Edwardian semi - front garden path and railings?

[AwkwardPaws27]

Hi

Our front garden is a mess of cracked concrete (thanks whoever laid that!) with no fence. It's really too small to park on so I'd rather have something pleasant to look at.

It's an Edwardian semi, I'm thinking:

• a tile path (continuing terracotta and black tiles in the storm porch)
• a low wall with railings on top
• dig up the concrete and lay a membrane and slate chippings
• couple of planters with buxus balls or bay tree either side of the bay window.

Has anyone had concrete dug up, a tiled path laid, and a wall and railings installed, and would be willing to give an idea of cost, so I don't get ripped off/fall off my chair when I get a quote? We're outer East London.

The path is 0.8x3m, the concrete jungle garden is 3m X 4m. Photo hopefully attached!

Thanks!

I've just been quoted 2000 for rerendering and refurb of wall and railings. Also had path repaid Nd tiled for about 2k. Unfortunately I hate the tiling.....

Meretricious oh no, what do you hate about the tiles? I'm worried I'll blow the budget on it and pick the wrong thing, there's so much other work to do inside but I can feel the neighbours judging me for the crap concrete

We chose badly and weren't there when they were laid so they look like a 1970s municipal swimming pool. We should have gone for black and white diamond. We didn't lay them out first to see and guide the guy doing it....

But getting the old concrete up and repaired was relatively straight forward. It was our crap tile choosing that was the problem....

Thanks - we've seen houses nearby with a similar path to what we hope to have, so fingers crossed we'll find a decent tiler. I hate it when things don't turn out the way you'd hoped!
Do you have railings on top of a low wall? No one on our road has the original wall or railings so I'm struggling to pick a design.

Anyone else? Thanks!

I have a fairly new house. I had the front paved and railings put up and it looks lovely. The railings are just plain black with a ball on the top. No wall, straight into the ground. It’s made such a difference.

One free tip I'll give you is that your old concrete needs digging out. It is already too high and close to the DPC (observe the thick mortar bed just above ground level. ) The dpc should be at least two bricks above the surface.

While you're digging it out, dig out that drain gulley. It is almost certain to be cracked and leaking at the trap and where it joins to the underground pipe. Look out for red worms which are found near leaking drains.

When you lay your new surface, lay it to a fall so that rainwater runs away from the house.

Crushed stone, or small shingle, will tread into the house and will travel on the car tyres.

I worry that a tiled path will be littered with broken hips and shoulders in frosty or wet weather.

Thanks PigletJohn - my FIL suggested laying slate chippings on top but I thought it was too high for the DPC, so you've confirmed my thinking on that!
The drainage was full of crap when we moved in - I cleared it out and it seems to be draining away now, but it would be good to check it's going through the pipe and not just into the ground. Thanks for the tip about the worms.
The tiles in our storm porch aren't completely smooth so I hope if we can get the same type for the path it will have a bit of grip.

AlexaAmbidextra do you have any kind edging stones around the base of your fence?
We have a big tree by our house and I'm hoping a low wall / edging stones will minimise the amount of leaves blowing into the front garden.

A tiled path and dwarf wall is a very traditional look. Slate chips are very modern and will be the wrong colour.

IM0GEN do you have any suggestions for the rest of the space? I was thinking slate chips as the roof and low roof over the bay are slate... I'm not sure what else to do with it that's low maintenance...

I'd go for a combination of these:
i.pinimg.com/originals/b8/fb/53/b8fb53351032eb7c6735201fb5c6573f.jpg
i.pinimg.com/originals/88/bd/71/88bd71b194617e6ef5c66581426a8df4.jpg
rhsblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/victorian-and-edwardian-black-and-white-mosaic-tile-path-kingston-bromley-croydon.jpg

The small wall will retain the stones at the bottom and stop them escaping out to the main footpath and the small edging kerbs will prevent them from falling onto the tiled path in your garden. Look at local builder's merchants/Homebase type websites to get an idea of what stones are available.

I’d go for rope edging on the side of the path. Then a mixture of large gravel and a bed or two with mostly evergreen planting. Add in some small bulbs for spring and some easy perennials for summer colour. Maybe some small grasses. Depends how formal you want it.

Something like this.

Can I just check that you mean “ low maintenance “ and not “ no maintenance “?

Could you trim a small hedge with hand shears a few times a year? Or cut back half a dozen plants in the autumn? Top up mulch once a year ?

Can I just check that you mean “ low maintenance “ and not “ no maintenance “?

That's a good point. No/very low maintenance would be better (I'm starting a grad scheme to train as an accountant soon so will be juggling work, study, and fixing up the rest of the house).
I could probably keep on top of trimming a hedge a few times a year, and watering the window boxes a couple of times a week, but wouldn't want to be doing much more than that.

Avoid any kind of container then, especially window boxes. If its hot weather and they are south facing and you have the wrong type of compost in them, they could need watered twice a day.

Go for shrubs and perennials in the ground.

A small hedge is less that 30 mins work to trim. 5 mins to get out tools and put down sheet, 10 mins to trim, 10 mins to clear up.

If you live in a city, planters with box balls could get stolen.

We’ve got all the original tiles railings etc but after 100 years it’s all looking really scruffy. Builders have told us it will cost a fortune to redo but not really sure why

do you have any kind edging stones around the base of your fence?
We have a big tree by our house and I'm hoping a low wall / edging stones will minimise the amount of leaves blowing into the front garden.

No, the railings go straight into the ground but I don’t have a big tree nearby so very little problem with leaves.

Box is very slow-growing, you can get by with a clip once a year. Like anything, it needs less looking after if it is in the ground, not a pot. With a good root, it is difficult to steal and you can plant it through a buried metal grid or mesh if that's a problem.

The plants are moderately expensive if a good size, but if you want a stepover hedge, it propagates easily from cuttings, I just poke them in the ground after pruning and stripping off all but the terminal leaves from the twiglets.

If you want a lollipop tree, bay is quicker.

Thanks all - there's some really great advice here, I think you are right about spending time digging up the concrete and making some proper beds.
I need to buy a sledgehammer and convince the neighbours to move their cars a safe distance away now!!

you can hire a concrete breaker

or buy a cheap one e.g. from Screwfix
(they have a good guarantee so if you buy it the day you start your job, if it goes wrong they will swap it for a new one, so you'll get your money's worth)

You will need ear defenders and goggles

if doing it by hand, use a pickaxe. Get it under the edge of the slab, and push the handle so the point lifts the edge. (unless it is properly thick) it will break it off in pieces you can lift off and throw in the skip.

need builders gloves and protective boots

We had concrete and an outhouse removed from our back garden, used a company in Essex we were very happy with if you want the details. They had a lorry to take away the waste so we didn't need to get a skip/permit. Decided we didn't actually want to do a difficult manual job ourselves especially as we keep having issues with our shoulders etc. Let me know if you want our contractors details.

Hi claire697 that would be great. Would you mind saying roughly how much it cost (we have a shed to remove too!) - you could PM me if you don't want to say publicly. Thanks!

Beware of Box. The box tree caterpillar has devastated many box plants in the past few years (including my lovely years-old box ball at the front of the house). You might want to choose an alternative.