Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Other subjects

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Biggish gardens - how important are they?

38 replies

shoobaloo · 21/07/2006 16:06

We're buying a house and have seen one we like - the house itself is massive and amazing but the garden is tiny - about 12 x 12 foot. The house has five bedrooms! There is a great park about 5-10 mins walk away. Our DS is only 10 months at the moment so we have no exp of how big a garden we'd need for him when he gets older or with another sibling. What do people think? Do we really need a bigger garden? MAny thanks in advance!

OP posts:

Tinker · 21/07/2006 16:07

Is that teh lawn or the whole area? Depends if you like gardening.

TillyRose · 21/07/2006 16:10

My thoughts are - Do you really need five bedrooms? Why not find a house with more of a balance in the house/garden ratio.

tassis · 21/07/2006 16:12

Ds is 3 and loves playing in the garden. We have a patio with lots of space for various bikes/trikes/scooters. Also lots of lawn space for a sandpit, small trampoline, slide and swing. Lots of space for paddling pool, ball games and running around.

I hate gardening, but adore ds playing outside. He's done little else for the past few weeks.

Not essential, but def something I'd look for with a pre-school child.

Scoobydooooo · 21/07/2006 16:13

Hmm i suppose eveyone is different but personally my garden is small now & i hate it, ds is 3.10 & dd is only 6 months, i wish i had a bigger garden for ds because he loves being in the garden & would love a big climbing frame etc but we cant fit it.

I would go for less bedrooms & more of a garden space personally, why the 5 bedrooms?

JessaJam · 21/07/2006 16:14

We are casually house hunting too, and have garden as more of a priority - we has an 11mo ds and 2 dogs. Will be moving from big victorian terrace with 4 bedrooms, 2 big, 1 box, 1 huge and a back yard. We will probably end up in a 3bed semi from the 1930's with a decent sized garden. Ideally we would lift up the existing house and pop it in middle of nice garden...!!

Bedroom 3 will have to act as spare room, office and DH music room...

crazydazy · 21/07/2006 16:14

Yes its essential, we have a very small garden and as a result they want to play out on the field instead. Not keen on this but want them to enjoy playing out so I let them play on the field.

KBear · 21/07/2006 16:14

Garden size is important IMO - think about when he is bigger and you want a paddling pool and a play house maybe and you want to invite friends over for BBQs and have a table and chairs out there etc etc.

desperateSCOUSEwife · 21/07/2006 16:16

depends whether the park can meet your needs as your kids get older
can they go on their own to park, when about 7-8
or is park by busy roads etc

would think about your child for the future
good luck in what you decide

LadyTophamHatt · 21/07/2006 16:16

One of the main reasons that we moved was to get a bigger garden.

Our garden now is probably 2, if not 3 times bigeger than our old one.

And personally...theres no way I would buy a 5 bedroom house with such a tiny garden.

expatinscotland · 21/07/2006 16:18

I'd go for a bigger garden. But I also love to garden and grow food and flowers, so I'd want as much space as possible to do that.

LadyTophamHatt · 21/07/2006 16:19

also if you have a rotary washing line it'll take up half the garden.

cleaninglady · 21/07/2006 16:21

same as ladytophamhat - you will need big garden more and more - we moved from a 5 bed house with smallish garden just to get more land - best decision we made as the lo's (4 1/2 & nearly 2) LIVE in the garden now !

Cassoulet · 21/07/2006 16:35

We moved to get a garden too. We saw a beautiful 5 bed house which would have been perfect (we were moving aged ma in with us too), but garden was about 12 x 12 - far too small (not the same house as the one you're thinking of by any chance??!!!). If it is the same house, then I promise you the garden is too small esp if you have more than one kid....

