Cheap, quick and easy ways to smarten up my garden before we get evicted?

[Gammeldragz]

Hi, we rent and the landlord has complained about the state of the garden. Rightly so, it's crap (though it was when we moved in, we've slightly landscaped it since) and I've been moaning to DH for years about it - he is/was a gardener by trade and never wanted to sort ours out, which I get but... Anyway. Rear fence is being replaced by landlord next week, we have a week to make it look OK. Obviously first step is sort the grass (can't really call it a lawn) out. Weed the patio.
We've got bamboo growing up the side of the steps which I hate as it just looks messy and gets in the way so I cut/hack it down every few months but it just comes back. It really makes it look messy but DH reckons it's very hard to kill.

What can I do quickly and cheaply that will make it look less shit and more like we actually care? Budget is around £100! Any advice would be great, thanks in advance.

Your husband is a gardener and should really pull his finger out - I get not wanting to spend hours but seriously a bit won’t have been too difficult!

Now I’d sweep up the bottom patio bits and if he/you have access to a pressure washer clean the tiles and stairs. Hack back everything along the stairs and clear up all the rubbish lying around. Along the front of that little fence, i’d get loads of bedding plants and a bag of bark and plant them up. You could also use whatever’s left of the bark to hide the bamboo bits and perhaps put a plant over it in a nice pot. Get rid of the plastic table and perhaps splash out on a nicer small set.

SHouldnt take too long and can be done within budget.

Thanks, I was definitely thinking of ditching the old plastic furniture and maybe getting a cheap new patio set. We do have a jet wash, so that can be done, will it make any difference? We did it once when we moved in as it was all mossy and black.
DH reckons the couch grass will come up through anything I try and put over the bed at the front (it and the bindweed keep attacking my herbs!) but I'll suggest bark chips.

table and chairs for £35

For my beds I cleared it all off and then put down a couple of sheets of newspaper then bark chips on top. We had a bit of bindweed problem but the odd one that pops through is easy to deal with tbh. We planted by just popping a hole through the newspaper and then re-covered with a bit more bark.

As an aside, what is your husbands plan? He seems determined to just say its not going to work but he must know that’s not true. Loads of people turn overrun gardens round - it requires effort at first but is doable.

It’s really not too bad, all the basics are there - fence , patio etc, you just need to cut the grass cut back the hedges/bushes, get rid of the tables, bbq etc and pressure wash.

I don’t see the bamboo in your picture, where is it? Can you dig it out completely? I dug up a pampas grass, after cutting it back. It took about four hours, though. Not had bindweed, so not sure about that.

Aside from that, this really does not need much work. Mow the lawn, weed the patio and stairs and turn the long narrow space in front of the little fence into a flower bed. A mixture of perennials (which will grow back next year) and bedding plants (which won’t, but will add colour) will look nice, bark around them to prevent weeds. In the autumn, plant daffodil bulbs.

I would be really happy if this was all my garden needed.

Easily doable virtually for free! Mow the lawn and strim the edges (if you don't have a strimmer then use shears)
Weed the patio and steps and sweep up

Power wash the paving and steps.

Put down cardboard on the narrow bed (I think it's a bed, behind the wee wooden edging?) and add a good thick layer of bark / wood chip mulch on top (your husband should have contacts with a landscaper who can give you a couple of bags of shredded green waste for free) or if you plan to plant it up in the future mulch it with good compost / well rotted manure and the weeds will be suppressed and you'll have a good planting bed by next spring.

Buy some patio pots from home bargains / Wilko and plant some colourful bedding plants or small shrubs - line them up along the mulched bed and some on the steps.

Glyphosate will kill the bamboo if you paint it on concentrated.
Chuck out any rubbish and the crappy table.

It doesn't have to look great for ever more, just tidy for the inspection and easy to keep going forward.

As a landlord all I really want is for a tenant to keep things neat and tidy.
So:
Cut the grass regularly (say weekly in summer)
Trim back plants on a regular basis so they don’t become overgrown
Regular weeding
Keep patio type areas clean and free of junk.
Water the green stuff if it needs it.

Anything above that is for your enjoyment really

The bamboo grows all up the left side of the steps, I hacked it all down a few weeks ago so it isn't really visible in those photos, it's just messy sticks if you look closely. Can't dig it out as it's kind of wedged in a tiny gap between the steps and fence but also comes up between the steps. It's very persistent!

DH had planned to do some kind of no dig lasagne gardening up the top to grow veg in, but he's not been well and nothing has happened. It was dug over a few years ago when he went through an inspired phase but then it was left over winter and he lost interest. He tends towards grand plans that never happen (bipolar/depression!) where as I would rather small fixes that actually make a difference... However this has spurred him into action and Sunday he will be doing tip runs, cutting the grass and tidying up what he can.

All this advice has been great, thank you! I will focus on the furniture, storage and maybe some plants in pots, leaving DH the cutting and jet washing etc.

surfnturf thanks, your tips make it sound simple and achieveable! The little fence was meant to separate the front bed behind the wall from the upper level and there's a path between as the upper bit was going to be vegetable beds. Back when DH was all motivated and full of grand ideas! We did grow some veg there one year (even had sweetcorn!) but unfortunately it has been neglected for the last few years.

more that does sound like I could do that in an afternoon, I'll grab some sacks of bark and see what I can do. I'd like more herbs in that bed really as I'm not a flowers person, but some colour would be nice!

It is totally doable - the worst bit is thinking about it. I can easily get overwhelmed if thinking about the whole of it, but once you get going it’ll soon be done.

We have sage growing in one of our beds - it has beautiful flowers, as does chives. I’ve also got ferns and hostas which are low maintenance and fairly fast growing but manageable.

Good luck!

more thank you. Yes it's been overwhelming for a while and that's the problem, occasionally I do a bit but within a week it looks crap again. The sage did have flowers but it was also dying so DH cut them off last week as he said the plant was using energy on them and needed to recover or something... Shame as they were pretty! Had thyme but that died. As did the lavender but I may buy a few more as they are cheap and smell lovely.

When we rented, the landlord paid for a regular gardener. I thought that was normal?

molly I've rented 5 places so far and no gardener included. I have a lot of friends and relatives who rent and none of them have had a gardener either.
I do occasionally threaten DH that I will get a gardener, but I am really just hoping he retaliates by threatening to get a cleaner

Guess ours was unusual.
Very handy though!

Four hours work by three of us... Fence will be replaced this week and DH has agreed that we can stain it all when it's done.

Looks loads better!

Looking good OP.

Well done! It looks much better.

Wow ,that's amazing . Pat yourselves on the back !

Stop cutting the bamboo it makes it spread further and furtherI.

Get artificial grass! No need to cut it, no need to water or re-seed it and it looks great all year round. We used Maze Grass because they have a 10 year guarantee which most places don't!

Hard work OP. Looks good.

When I saw your first post I was going to say it just needed some tidying..well done OP

I would be tempted to plant some herbs along the bit at the top of the wall.