B&Q Unloved Gardens feedback thread. Non-testers: add your unloved garden comments - £150 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This thread is for the 20 Mumsnetters who have been chosen by B&Q to revamp their unloved garden.

Those selected have been sent a B&Q giftcard to buy the things they need to give their unloved garden a makeover. They're working to complete the makeover by the 28th, and will be keeping us up-to-date on how their revamps are going on this thread as well as posting photos.

Please do follow their stories and add your own comments if you want to show some support!

Below are the questions we'd like testers to answer but please feel free to add your own comments too. Please give us a bit of info about the garden you're revamping and what you plan to do with it in your response.

• Why is your unloved garden unloved? What do you want to change about it? What has stopped you until now?
• Where did you get your inspiration for doing up the garden from? What sort of style are you going for etc?
• Have you had much help along the way with the revamp? If so, who from? And what sort of help - practical or ideas-based?
• How did you find your shopping experience at B&Q? Were the staff helpful? Did you find anything in store you maybe didn't expect to beforehand?
• Did you use any of the help and advice that B&Q offer? This includes their videos on YouTube, leaflets and classes in store etc. If so, how useful was that help and advice?
• If B&Q could do anything more to help you next time you visit, what would it be?
• Have you had any feedback on what you've done with the garden from family/friends? Has the transformation had a big impact on you and/or your family?

If you're not an official tester but would like to be in with a chance of winning a £150 B&Q giftcard, please post on this thread to tell us about your own garden revamp successes (or failures!) - we'd love to hear from all MNers who have a garden makeover story to share!

Thanks very much
MNHQ

We are just not natural gardeners. I swear we have spent more trying to grow vegetables than we spend buying t
Veg from the shops.

And we've killed off more plants than I care to remember.

I'm coming to the realisation that our garden gets fairly inclement weather but it's So hard to work out how to make it a success especially now money is too tight to waste on something that could be dead by spring.

Roma, sorry I missed your question; no I?m not, just have a tendency to know odd things! Impressed by the pile of work waiting for you there.

Another late night here, quick piccie of ds up ladder armed with laser level and oil pastel (won't wash of if it rains) marking out how far we're painting to tomorrow. (Neighbours don't want their bit painted)

Investigated the telescopic painting brushes but none of them extend far enough to use from a wheel chair, so it will be a long pole, gaffa tape, and a standard roller tomorrow.

I keep trying to plant half-dead plants. I know how to choose a healthy plant, they were beautiful when I bought them...but then spent the next month forgotten in their pot.

TBH it's amazing that anything survives its passage through my garden gate, let alone thrives in my garden!

Well, have woken up for Paving Day. It's chucking it down! Unless it stops very soon, pavers won't be laid today. Nor will walls be painted. And I bet the stabilising solution dh painted on the walls at 9pm last night has bloomin' washed off.

DoingIt - I was surprised at how much sand and cement was needed for such a small space. The yard isn't that big... Am wondering if we've got space for the chairs and table we bought tbh.

Doodle & Iloce, have you tried a pyracantha? Years ago I planted one that grew up a trellis. It was planted in a breezeblock planter we hastily constructed and filled with compost. It's reached 7ft, is evergreen and takes minimal effort. It has fab red berries in winter as well so attracts birds. I can count on the fingers of one hand how often I've watered it. And the planter was on concrete, so it's not as though the roots had anywhere to go. I chopped it back to look neater and be able to move with trellis so I could paint walls but it s in one of my pics below

That sounds interesting thanks. We don't have the money this month but it's worth banking the suggestion in my brain thank you!

I'm too busy landscaping to do much updating!

I work freelance, so apart from Tuesday this week when I had to work a full day, I have kept my diary fairly empty this week so I only have to do an hour or two of work in the morning, and then have been in the garden until about 8 at night. I am knackered, ache in many strange places, and my hands are soaking up handcream like a sponge.

So this is Sunday. DH and I spent the whole day laying out and mortaring in the concrete blocks for the beds. I did get some good advice both from a builder and from the man I spoke to at B&Q to use concrete blocks rather than breeze blocks. The breeze blocks are only about 10p per block cheaper but they are about half the weight of the concrete ones. You can also cut breeze blocks to shape really easily with a saw. The only problem is that they will suck up moisture like a sponge if they come into contact with soil, and so are prone to cracking and splitting if there is a frost. Also, they are no good for rending and painting, as the water gets into the bricks and causes the render and paint to flake off.

On Monday DH was back to work and I had lots of little errands to run, so didn't make much progress in the garden. I did get one of the beds rendered, and made the backs to the seats. These I have made out of breeze block as they will not be below soil level and I needed to be able to cut them.

