AIBU to rip out a beautiful garden in potential house?

[Mum2HC]

Looking at new house - only one we like. Owner is an older couple who have spent years creating a garden worthy of an National Trust property!! The issue is we do not enjoy gardening and do not want to have to pay a gardener to keep all the flowers in check. Would it be awful to take out half the gardens flowers and replace with grass? It is 0.8 acre so a very big garden and our children would much prefer all turf to play football etc. It would feel almost criminal to do it but we don't want the upkeep - they also have a large rose garden which we would rather take out and have a vegetable garden. Is this all just too much?! It is the only house we like in our ideal location. It must be a full time job to look after it!!

Fake post.

There is so much emotion on in this thread. Ultimately you are engaging in a commercial transaction here. If the house and location is right you owe nothing to the sellers re maintaining their garden. It has probably been a source of joy for them for years and I suspect they know it will change once they sell. My dad has a similar level of garden. It is beautiful but I’m under no pretence that anyone else will keep it that way once he sells.

It’s very sad because that garden is a sanctuary for wildlife as well as the result of a lot of love and hard work. I don’t think a house with a large garden is the best choice for you. If you could be bothered you could change the planting style to something lower maintenance over time, but if you just don’t appreciate a beautiful garden you won’t put that effort in.

www.gardenersworld.com/reviews/lawn-care/best-robotic-mowers/

No nieces or loos mentioned, so I'm giving this one the benefit of the doubt. It is quite frothy though, tbf.

It is appalling how little safeguard there is for garden land like this. I would say parcel the excess land off and sell it to someone who will care for it but whoever bought it would bulldoze it and put four executive hones cheek by jowl in the space. Then put some manicured bush in a planter by the car parking to stop it looking too barren.

I have heard of arrangements where keen gardeners will maintain it as a kind of private allotment but it would be quite difficult for you to make that work in your circumstances.

People destroy beautiful gardens so their children can play football on their own private land, or so their dog can shit on it, or so they can pave and put plastic rugs down and vacuum the patio like it's their living room and there's buggerall anyone can do about it.

I hate gardens, gardening, plants, all the vermin like chirpy, annoying birds and suchlike

oh my goodness. I get some people don’t enjoy actually gardening, but hating gardens and birdsong?

Why would you not buy the perfect house just because you may not be able to keep the garden pristine? who is to say that another buyer might not pave over it. I think you would be crazy to let the house go just because of that reason. There was a house and garden near us that was, to me, a monstrosity of shells, the whole house and garden was covered in shells, people came from miles to see it. The owners died, the new owners took down every shell from every surface and paved the garden. It was their garden to do with as they wished. Some people were horrified and tried to protest but none of their business.

Wow, that's a bit rude. The OP ASKED, and people have responded with their opinions and views. No need to call people idiots!

I know right. Calling birds 'vermin.' This place sometimes!

Plus all the PPE for that equipment that will end you unless you are protected and can use it properly. Thinking chainsaw. Of course if you get a gardener they should have all that stuff.

Apart from the wildlife issue, the reality is that most people would strip offensive wallpaper without hesitation, so why not do the same to a garden ?

Much as people might wish to bemoan the lost of wildlife habitat, it is really small beer in the 100,000 square miles of the UK. Even if every person removed their garden, such a small % of the UK is actually built on that it would probably make a negligible difference to biodiversity. Wildlife is best left in the wild IMO.

Still I can't bring myself to evict the frogs who have been in my place longer than I have.

One can live in hope!😂

You do realise that people are 'precious' about gardens because we literally need these little critters to polinate most of what we eat right? It's fine if it isn't your thing and yes you can do whatever you want with your land but please don't look down on people because they actually have a basic understanding of how the food chain works.

Robot lawnmower?

I'm surprised by the responses here. I'm a very keen and biodiversity-minded gardener and I wouldn't choose to do this, but if you buy the house you can do what you like- absolutely nothing to do with the old owners. And a garden with decent beds (still half the garden) and a lawn isn't the end of the world - it's not like you're putting fake grass down.

Lots of ways you can make your lawn more eco-friendly and they're all low effort. Mix in a bit of clover and camomile. Let daisies, buttercups and dandelions come up. Don't mow so often. Don't water so often. It's the perfectly mown, grass-only lawns that are the worst.

With the flowers you keep, you can focus on the ones that are best for wildlife- tends to be the native plants which are also the ones that tend to need least care, heaven be praised!

Much more measured post. Of course no-one has to keep the garden as it is when they buy a new home, but the OP ASKED what people think of her ripping out a beautiful garden, and people responded. Most people think it's an outrageous thing to do, so yeah, people are emotional... (Especially those of us who love our garden and its serenity and beauty and all the flowers and birds.)

I think it's a shame to do that and would never do it, and think as she hates gardening, why buy a home with a garden that is almost an acre in size?

I'm entitled to my opinion - without being called an idiot, and without people telling the OP to ignore my posts.

They want the house, they just need the garden to work for the children.

YES! I saw one of these doing its work on a massive lawn someone has on the other side of the village yesterday. It looked so funny! 😆 Bit pricey mind you... And I bet they need charging up regularly.

uk.worx.com/landroid-m500-plus-robot-mower-up-to-500m2-wr165e/

Buy it and do what you want. It's in the right location and sounds like it will be a good house for your family.

We have a much smaller garden, which DH spends hours each week sorting out. I fully expect that, if and when we sell, an incoming family will take out the trees and flowerbeds to put in a lawn, trampoline etc. And that's just fine

Don't underestimate the work required in looking after 0.8 even if the majority is turfed. If you're certain that the location is perfect and you can manage a garden that size then go for it.
Do weigh up the cost of a gardener vs the cost of landscaping the (majority of) plot.
Do think about the size of lawn your kids will actually play on - they don't need half a football pitch - and keeping some established beds may turn out to be a fairly minimial maintenance option (compared to anything else with a large garden).
Don't mention your turf plans to the couple up front, after exchange you could mention that you plan to dedicate some of the area for kids to kick a ball around and offer them to remove their favourite plants.
That garden looks beautiful and a really interesting place for kids to play and explore in.

My friend on a farm down the road has one. It drives my dog mad! But they are very good these days and can mow a large area.

Or get a goat.

I haven’t had time to RTFT but for what it’s worth: 0.8 of an acre is a BIG garden if you do not like gardening. A few of our neighbours have gardens that size and it actually puts off prospective buyers as many simply do not want the maintenance. It’s fine to grass over if that is better for you but honestly, it sounds like you’d be better off finding a house with a more manageable garden.

Oh yeah, do this @Mum2HC - GET A GOAT - if you do get the house, and end up 'lawning' it all.

I'm sure that's not the right word, (lawning) but I can't think what is! 😆

I do agree with pps that 0.8 of an acre is BIG. We have half an acre, and that's a lot! Hard work, but I love it.

You do what you need to do. I know for me, I would do absolutely nothing, it would go to rack and ruin and then I'd spend a few days ripping it all out. I also couldn't keep up with gardening like that, as beautiful as it is.

Maybe some shrubbery would be easier to maintain than flowers?

The people who bought my family home did this and literally sieved a 200 plus year old garden! It might sound dramatic but the visual trauma was one of the most traumatic things in a very horrible part of my life. My parents loved their garden and it was home to all sorts of wildlife.

Once you buy a property you can obviously do what you like and I was expecting new owners would make changes to it but such destruction was on another level. If you like the house then I would say live in the garden for a year first and work out what you need from the space - a well planned established garden can be less upkeep than a veg garden and more fun/pleasing than just grass. I would have also appreciated the opportunity to take/giveaway more plants etc!