Removing flags to gain a 'proper' garden--I posted in chat and have been directed here (thank you)!

[thewitchery]

I've just bought my 'forever home' (I am single and childfree).
When I first got my eye on the house, the garden was lovely, a lawn, loads of bushes and shrubs, buzzing with bees and butterflies.

Come to it being on the market and the previous occupants have flagged the whole thing (😡).

I would probably keep just a small 'path' of flags in the middle to give myself a non-wet and muddy walkway in the colder seasons but otherwise I want rid of the lot of them as they look a twat awful IMO.

I am on a low income in my 'main' job although I do regularly pick up well-paying freelance work. The latter is sporadic so if possible I want to do this frugally.

Suggestions from friends include advertising the flags for 'Free to person who removes' as they can work out quite expensive and people might want them.
I could also just splash out and get someone in to sort out the lot.

Or pay someone just to remove the flags-I'd rather they went to someone because even though I personally hate them, as far as flags go they're a nice colour and they're fairly new.

And then what, once they're removed am I being silly to think I could just rake the ground and stick some lawn seed down and do some planting and that's that?

This situation is not my forte at all. Has anyone ever DIY'd a situation like this?

(On the post in 'chat' others have informed me that I will likely need to remove a lot of sand, too. The flags are cemented down).

do you have a photo?

I just saw someone in Instagram today who is doing their garden with flags they got for free off FB. Maybe advertise but give yourself a limit before you just get someone to remove them.

there is probably a layer of gravel and the sand underneath. You generally don’t just chuck paving on top of grass.

Not of the whole thing, but this is the gist of what it all looks like.

I guess it is a thing that people do! But I don't think I could remove them myself.

I've had free rocks from a rockery before! Caveat is I had to go and take them off the rockery as they were too heavy for the owner, but this is a bit more complicated.

I am guessing not very attractive gravel either!

Those I. The first phot don’t look like they are bedded into cement, they will probably lift straight up

As that is a properly laid patio from the right hand photo, I'd expect it to be laid on some hardcore (depending on drainage in your area) and then gravel with sand on top.

That would need digging out and carting away before getting some topsoil in to plant into. You might need a skip for the sand and gravel.

A cheap temporary (a few years) alternative is to put lots of raised planters and pots with shrubs in to provide greenery for the first few years before you get workmen in to clear it. I have a sizable paved area before the lawn and beds start. I have 4 small trees, loads of flowering shrubs and planters full of spring bulbs in to make it lovely and colourful near the house before the garden proper starts.

I would start by taking up one and seeing what is underneath.

I will try all of them again once It's light. I have tried with a couple though and they were very firmly not shifting unfortunately! Maybe you're right and they haven't stuck all of them.

If its been laid properly there will be a significant sub base to also remove. The good news is that few people have them laid properly. So @CatherinedeBourgh suggestion of lifting one or two up and seeing what's underneath is absolutely your starting point.

Near here we have some charities that do this kind of work as they employ reformed addicts. Might be worth a google to see if there are any similar initiatives where you are?

That sounds lovely. I guess my main concern is if it is possible to get the flags up myself (or with 'normal' people's help rather than a team of tradespeople) or if I am going to have to have professionals in.

I would love some small trees and shrubs.

Thank you, that's a great idea, I would love to give something back. I will try to lift some, as above I have tried before (albeit not with all of them) and they were all firmly cemented down, you can see around them that they are but perhaps they've not done this for the whole of the space.

Here is what it looks like on a sunny June day (with bonus ginger cat)

The standard advice for gardens is to bide your time. Don't rush anything.

Live with the flagstones for a summer. Meanwhile get some colourful pots to liven things up a bit. Learn about your garden - how the sun falls, what soil you have (hopefully neighbour will know!), etc. Plan your design for the replacement garden. Then next year put it all into action.

That's lovely, Justin.

As I said, OP, don't rip out the old until you have planned what will replace it. The garden will need height so get some young trees growing in pots (like in Justin's photo) so you will have a head-start when you come to plant up. Smaller trees (bought now) are cheaper than bigger trees (not bought next year).

Sorry meant she (as in the person who took them) got them for free but had been responsible for taking them up and away so you wouldn't have to do anything.

Thanks, @senua - I do have photos with things all in bloom but the laptop and photos aren't currently speaking to each other so I grabbed the first I could get work.

@thewitchery , as senua says it's good to know where the sun and shade and windy bits are so taking things slowly can help. That's great thing about containers - you can move them around all over the place and work out what is happiest where, and experiment with colour combinations.

You can absolutely get people to take them away for free. Especially as they are new and clean. I advertised gravel for free, after checking with a contractor and it would have been hundreds of pounds. I could have got rid of it 100 times over. People took the shrubs too. I was given a dwarf pear tree by one man as a thank you and they are delicious every year.

I've checked them all today and they're very firmly cemented down unfortunately. I guess someone with the right tools could still remove them.

That looks beautiful. I love your gazebo (is that what that is?) too. Puss obviously approves. 😊

Yes, the gazebo makes our spring and summer dining room. We eat outside so much of the time.

Can’t offer advice on the cementing side of things but just to let you know I did the exact same in my front garden, the whole of it was cement flags and I hated it, took up all of them minus the path to the gate (we took a sledgehammer to them) and paid a company to come and pick them up for disposal.

luckily for us it was a fairly bodge job and underneath was soil, so we just lay topsoil on top, turned it over and and turfed it ourselves. Took a year or so to settle but looks great now.

I'm single and have had my own house and garden for a couple of years now. Do not underestimate what a massive pain it is to cut grass, weed and mulch flowerbeds etc etc. Especially as you are the only person doing everything around the house and garden, you want it to be as easy to keep as possible. Keep the flagstones and put pots on them as others have suggested. Maybe a raised bed or two in the future. Container gardening is much, much easier.

I could compromise and leave some of the flags-It's a good point about the ease of taking care of pots rather than a lawn and beds.

What would you pay someone to take flags up, hypothetically? A friend of mine has offered to do it for me. He's said as they're cemented it may not be possible to do it without breaking at least some of them. He's offered it as a favour but I want to pay him.