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Original poster

How important is a garden to you?

133 replies

Nosleepforthismum · 07/08/2023 22:29

Speaking with my BIL recently who is planning to substantially extend his three bed property into his garden which (I think) is quite small anyway leaving enough room for a table, 6 chairs, a shed and a small square of grass and nothing else. I said I’d be careful of extending too much as the garden will then be too small for the size of the house and his response was that most people don’t like gardens as they were too much work and they’d rather have a big house instead.

I’m wondering how many of you agree with this statement? I’m on the opposite end as I adore having a garden and my dream would be a house with a couple of acres of land. Maybe a stream and a huge tree for the kids to build dams and treehouses. A vegetable plot and posh greenhouse to grow our own fruit and veg. Space for a chicken coop and a field big enough to flick a ball for the dog without worrying about it going over the neighbours fence … but maybe I am in the minority! So, how important is a garden to you? Would you sacrifice space outside for space inside?

OP posts:
LightSpeeds · 07/08/2023 23:25

I love having a fairly large garden - although I think that you can do something nice with ANY sized garden.

chocolatebunnybop · 07/08/2023 23:29

As an estate agent, the ones that sit on the market for months are those with little or no garden. We don't get them often but recently two gave up and decided to stay put. One reduced the price several times but it didn't matter because people want a garden. These are family homes to be clear.

Lookingatthesunset · 07/08/2023 23:29

A reasonably sized garden is very important to me. Ours is just about the right size, though I would love it to be slightly bigger.

The developer should have moved it closer to the road - we've a huge frontage that we don't need.

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Gardening
StarDolphins · 07/08/2023 23:30

I have a teeny house & a big ish garden, I could extend but I just love having a garden!

maximist · 07/08/2023 23:35

Off street parking and a good sized garden are my two non-negotiables when house hunting. I have a reasonable garden here but have spread onto my drive, my neighbour's drive, and some waste land nearby. I may go further as the years go on....

Icepinkeskimo · 07/08/2023 23:36

fullbloom87 · 07/08/2023 22:41

I'd rather have a smaller house and a huge garden. I would happily live in a static caravan on a big plot of land.

Absolutely! How great would it be to run wild in a massive garden. I’d love it.
These little postage stamp gardens on new build developments are sad, and then someone adds a conservatory! It must be like living in a bubble with no fresh air.

DelurkingAJ · 07/08/2023 23:38

Not important to me but vital to my family. (All that happens when I sit in the garden is that all the flying, biting things come and bite me…although I’d miss our vegetable patch).

Starseeking · 07/08/2023 23:39

We're very lucky to a garden of about 20m x 6m, which my DC love playing football and trampolining in, however I plan to extend in a couple of years.

I'd ideally like to go out 5m, but realistically only going 4m as it would otherwise take up too much of the garden of what would be a 4 bed, 3 bathroom house, plus utility.

Having a postage stamp sized garden would put off too many future buyers, and couldn't be easily changed. Plus we enjoy it now, so very much smaller, and we'd start to feel it.

Babdoc · 07/08/2023 23:40

I actually bought my house because I fell in love with the garden. I’ve altered just about everything in the house since, so now I love both. I grow rhubarb, plums, herbs, redcurrants and blackberries, and have packed the herbaceous borders with shrubs and climbers, including roses, rhododendrons, buddleia, viburnum, clematis, lavender, azaleas, winter jasmine, honeysuckle, spirea, weigelia, hostas, heathers, peonies, lilac, forsythia, fuchsia, and a host of spring bulbs and summer annuals.
I have several species of birds nesting regularly in the shrubbery, and loads of peacock and red admiral butterflies. A little bit of heaven.

Becgoz7 · 07/08/2023 23:40

Really important but unfortunately we had to make the decision to leave a beautiful garden to move to a house that was big enough for our needs.

Our garden now is 1/4 of the size, we have a shed, table and chairs and a paved area.

We have an Allotment where we grow veg and flowers.

rockpoolingtogether · 07/08/2023 23:41

It's about proportion. Nothing wrong with a small garden for a smaller house but ridiculous to have a large family house with no proper outdoor space

Saschka · 07/08/2023 23:42

Needs to be in proportion - I’ve avoided viewing houses with titchy gardens, even though my current flat has no garden ant all.

