What could be done to make this garden more private and less awful?

[KievLoverTwo]

One of the reasons I dislike new builds is that you often have people able to see into your garden from three sides. This secondhand NB is not quite that bad, but I would dislike sitting out there and looking at a bunch of tall houses. What could you grow to be higher than that wall to make it less awful, and how quickly might that happen? If we chuck a bunch of money at it, can we buy something that’s already quite tall (but won’t grow massive)?

The rest looks pretty bland, but I am sure with creativity it could be nice(r).

(unusually it doesn’t have a terrible teeny kitchen and it has quite a lot of floor space, maybe suspiciously cheap, if a bit dated, and the location is good)

tyvmia.

id watch Garden Rescue on iplayer for some inspiration! They often tackle overlooked gardens with quirky ideas like pergolas or panels plus a ton of plants! They have done a good few new builds

https://www.rootsplants.co.uk/products/golden-bamboo-phyllostachys-aurea

I'm feeling like bamboo might be your friend. It Grows so quickly.
It's deciduous though, so in winter you'll just have bare branches but they'll still be something. You're not going to be sunbathing in winter.
Just check hardiness for your area.

@Circumferences is there a type that doesn’t burrow through concrete and take over your neighbours garden?

@Sittingintheshade that sounds like hours of torture, lol. My late mother would be laughing in her grave at me having to do it :D

Also, that looks like Astroturf, urgh.

How do you gauge if it’s been laid due to terrible drainage If the seller is trying not to tell you that?

There are trees which are trained to grow sideways, which would probably work against the wall, in time they would be taller than the wall offering some cover.

it must be astroturf or photoshop and the color is too uniform, might see some ripples by the statue.
the fence/wall might cause problems with a grass lawn or if someone had a pet the yellow spots would be really distracting (so maybe a sales maneuver).
i would look at a pergola maybe one well selected tree and consider some nice hooks and have hanging baskets along the wall (fuchsia and midnight blue lobelia would look lovely against the brick).

@greenspaces4peace thanks. I have a soft spot for fuchsias as they were mum's favourites.

Now I am looking at the single garage straddling the neighbouring property and wondering what sort of merry hell that could cause.

Also, fully electric heating and a weird choice to put an ugly wood burner in the kitchen when it already has UFH downstairs.

Aaaaand they are asking for 25% more than they paid for it in 2021 and I doubt any refurb has been done in that time.

O_O

Why are you buying a house you clearly don't like?

It sounds like you hate this house, are you really thinking about buying it?

Anyway, I think you could make a real feature of the garden, love the wall. Espalier trees would work well (although pricey).

@1stworldissues @HollyBollyBooBoo

Just considering it ATM

It's about 80k cheaper than others of the same size in the immediate area

The area is a lot better than where we currently are, it has a ton of facilities within two miles that we currently do ten mile trips for

We could afford to replace electric heating and probably get a chunk off the price cos no one wants electric heating

Decor it looks like one small bathroom needs updating

It's extremely hard to find the room sizes I need for my disability

We have had enough of big gardens so a smaller one would be a big relief

It has one of the most spacious kitchens I have ever seen in a circa 15 yo house, small kitchens are hard on me

I do not think house prices will drop here as much as it will in the rest of the town because everyone seems to want to live there - it has the lowest crime rate, lovely green spaces and trees and a river

It is also not our rental home that drives us up the wall on a daily basis

Just cos the garden is ugly and electric heating sucks doesn't mean I hate it. Kinda weird you both jumped to that conclusion.

I would remove the ugly kitchen wood burner, it's placed somewhere that it would be easy to do.

@1stworldissues @HollyBollyBooBoo

Also probably should have mentioned that as FTBs with current mortgage rates and only one income, we are always going to have to make concessions, it's just a case of 'how tolerable are these non ideal things to cope with'

We have been trying to improve the problems with our rental so we can sit it out a year or two, but the bloody house fights us on a daily basis. We are thoroughly fed up with the area and with being horribly isolated too.

I think it fine if you add a trellis bit to the top of the fence, clematis is pretty or euyonmous which stays green. Then either take a jackhammer to the odd pathway, or soften the angles with nasturtiums, creeping thyme, alyssum or similar.

Take your photos to your local nursery and ask their advice. My local one has a service where they will come out to your house and design a plan. It costs but then you get a discount on the plants you buy.

id be wary of bamboo. It can spread like crazy.