CarolinaMoose · 21/07/2006 16:36

it will be a PITA to sell too (although with 5 beds, I guess you wouldn't be moving for a while )

alison222 · 21/07/2006 16:46

Having 2 children aged 3 & 5 and knowing how much they love to go and run around in the garden I'd say it was too small. There will be lots of times when you don't want to go to the park but your LO needs to go out and it is so nice to open the door and let them out. My garden is about 17 foot by 45 foot and is now too small with playhouse and climbing frame and washing line in it.

KTeePee · 21/07/2006 17:10

Too small I would say. You would need to use about half that space to get a decent sized patio. Ours is less than 50ft long and I wish it was twice that - even though I can see our nearest park from the front door!

iota · 21/07/2006 17:15

12 x 12 feet? - you'd just about get our BBQ in there, yet alone the table and chairs

foxinsocks · 21/07/2006 17:20

I don't think the garden is unusual in size but it is v small for a 5 bed house. In your shoes, I would look for a smaller house with a bigger garden.

Ours is only slightly bigger than 12x12 but we have a playground round the corner and a large park on our doorstep and we manage with ours but our house is only 2/3 bed.

golds · 21/07/2006 17:20

My sister has a tiny garden and moans like mad about it, are garden is quite big, we have a inflatable slide, trampoline, paddling pool and a pond in there at the moment and you can still run around.

You would also having difficulty selling it on in the future. I would'nt personally go for it.

Pollyanna · 21/07/2006 17:36

We have a 4 bed house and a tiny garden and we are moving to get a bigger garden. The park is 2 minutes walk for us too, but it isn't the same as having a garden. The garden can be an extra room, which with an older child and siblings is essential imo. Also, the house is disproportionate in size to the garden, and this would, imo and ime, make it more difficult to sell on (at this size of house, people expect a bigger garden. )

FioFio · 21/07/2006 17:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

SSSandy · 21/07/2006 17:47

It would be great to have a biggish enclosed garden so you can turf ds (and friends and siblings) out of the house now and again and yet know they're safe. Shame if the house is so nice but really I think long term, you'll regret not having bought something with more garden.

YellowFeathers · 21/07/2006 17:48

I started a thread like this back in Feb/March time.

We wanted to move areas due to dh's work and found a fantastic huge 4 bed house but it only had a small courtyard with an outbuilding. At the time we lived in a small 2 bed semi with a huge garden so the no garden thing was quite hard to consider.

4 months later we're in the huge 4 bed house with the small courtyard and we love it.
We have a village green opposite the house and further down the road there are fields and a park. DD has started to come out on walks with the dog which she loves and she has her wooden playhouse set up in the outbuilding in the yard as its open IYSWIM.

We've not missed the garden at all. We can still sit outside and we have loads of potted plants and flowers.
The extra space in the house more than makes up for it IMO.

psychomum5 · 21/07/2006 17:57

IMO, and IME I would say try to look for a bigger garden.

We have a four bed house and the garden in 18 x 14 with a patio area aswell and with five kiddies that is way too small now, When we moved here from a two bed flat and now garden just the fact that we had a garden was wonderful, but as the family has expanded, as have the toys etc, it has gradually become too small. Mind you tho, I have hosted a party here this week with a 15 x 12 bouncy castle and 25 kiddies (, but also as I survived it!!!), and we coped well with the size.

the thought of smaller tho.....well, I just wouldn't if I could at all help it!

yomellamoHelly · 21/07/2006 18:30

Sounds the same size as out garden, and we've got a 2.5-bedder.
Ds is 2.5 yrs and tbh it's too small. We've got a shed and a table and chairs, bbq and a sandpit and it's full.
That said it is easy to look after.
Personally I'd love to have enough space for ds to have a slide and swing and for the garden not to look so cluttered all the time and for him to be able to kick a ball / ride a trike around properly. We live diagonally opposite a park, but it's a pain taking him there twice a day. It's much easier to let him play outside while I get on with stuff, but he gets bored. The pay-off is that our garden is just like all the others in this town and I couldn't bear living out in the sticks to get the bigger garden (within walking distance of decent town centre). Think it'll be less of an issue when he's older.

Flip

1 2