Getting a garden landscaped

[Letstryagainshallwe]

Has anyone had there garden dug up and just completely redone. I need this as mine is horrendous but don't think I will ever be able to afford it. How much did you pay?? Mines 40ft

We're sortof doing this.
The garden we've moved into is horrendously overgrown as the lady moved out a year before we bought the house and has enormous flower beds, One flower bed alone is 15 metres long and about 3 meters wide in places. The gardener who we have used to look after the garden for the last lady, he was here 4 mornings a week for her and still couldn't keep on top of it. We are ripping out everything and turfing, but i'm doing it bed by bed.
Gardener is doing the bulk of digging out and levelling, im redistributing plants, kept some but most are going to neighbours and the really scrappy ones are going to the tip, the shrubs are too big to be dug out and relocated so they are being chopped down.
I pay our gardener on average £200 a month (£10 an hour) and have done that since April, I'd say we've another month of digging - so end of september...so labour is £1,200
Turf....so far erm....about £300 (we could seed but have a puppy who loves to dig and do zoomies, it wouldn't survive!!)
I'm adding weed matting and gravel to lots of areas, the side paths, patio area, around the pond etc so that's another £300 on gravel

Then, of course, there's plants we do want to go in (large palm tree, row of photinia trees), we'd like a pergola and outdoor lighting, a raised bed along the front (there's a dip between roadside verge and our garden so I need sleepers to have a clear edge to our lawn plus fencing all around.
I am making do with the patio, paths and existing hard landscaping and working my design in around
We've about another £7k to spend. so I think we'll be on about £9k by the time we've done everything.
I did look at getting a landscape gardener in and he wanted £3k just for the designs - im sure i'll make mistakes along the way which a professional wouldn't but im enjoying going at my pace. Im taking all the rubbish to the tip, about 3 runs a week (and I've a ford ranger so can fit 3 builders ton bags in the back) so that saves on a skip.

If the garden is really bad perhaps get someone in to clear and dig over, put turf down so it's manageable and presentable then build your garden up slowly?
Thinking if your garden is 40ft that's what 12 metres? Assuming 12 metres square and turf at £4.5 a metre (it ranges here between £3.50-£5) that's about £650 in turf

Dug up, levelled, patios, fences, planting, lighting, turf. Not massive garden but awkward shape. 10k in SE.

Dug up, patio, decking, raised beds, new lawn - best part of £15k.

We're on a slope so odd shape. Didn't level the lawn & got my bro who's a joiner to fit a large patio area in composite decking-I LOVE it more than anything.

Also have 3 large graduated raised beds made of sleepers, stuffed with flowers. May be a little in denial at price of plants as I love them but circa £7k

Oh right well won't be able to afford it for sure then. It's council property anyway so I won't be putting that much money into it. It's just totally unusual though. A complete mess.

Do you just mean returfed so it's a new lawn? That's not so bad but easier if you sow seeds for lawn. If that's what you're after I'm not sure on price but I'd take a stab at £350

Do you have concrete to break up and remove? Any existing defined areas - patio, lawn etc?

This is the garden. Told you it was bad! There is a huge drain in the middle of the patio. Then two knee high walls that cut the garden in half. Then one side is a small area of grass then the other side is a crazy uneven patio but as it's on a slight slope the patio is all uneven and unusable as in you can walk or place anything on it as it isn't flat so we only get use out of the first half of the garden which is only 15ft and the massive drain takes up a lot of it. Told you it was bad! It's actually the worst garden I've seen.

Interesting project

Do you have any photos?

Is decking an option for the wonky patio? I have no experience but thought decking was supposed to be reasonably budget friendly and even something you can do yourself if you're DIY minded.

How is the condition of the other areas? Could the big patio benefit from a pressure wash? I managed to borrow from a family member to do mine It's come up much brighter.
How's the lawn? Could it benefit from a mow and some weed, feed and mosskiller? Wilko do a good one.

Which direction does the garden face? Does it get much sun? Are you able to keep the trees pruned back/ remove lower branches if they're crowding the lawn?

Do you have any existing planting? Would you like flowerbeds? Large pots with evergreen centrepieces are very effective on patios and low-maintenance. Maybe you could come up with a creative solution to cover the drain cover, something that can be moved if need be. I'm thinking a garden rug (or even a small circle of astroturf?!) with a group of big statement-y pots on top.

If you don't think you're going to be there long term it's probably unwise to invest too much. Think along the lines of low cost improvements (as mentioned above) or portable items that you can take to your next place e.g. pots and planters, garden furniture/ bistro set.

If you want to splash out a bit a freestanding wooden arch with planters at either end might work at the start of the path and frame your larger patio. It would add a bit of height and interest and create a focal point. Would also partially obscure the garden beyond so that you can focus on improving things in the foreground before tending to the areas beyond:

here

Re. Drain/manhole cover you could transform a pallet or build something similar out of decking boards:

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/56/2b/b9/562bb9589462d836b2b007fbb7996ad5.jpg&imgrefurl=www.pinterest.dk/pin/14636767517662421/&h=314&w=236&tbnid=xtmdy9yM3PRaaM&tbnh=251&tbnw=188&usg=__S46tfa8D2g62ptHk_Ykvyuhqo8E=&docid=WShU9wBhm3SXyM&itg=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">like this

Place one or two big planters on top and voila, a focal point for your patio that can be moved when access to the drain is required.

Oh thanks a lot for the advice!! Especially to cover the drain as it has really been a nuisance! The garden is south west facing but the trees are quite big at the back so does block out the sun quite abit. There isn't any flowers at the moment but was I was looking into getting some to brighten it up a bit.