@EtiennePalmiere I love the idea of something that stays green, thanks

Yes it's a bit of a jarring haphazard design isn't it? Probs drawn up by a house builder, which is fair enough

@Rainbowqueeen wow, that is such a great idea

I have seen the perils of Bamboo coming in from someone else's garden, but I do think there are different types and one of them isn't deeply invasive

Plus my other half would insist we get a real red panda instead of his bonkers soft toy collection :'D

Pleached trees are a possibility or something like alternating standard Photinia and standard viburnum tinus. Also a pergola somewhere with climbers . Trained fruit trees by garage then planting borders either side of the path with a load of perennials.

It could potentially take some work removing the astroturf if it has been done on a solid base.

Replacing the electric heating with gas central heating a good idea. Be good to get it done before you move all your stuff in if you could have an overlap with your rental. We have just moved and although there was GCH the boiler needed moving amd all the radiators needed replacing and one added. We were in temporary accommodation which was a relief as could wait till it was done.

I think you show bases it on what you do in your garden.

what do you use it to do?

@Seaitoverthere thank you! We could have an overlap, but the bigger problem is likely to be contractor availability

i guess if it’s not possible pre move, a hotel stay while work is being done would be fine. Idk how much disturbance changing a heating system causes.

not ideal to have electric underfloor on the ground floor but should probs keep that, changing that to water could be eye watering £ and i don’t think this house is worth it, we would probably be there five years. Am fine with a 30k spend but get towards 50k and I start feeling uncomfortable.

Right now nothing! Current garden is grass and hedges overlooking farm sheds and we never really feel happy out there. haven’t really had a summer so that too.

it would be nice to sit out in the early evening. The odd bbq. The odd friend over but probably no more than two a time. Eat outside some evenings.

no kids, no pets.

i do like flowers that are good for bees and butterflies but my gardening knowledge is basic to say the least.

Bamboo will get too big for that space. I would use evergreen pleached trees.

Leyland Cypress trees grow fast and make an excellent screen. You can trim them to suit and either block the tops or let them grow.
Depending on how dense you want your screen, plant them closer or further apart.
We did this once.

what facing is the garden @KievLoverTwo It does seem to have plenty of natural day light with no excessively shaded parts, which is good news.

you could get a landscaper in and add some additional interest by creating a couple of circles, using those 'sets' / paviours to define them, some pea shingle, planting around the outside to soften it and the area down by the garage could become your seating area, with a big pergola to hang some baskets off and grow things up.

for the side, you can go on the internet and check out a few tree suppliers with plenty of options for trees that offer screening. I wouldn't go for anything too dense as it could have a very darkening effect on that small garden, so deciduous trees can give a screening effect but not block out light in the winter. You won't need it too much then anyway. Birch are nice.

it's a bit of a blank canvas at the moment, that enables you to start from scratch if you have some cash to spare. It will mean you get to use the garden like another room.

I don’t think it is out the question to find someone to do it as will take a bit of time to go through conveyancing .You could take a plumber to a viewing to give an idea of price, what is involved and how long to do it.

Having said that thinking about it assumably there isn’t a gas supply to the property currently so you would need to get that installed which could take time? I think maybe as it is modern and well insulated I would also look into air source heat pump and solar , I think there are grants available for the heat pumps currently . I’d want info about it and actively rule it out rather than going for GCH as default.

Our new GCH has cost 10k which bathroom plumber sucked teeth about and said was steep and thinks we could have got for less. That was upgrading size of gas supply pipe into house, new boiler in difference location, remib]ving hot water tank and 16 new radiators so a fairly big system but reusing a lot of existing pipe work.

You have a choice of putting pipes underfloor or surface mounted, underfloor much neater but depends on ground floor construction.

We are also having bathrooms done . A tart up job on main bathroom replacing toilet, sink, new shower, bath panel, redecorating and flooring has been about 1.5k. Shower room also being done which is a total strip out with shower being moved and also radiator then single sink converted to double plus tongue and groove panelling to deal with dodgy walls. I think that will be about 6k total, maybe a little more. Can use the shower today for first time which is exciting as I am disabled and it has been really hard climbing in and out of bath.

I think with careful shopping around you can do bathroom, heating and garden for 30k.

I wouldn't suggest bamboo, it's so invasive!

Bamboo is not a problem if you plant it properly- I’ve used it as a very effective screen. The trick is to dig a long furrow where you are going to plant, and line the sides with thick plastic sheeting then put in your bamboo plants and fill in with soil. The soil will be able to drain downwards but the roots cannot spread sideways so your bamboo does not turn into a forest.