Do you have a garden?

[ScoobyCan]

Just that really.

Do you have a garden? Do you use it?

I'm looking to move house and if I compromise on garden (ie small courtyard garden / minimal upkeep) I can afford a much larger house.

AIBU to suggest (shock, horror) that I don't need a garden? I have two DC who "sometimes" play out / kick a ball around. We like cycling so tend towards taking the bikes out instead. Currently I have a shed and a couple of trees, I don't do borders as I don't enjoy gardening.

Please tell me about your enjoyment of a house with no garden....

We have just invested a lot in ours. It was unusable before, and we fully intend spending lots of time out there and treating it like an extra room.

They don't have to be large spaces, the trick is to make them practical and usable.

Small one here. Four fence panels by three.

It’s enough for a rotary drier and shed for storing bikes.

I love sunbathing and that’s it’s main use. I have made levels out of sleepers so it looks bigger and put large trees in pots so which hides the edges so it looks bigger. We are very overlooked so the neighbours have put a large fence in which dramatically effects the amount of light I get.

I love seeing it through the windows though. From the sofa all you see are trees and sky.

wouldnt be without it, long narrow garden, Trampoline at bottom end has been replaced with very large shed with heating and lighting which my teenage uses as a den to hang out with his mates.
Lawn area with very narrow borders, space to hang out washing, another patio area area at house end - we eat outside a lot when the weather is good. I grow a few salad crops in pots, though I have an allotment as well

My son never used or uses it aside from two years of a sandpit when he was a toddler.

Yes and I don’t use it beyond the dog and cats Having a potter every day. Youngest DC is 10 and plays out front with friends- never in garden. I don’t grow anything, I don’t drink wine or have people over for BBQs. I never use it. It’s a chore to cut the grass.

Yes, a big garden with multiple sections, trees, grass, plants... but find it far too big and unmanageable (we’re young but have zero interest in gardening!) I’d love just a little paved section, big enough for a table, bbq, and some nice potted plants.

I would hate to live in a house without a decent sized garden. I use mine less now, as the kids have grown, but my youngest has SNs and likes to have picnics in it with the cats, in the summer. The thing I like the most is the privacy it gives me. I’m an antisocial bugger. 😁

I have a small, almost courtyard garden. There is room for a table and chairs in the summer, and I can hang washing out. I grow a teeny bit of veg and herbs as well. There's a lot you can do with a small garden. There's not really room for football or bike riding, but we live just behind one of the country's biggest parks, so it's no hardship to cross the road and go there.

Mind you, I have a gardener to look after it now.

Small back yard which I am determined to do something with this summer! Just need a bit of patio, table and chairs and it'll be fine.

I have a large back garden. As I generally dislike the outdoors it doesn’t get used by me. I also dislike gardening and so have to pay a gardener just to keep it looking reasonable. We have a small decking area outside the kitchen door, with a couple of comfy chairs and a coffee table for the odd day that I actually sit outside. That small space with its chairs and a few pots of bedding plants is perfectly adequate for me. The children however have a giant football goal and trampoline in the garden which get used a lot. I think they would spend far more time indoors if they didn’t have these as we don’t live close to any parks or suitable cycling areas.

We went from a decent sized garden to fairly small one.

Decent sized one wasn't used as much as we thought as neigbour always tried to make every use unpleasant so spent more time in local parks.

Current one has some decking, gravel and few bed - mainly used for washing, eating out in summer and having patio door to open out onto in summer. It's fine especailly now children are older but if we'd realised how poor the local parks are here we might have hestiated more.

I love my tiny courtyard, but I do daydream about having a bigger garden with lawn and a tree or two. I most likely will move at some point for precisely that reason, even though I'm very happy in my current home.

We have a tiered garden with a patio, small lawn and some raised beds. Its ideal, personally I would want some outside space for a summers day/evening.

Thank you - all of you - for replying. It seems I may have temporarily forgotten the importance of a "wine spot" on a summers evening; and also where would I chuck the DC outside when they need to let off steam and I need to cook? The courtyard garden is north facing - the south side looks directly out onto a bank / cutting. It's on the edges of a particularly "woo" Forest (if you've read any of the "have you ever experienced anything particularly chilling" threads you'll know which one) so plenty of playground (not that I would let DC go alone). If you're not too "woo". Which I am.

I will continue to ponder and fully digest your responses. Thank you.

Yes but I really enjoy gardening, growing my own fruit etc. We also have cats who love being outside. I also like being able to dry my washing outside.

If you definitely won't use it then it will just become an annoying space that needs maintenance

The courtyard garden is north facing

North facing might also be an issue - depends on if it will get the sun. I know several people with north facing garden who say they'll never buy another.

We have south facing down a hill dip with walls all round - it's useable a lot more of the year to sit out in.

How big is the courtyard? You don't need much space for a wine spot. Our garden is about 6 x 4 metres I think, we have room for a nice set of patio furniture, bbq and an 8 ft pool for the kids in summer.

I like it because it's doesn't take much maintenance, just a bit of pottering every now and then. It helps if you're in a nice location and it sounds like you would be with the forest.

We have a garden. DC don't use it as much as I thought they would but it definitely gets used when friends are round and in summer to cool off in the paddling pool and to have a barbecue in. It's nice to eat out there too on hot days.

We have a garden but we rarely use it. Its basically for the dog.

The DC use it about three or four times a year - usually when they are helping us clean everything down because summer's coming and we will use the garden... but then we don't because we're just not interested in it. I like looking out at it when it has been tided up, but a picture of it would be just as much use to me.

Our old house had a small north facing pebbled ‘garden’, it was very cold in the evenings and wouldn’t have been great with children.
We have a south facing large garden now, the children have a play frame, we’ve got a shed for garden storage, and we acquired a lovely outdoor sofa so we can enjoy the summer evenings with our fire pit and wine.
It’s like another room of the house when the weather is good, and it’s invaluable for letting the toddler tire herself out too!

Garden’s a bit ambitious a word for it. It’s a yard really, a bit like Corrie. But as we’re in a (ground floor) flat we count ourselves lucky.

We use it to hang out washing, keep a shed for tools, bbq in the summer, sitting out in nice weather and as a loo for the dog.

@2020GoingForward this worries me: North facing might also be an issue - depends on if it will get the sun. I know several people with north facing garden who say they'll never buy another.

@ProfYaffle which way does yours face?

My current kitchen / diner / day to day living room is north facing and I've got depression & PTSD. My criteria for new house is "light", and I feel like it might be too big of a compromise to have a garden which only catches the sun in the morning... I suppose settling for an Irish coffee each morning instead of rosé in the evening would be frowned upon...

no garden here. so we got an allotment and put our trampoline and swings up there the kids get to play outside while the adults do the work.

I think you definitely need some kind of private outside space. Where you can sunbathe or drink wine.
I would consider a flat if it had a decent private terrace or roof garden.
Also shared courtyards are a nightmare if your neighbours are not great. I live near a terrace which is mostly shared back yards and the thought of people pulling their bins through/neighbours feral kids running through would ruin any peace!