How important is a lawn for family house buyers?

[SkodaLabia]

I'm doing a garden from scratch. We are by the sea and I love coastal/prairie style gardens. My taste leans towards loads of plants, some lovely festoon lights, grasses, wooden garden furniture etc.

The house is a 4 bed in a newish build estate, and we don't know how long we're going to stay here. Would a lack of lawn put buyers off? My neighbours' gardens seems to be the typical new build garden with a rectangle of lawn and a deck.

I'm not planning on doing anything irreversible, so there won't be flagging or tarmac.

It might be worth saying that the kids seem to play more in the street than in their respective gardens round here!

How big are the front and back gardens?

I would not buy a house without a lawn, kids or no kids.

Front is just a drive with a flower bed beside it.

Back garden is about 9m wide x 8m deep.

What about having some step borders built around the back boundary? You could have levels for the prairie plants, create lots of interest and keep a lawn.

Yes Nun, that may well be the best compromise. The boundary is a bit wonky and irregular but hopefully we could do something. When you say step borders, so you mean raised beds of different heights?

Why don't you have your garden how you want, but bear in mind the fact that if you choose to sell you may have to do a quick reshuffle and lay a small lawn. Turf doesn't cost a lot.

Think of it like painting a child's room bright pink but realising you'll have to neutralise it to put it on the market.

Yes raises beds only not one raised bed, several beds so it is stepped.

You could incorporate some seating too.

Children need somewhere to play. However it depends how long you are planning to stay in the house.

There's no telling who you might sell it to either, it wouldn't matter for a family with teenagers for example.

Also worth bearing in mind that some dog owners will like a bit of lawn as well. it would be a deterrent for me if a house didn't have a lawn.

Hadn't thought about dog owners, good point.

A lawn is a major selling point. It's appealing to buyers (if up kept)

I've recently been house hunting and haven't bothered viewing any where the garden has no back lawn. It was important to us for the DC and the pets. The front lawn didn't bother me either way.

Stepped beds sounds good though, I love the raised bed in the house we are buying, it was a selling feature to me as the kids/animals can't trample the plants and its easier to maintain.

With two DC I would always want a lawn as it's easier for them to play outside then.

I moved into my home 10 months ago. I'm currently removing a mammoth raised rockery that suited the 92 yo previous owner. We have 2 DC who are desperate to play in the garden and they want a lawn. We are going to have a simple lawn with raised beds with seating around the edge.

It depends - we wanted space to kick a football so wouldn't have bought a house without that.

I'd want a lawn, somewhere to lay a blanket down and do a picnic lunch, soft surface for padding pool etc

a lawn is a lot lower maintenance than a deck, which needs scrubbing and so on. I don't know why they are so popular in the UK, wrong climate!

We've just ripped up the deck, that's what the raised beds will be made out of. I agree, they're slimey and unpleasant!

Looks like the votes for the lawn are pretty unanimous. It will only be a small one, we we already have a 3 x 3 patio taking up space, but it's the thought that counts!

Good to hear about the positives of the raised beds from a practical point of view, that would also save us having to get all the building rubble out of the ground.

You could lift some paving stones, use them in the raised beds and make a bigger lawn.

Ah, the patio is a raised one, so that's not an option unfortunately.

Reckon we could still get a 4 x 3 m lawn in.

Could you create a pergola with climbers sitting on the raised beds around the overlooked area?

I'd love to do something like that, but we're on a tight budget so it may be beyond us. I definitely need height there, I'd be v happy with a tree or two or bamboo (if the non running types grow tall enough). The garden slopes downwards in that direction, but it's not hugely drastic. Not enough height difference to make terracing worthwhile I don't think.

Given that we already have enough hardstanding for a seating area I don't think we need to build a seat there, necessarily, but I did wonder about making a raised bed across the corner, IYSWIM, and putting a bench there as a focal point.

Thinking maybe a small shed in the wonky corner at the top left as it's shady.

It's personal preference but if it's a family home I think a lawn would be important to many people. I've seen places which put me off because of concrete yard or lots of steps, both of which I thought would make it an impractical playspace for kids so off-putting.

My friend planted bamboo and she cannot get rid of it now. It just keeps growing everywhere. Just a word of warning x