ugly concrete yard woes

[yellowgladys]

Any ideas how I can cheaply transform my very ugly back yard? It's quite large - c. 10m x 5m of crumbling old concrete. I've done what I can with planting - I have big raised beds and pots, but there's still SO MUCH CONCRETE! I guess I'm looking for a cheap way that I can landscape it somehow. I rent, and the landlord isn't going to pay to dig it up and put in a lovely lawn, I don't have much of a budget myself, but if there's a cheap way I could put something on top of it, I'd do it, as it would really cheer me up.

[yellowgladys]

You are all brilliant, my yard is transformed with bargain shrubs, big cheap pots (wish I'd known about the wheeled bases before I planted!) and some huge outdoor plastic rugs. It is just so much nicer, thanks everyone :-) I'm going to look out for a large old mirror, that's a great idea.

[wobblywonderwoman]

Great news - can we see a snippet of a photo. Sounds great. If it identifies you don't worry about it

[Kr1stina]

Stop being so reasonable wobbly - we DEMAND a photo

[wobblywonderwoman]

OK .. We DEMAND a photo

Bet its lovely

[Kr1stina]

[JasperDamerel]

If I post of photo of my embarrassingly horrible and neglected concrete front garden could you lot give me suggestions? Other than the obvious of getting rid of the remains of the building work and cleaning everything.

[JasperDamerel]

In fact, I will be brave and share a picture of it in the current state of neglect. The driveway is useful for visitors/resale, but usually empty as we don't have a car.

[traviata]

jasper you could start by getting some sacks of manure/ mushroom compost and tipping them on the surface so the worms start to pull them down, and you will have lovely soil when you come to plant.

what look are you after?
how much maintenance are you willing to do?
where are you in the UK & what conditions? (coastal/north or south/windy/urban etc)
do you know if your soil is acidic or alkaline?

In general terms I would always say get a small tree or two (eg crab apple, weeping pear, flowering cherry, sorbus), a couple of small shrubs, plenty of spring bulbs, and some lower level frothy edging such as heucheras or alchemilla.

[JT05]

I know it's a chore, but you must get rid of the grass between the slabs! The only successful way is to hand weed it. ( the voice of experience ) unless you are ok with chemicals. If you hand weed you can plant something like thyme or camomile, which will grow in the gaps, keep out the weeds and smell lovely.

[JT05]

Oh, also make a bin hide on the bit of concrete to the left of the picture. There are loads of examples on Pininterest.