I had a trip back to B&Q as I discovered that I had bought about 3 times as much concrete as I needed. I have got the quantities about spot on for the sharp sand and builders sand, but we had used only 5 of the 25 bags of cement for all of the footings and mortaring. As the bags were unopened and undamaged, B&Q had no problem with me taking them back for a refund. The car was just about ok with carrying 15 bags but was riding really low, so I was somewhat nervous going over the speed bumps outside our B&Q store!

I got a credit note of over £50, and then went back in store to pick up a few other things I needed, including a new plant pot for the Christmas tree I have in a pot, some grass seed, copper anti-slug/snail tape, weed-proof fabric, and some stuff for painting. Bizarrely, the total of the new stuff I bought came to within 9p of the refund I had just obtained!

I made good progress yesterday and got all the rest of the rending done.

The only thing that I am not happy with from yesterday's efforts is the backs to the seats I have made. I very carefully cut these rounded backs from the breeze blocks i have been using, but now think that they are too fussy, and that a straight line would give a cleaner, more modern look.

What do you think? It would be easy enough for me to saw the bumps off and re-render the backs, and unless the MN vote convinces me otherwise I will do this later today.

My main job for today is to make the smaller beds using some reclaimed materials. I have a metal fire surround that came out of our living room when I tiled around the fireplace instead, and a metal picture frame that was left in the old shed by the last owners of our house. I am using these and some old bricks that were in the garden, along with some glass bottles to make some small beds.

OK, I'm currently getting some crappy customer service from Wickes, from whom I ordered the slate chipping. When I placed the order in the Kingston branch on Monday morning I was told that they would be able to deliver this Thursday or Friday, so I booked for Friday. I have just had a phone call to say that they need 7 days for delivery, so can't deliver before Monday, and in fact it will be Tuesday that the delivery will happen, as it is sent out from their Twickenham store, which doesn't get a delivery itself until Monday.

After escalating this to the managers of the two stores, I have established that their store in Hanwell, which is only 10 miles from my house, does in fact have 6 bags in stock. However, I am outside their normal delivery area, so they are being reluctant to arrange delivery from there.

I have said that it is not good enough that they cannot delivery on Friday, and that I expect them to arrange for this to happen, or I will find the cheapest option elsewhere who can do next day delivery and will charge them the difference.

Watch this space!

the final burn yesterday

Ground zero

Been at Band q this morning and we have spent the lot!
had excellent service in store. even Tracy redeemed herself by being patient and ringing up our 10 million items with patience and a smile.
Today i have to work, but tom,orrow is manure distribution day.And I have all my lavenders! 20 of em. Excited!!

Thankfully, thr rain stopped. Part paved...

There are some wonderful gardens on here. Mine has come to a bit of a halt this week as I've been feeling unwell. However, know have the ground mostly cleared, thanks to all the tools, incinerator and glycophosphate. I just need to do a bit more planting and buy some planters for the part that I can't dig on.

At B&Q. Again. Changing paint. Again. For the FOURTH time. Why does the colour never match what's illustrated on the tin. Or in the brochures. Or online...

Did you use any of the help and advice that B&Q offer? This includes their videos on YouTube, leaflets and classes in store etc. If so, how useful was that help and advice?

No but I used other gardening websites such as Gardner's World for information and ideas. Mine is really just a weed killing, rubbish removal, clearing and planting exercise.

Haughty Culturist- wow- that looks great so far. Agree about straight lines though- would be a lot more modern.

haughty I really like the curved seats (they put me in mind of Gaudi), I think it's just a personal thing though, so go with whatever you prefer, neither will look too fussy in my view.

roma lovely paving, goregous colours and I love the pattern!

open I hope you feel better soon, it's too hard to garden when you feel ill, especially in this heat.

Thanks Orphelia. I was a bit disappointed at how much red there was and I didn t realise how much variation, hence the four paint changes to get the walls to match. Finally decided now on a muted green to try and bring out the grey/green ones more. I suppose the red ones will match the red brick of the house and one of the walls

Haughty, the curved sides will look fine once green is tumbling over their edges

Open - hope you get better soon!

How did you find your shopping experience at B&Q?

Lady on paint desk was so very helpful this evening, opening lots of pots, testing them on paper and drying them iof so we could get a truer indication of the colour

I have gone off-piste and ordered up 150 narcissus bulbs. I was just thinking a few daffs would be lovely next spring and as we now have pre- grass planting soil it would be good to get them in at the end August / sept .
Might get a load of bluebells too.
Our finale photo will seem a bit bare as we won't have any grass( can't plant until September ) but you will get the gist of the lavender path I hope.
Get well soon poorly gardeners
Well done everyone