyway, that is enough words, let’s get to the best bits, the before and after pictures!
It is only when I look back do I realise just what we have achieved and now it is about making the most of the space. Last summer we brought a Swingball set to use and we are on the lookout for some other great things to be used in the garden. The kids are on about getting a Babolat Pure Drive Tennis Racket or two, however, knowing what those two are like, I think we will stick to using the lowest tier to play tennis! This space is going to be so well used in the coming months that I can’t wait to get out there!
