At wits end with back garden

[Hopper123]

Am really stuck at what to do with back garden. We are a corner plot house and have one garden on the side which has taken 4 years but is finally in a good state, lawn is OK and my plants have finally started blooming and growing well this took a lot of work. When we first moved in the back part of our garden, which is at the back of the house and a really odd shape with funny angles, was just filled in with these tiny pebbles which the kids who were tiny at the time just kept trying to eat. The plan then was to just get rid of the gravel and put lawn down, we hired a team of guys to come and dig out the gravel for us as it is quite a large space and was just too much work for us at the time. This landscaping company essentially took the decorative pebbles off the top and then left the crappy ones underneath as they said it was too many tons of stones to take away. Because of that we just put a ground cover down and laid playbark on top. Which has been great as kids have swings etc round there. Now at a point where the bark needs relaying, and I have recently dug round the edges and laid sleepers down to try to make a border to put pots etc on as back is just looking depressing and scruffy. But now I'm wondering if I should just dig down, get rid of all the gravel and put lawn seed down and let nature do its thing? We always thought we might patio eventually so thought keeping the stones underneath would help with that but we were quoted 10 grand to patio that area and that's just not doable for us. It's going to take me forever to get rid of the stones and how do I even get rid of them? Any tips on tools/removal/creating a lawn that does not require megabucks would be appreciated.

You can probably put turf down on top of the stone if you really want. Do some research on that, though.

Have you got a photo? I would also think you can plant on top of the stones rather than try to remove it all. You might need some soil on top, but essentially you've probably got a garden with really good drainage and there will be plants that will be happy with that. Right plant, right place. Look up plants suitable for a gravel garden, or Mediterranean style planting as these need less fertile soil and free draining medium which is what you will have if you put soil on top of stones.

Also what do you mean by ground cover? Was it weed suppressing fabric? If you you'll need to remove this if you want things to be able to take root.

I’ve done two similar jobs in my house, one was moving a patio that was made out of gravel and looked awful, the other was digging out a large flower bed which had been filled with kerb stones and the remains of the old drive (this was much worse than dealing with the gravel). I used a wheelbarrow, a fork, a shovel and occasionally a pickax. The key was doing it over a period of time and having a skip. We laid grass where the gravel had been and planted up the flower bed. I would not advise grass seed for a large area, but laying turf is easy as long as you prep the ground and make it level.

Yes it was weed suppressing fabric.

I think there's a layer of weed surpressing fabric under the bark we put on top of stones but have a suspicion there might also be some under all of previous occupants gravel 😫 I'm guessing that will have to all come up then

I think you could take up the bark and the weed fabric, add a layer of topsoil and then turf on top?

Why take up the weed blanket? Just leave it and plant above it. I agree with PP that turf might be a better bet in your circumstances.

Could you dig holes in the gravel and groundcover fabric and plant shrubs and trees, make a small patio for bbq. Leave it gravel or bark.

A photo and dimensions would really help

Nature doing it's thing is basically brambles.

You don't have to remove the fabric but personally I wouldn't like the thought of it there and I just prefer to do things properly. It'll never decompose, worms won't be able to move through it. I know not everybody cares about things like this!

Do you have access to the back garden from the front?
I would hire someone with a mini digger (the guy I use charge £450 a day for him, the digger, a helper and a tipper/hopper)
Look/ask on your local facebook page for such a person. You don’t need a so called landscaper. You just have to be super clear a firm about what you want and what you want them to do.
Hire a skip (I pay £290 for an 8 yard skip from the local company)
Lower the one end of the skip and let them excavate down with the mini digger, dump the gravel and bark chips in the skip.
Buy bulk topsoil, deliver to your driveway and barrow it in.
You can totally do this yourself.
Perfect time of year for doing this coming up too!
Look at past designs of chelsea flower show show gardens for layout ideas. Pick one that you like and scale it up or down to fit your space.
Good luck.

Oh god, so true! And docks, creeping buttercup, herb robert, nettles and dandelions.

Could you change the vision from lawn to the sort of area that grows plants that like thin, poor soil? Many native meadow plants are like this. I recently saw a fantastic meadow of wild flowers that were thriving because growing on old builders rubble with just a thin layer of soil on top. Gravel gardens also grow plants like verbenas - including that lovely wavy purple flower - and evening primrose, etc. They need to be in the sun, though.

Ahh it's quite a shady dark but of garden at the back. I might look further into the turf and just take up the bark and fabric we put down. Thanks everyone for advice. Pics probably wouldn't help at the moment as we are having a nightmare with getting fencing done, we have a huge stretch of fence and garden is covered with tools and the old fence so wouldn't be that helpful.