And my neighbours, who have an absolutely beautifully renovated four-floor Victorian townhouse, have had huge problems selling because they just have a tiny concrete yard out the back (the rest of the land was sold off to a different neighbour in the 90s).

Paperbagsaremine · 07/08/2023 23:43

Look, I love my gardens (we're one of the few houses left in the road who haven't paved their front garden!) but what matters is the opinion of people who are likely to buy BiL's house. And if they are families with a lot of older teens because there's a great high school nearby, then extra bedrooms might well trump garden size.

I was sad to see the next door neighbours pave over their lovely front gardens but they were all getting on and just didn't want the work, so...

Merapi · 07/08/2023 23:47

Some people see maintaining an outdoor space as a nuisance and a chore, and other people love the actual task of gardening and it becomes an absorbing hobby.

Trouble round here is that all the lovely big old detached houses with gorgeous mature gardens that come on the market are snapped up by developers, the house knocked down, the garden bulldozed flat, and the whole lot buried under several new builds. One day in the future, and people will realise what they've done.

mondaytosunday · 07/08/2023 23:48

Did he live through the pandemic? Gardens became prime feature of any property!
He will knock out plenty of families who will want more garden.

Witchymcwitch · 07/08/2023 23:49

We have a huge garden just as you describe and it’s the main reason we bought our house.
Which by comparison, was too small, ugly and falling apart!

We sorted the house out, but I still pinch myself that we have this fabulous garden, it gives us so much pleasure.

blueshoes · 07/08/2023 23:51

The garden must be in proportion to the house. Not too big (as maintenance will be time consuming and/or costly) and not too small (as the property will be difficult to sell).

I prefer a nice rectangular flat garden laid out to lawn with trees and borders at the edges rather than an odd shaped garden on a slope with lots of things going on.

Swimming pools, ponds and hot tubs are a no-no. Patios, especially if it has some shade, and sheds are good.

Boomboom22 · 07/08/2023 23:52

I agree but the new builds do not have proportional gardens even at over 1m and seem to sell so clearly a lot of people don't mind too much?

entitledparents · 07/08/2023 23:52

I'm not into gardening but like the feeling of space our decent size garden gives. I'm put off houses which look like they have been extended too much.

Witchymcwitch · 07/08/2023 23:52

We also get regular letters from developers trying to buy up ours and neighbours properties to develop, no doubt, into an estate of new builds with tiny gardens.

entitledparents · 07/08/2023 23:53

Boomboom22 · 07/08/2023 23:52

I agree but the new builds do not have proportional gardens even at over 1m and seem to sell so clearly a lot of people don't mind too much?

All the ones I've seen have small but ok gardens & often a front small one

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 07/08/2023 23:54

Team Garden.

The only way I'd even consider exchanging garden for an extention is if it were a palm house/orangery type construction so I could create an indoor garden.

NutellaNut · 08/08/2023 00:01

Very important to me, but others will agree with your BIL. Some new houses were built near me a couple of years ago - 3 to 4 beds with postage stamp sized gardens. I didn’t believe anyone with £850,000 to spend on a house would want to buy them, but they were all sold off plan pretty quickly. (Before the recent housing downturn.) I suppose some people will be put off by a small gatden, others simply won’t be.

GLmum · 08/08/2023 00:01

Personally, I'd never buy a house with a big garden, and have rejected many a nice house because the garden was too big. Neither DH nor I like gardening, so it just becomes a source of rows!

That said, although I never sit in my garden, I would want one big enough to socialise in, for parties. So I want a bit more than a postage stamp, but no more than half an hour to mow the lawn!

Flippingfruitflies · 08/08/2023 00:01

I moved from a house with a huge garden. It was in the middle of a housing estate and my view was fences and other houses beyond. It was a lot of maintenance and I didn’t like backing onto other peoples gardens. Now I have a very small garden but it leads out onto a grassy area surrounded by trees. Lots of birds and wildlife. It’s great having beautiful scenery without having to put in the hard work to maintain it. I love my small garden as it’s easy to manage and it looks lovely. I think it depends on what else is surrounding the house. I couldn’t live in a built up area with little to no garden.