Removing trees/plants from established garden

[Wingingit202122]

Moved into property beginning of the year and there’s a large established garden which in all honesty i want to remove.
Theres a large acer tree, bamboo tree among others
What’s the best way to go about doing this?

Wait at least a full year. It takes that long to see the garden and its plants/trees through every season and appreciate the benefits (or recognise the problems ).

If it's a council property I would call them about the rat problem, they may be prepared to help remove the pond if it's a safety or pest control concern.

The garden doesn't look overgrown from your photos, just very mature and established.

I’m not @Clymene (obvs!) but I’ve used several gardeners and landscapers over the years. I found them via local word of mouth recommendations, not ads. Again, if you do use your local FB group, ask for local recommendations there and have them come over for a quote or a chat. You’ll get a feel for them being cowboys or not (what sort of vehicle do they turn up in, do they know anything about plants?). Bear in mind that you’ll likely pay a bit more for a person with gardening knowledge than you would for a handyman type but they will cut things back appropriately, clear weeds (not plants) and dispose of the waste responsibly rather than fly tipping it (which unfortunately is something the bargain basement FB cowboys do)

That is a beautiful garden. I would just trim it back, leave the Acer along, and sell off what you don't want.

Also if you remove too much, you could find yourself quite exposed. I assume the bamboo is for screening

@brighteyesburninglikefire not really, neighbours are directly next to us and they can still see into garden from their back windows and the ones opposite are about 150ft away as our gardens back onto each other with driving space in between. the bamboo is in the 2nd quarter of the garden so just in a really random spot!

Wow. Those pictures were not what I was expecting! That looks really nice and isn't overgrown at all. Ultimately it is your garden and you can choose what to do with it but it looks nice as it is.

That sort of garden does not attract rats. The water source might. But there will be some sort of rubbish or animal feed nearby attracting them.

thankyou @LynneBenfield , i will ask around and post to my local FB group, hopefully i can find someone with actual knowledge of what they are doing

We dug put a pond and put a veg patch in its place. It’s so much better. A leaky old pond is a liability. Rotting decking is awful. Not everyone wants a garden full of ericaceous plants and quick fix bamboo.

@EmpressoftheMundane the pond is awful! there’s two parts to it to which i’ve managed to empty the larger one but the smaller one is the one covered by the bamboo and other growing plants.the decking steps over it are rotten and need removing asap
think i will need a lottery win to sort out this garden

We hired a skip and a jackhammer and did it ourselves. It was a lot of effort but worth it.

I don't think you can take down hedges or trees during nesting times. Best check on Google before you do .

The acer would cost a fortune if you were trying to buy it.

That's beautiful & the colours will change through the seasons. They don't do well cut back severely. The bamboo is fine to remove but that acer is a real specimen & it would be a shame to kill it. You don't need green fingers for trees.

I hate it when people go into mature gardens & clear them & lose all the wildlife.

dont trim bushes at this time of year i dont think,
wait until the autumn

If you posted on Facebook you’d probably get someone who wants them come out and get them. It seems to happen a lot around here.

You could just clear the foot or two at floor level but keep the rest of the plants. Not the best picture but hopefully you get the idea, just cut off the lowest branches as close to the trunk/ stem as you can (will need secateurs and small saw).
That would make the rats far more exposed and hopefully reroute them

If you are concerned about when to cut your hedges OP, take your advice from the experts:

www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/hedges/when-to-prune

Cut it back and raise the canopy by trimming the lower part right back to stems. The acer is not the problem in itself.

Not helpful but your garden is beautiful. I spy a lovely hydrangea, when that starts blooming in a few weeks it'll be even more beautiful!

Agree with this.

Your garden is a habitat for more than humans.

Foliage and plants don't attract rats. They live underground in burrows , usually near buildings.

There are humane ways to repel them with peppermint oil; easily googled.

I don't know why a child would be "terrified " of a small and likely frightened rodent, unless they were taught that way of thinking. Are they terrified of all wildlife?

There is nothing lovely about rotting wood, stagnant water and invasive species.

OP it’s your garden. If you want a sunny cottage style garden with a veg patch, do it.

I would definitely remove the pond, remove the bamboo, clear the rotting structure and then prune the bushes to see what the bones are.

I see where you're coming from OP and yes, I'd remove rotten decking and the ponds if you have kids, but the planting is actually really lovely. You need pest control rather than anything else.

I don't believe there is such thing as being green fingered.
Why not just learn what to do with your plants and restore it to its best? Then your kids will have a beautiful natural space to play in and you won't be decimenting the ecosystem that's been there for 20 years.

Why do so many posters think the OP is going to destroy the eco-system?

She hadn’t said she plans to remove everything green thing and replace with Astro-turf. I’d assume she is going to replace with plants that suit her family.

With young children, I’d assume she might want a small veg patch, a fruit tree or two some bee boxes and bee friendly flowers etc.

The garden she has is dated, overgrown, and was probably meant to be a low maintenance, pleasant place to entertain with adults in mind, when it was designed and planted up.