fully patio-d yard reversal?

[Riverswims]

Good afternoon
I'm interested in a house which has everything I need except a garden, it's advertised a "low maintenance" it's just all patio with good fences, a shed and a gate, I'm used to a 50ft garden which is part patio with borders and grass which I maintain myself, I see trees out of my kitchen currently, I keep thinking that the patio garden will make me sad, so has anyone reversed a ' garden' like this, and what was the approximate cost? it's also about 50ft x 50ft in the SE
thanks

I might be accused of drip feeding but there's also a fully bricked front area so that could be left for one car only and the rest made back to garden

We had only concrete slabs when we moved in. We dig out a new section of bed from under 4 of them each summer, bit by bit. It takes a while to revive the soil, but it's certainly doable!

That's what we did, but with awful concrete slabs. Didn't cost much, but we did all the work ourselves, so only buying topsoil and turf.

Lifted slabs with a crowbar and piled them up on the drive for someone to collect, who wanted to use them in an allotment.

Then had 3 ton of to soil delivered (in a pile on the drive), and spent a week going back and forwards with a wheelbarrow. We just put a layer of soil on top of the compacted sand, and it seems fine, probably not the neatest but does what we need.

We brought some rolls of turf and lay them ourselves, but could have done it even cheaper with grass seed, if your OK not walking on it for a while (we didn't becauseit wouldhave been a nightmarekeepingthe kids off it). These are some photos showing it before and after.

looks great. much more relaxing looking at green I'm sure

You could actually contact some landscapers (if you get the measurements from the estate agent) to get a rough idea on the cost and then factor this in should you put an offer in. I'd definitely have a proper lawn, borders and a patio put in.

good idea 👍🏽

I use to work in that field (no pun intended!). Hope this helps.

Removing hard landscaping and replacing with soft (I.e. lawn, borders) will be a lot less than say having new patios laid. But it would be a lot more than 2K in my opinion, because taking those blocks up will be fairly labour intensive and that’s where the cost will come in. Plus, it’s amazing how much plants add up.

I think if you are looking to offer out the blocks (and have drive space to store them), so no skip or removal costs on you, I think it would cost you about 4 to 5K for removal, turfing and prepping borders. This would be for a pro, not a chancer who doesn’t really know their stuff. The lawn for instance should be guaranteed to a certain extent. I would leave the planting itself until you get a good feel of the space, light and soil conditions. It could be very clay soil under the blocks, hard to know until you see. I think it’s a good idea to leave some blocks for your patio area. Doesn’t have to be forever but gives you that hard standing space and saves spending out on new slabs.

Local Facebook groups are useful but ideally you’d want a word of mouth recommendation. You can also check on the BALI website for accredited contractors but I’d say this is more helpful for more complex projects:

https://www.bali.org.uk/members/

lovely thanks @ItsNotInMyMind

Go round your present garden and see what plants can be divided and what can you take cuttings from, get some cheap plastic pots and start a collection of plants to take with you. It will take a while to get to the garden once you move so the plants will have time to grow on a bit. We took loads with us when we last moved, I also bought tiny, cheap shrubs and potted them on. By the time we got round to needing them they had doubled in size

👍🏽

I converted my 'wilderness patio' to lawn and beds after COVID. Sold the slabs (to raise cash) and roped some excellent mates in to do the legwork. 3 raised beds with seating in-between out of sleepers, a couple of tonnes of topsoil and some turf. All the plants were in no bigger than 3 inch pots and rescues but now I have a lush, green, inviting and restful space. I reckon 2 grand would do it if you're handy with a spade/saw and have some handy strong mates who work for biscuits and tea.

Home-making is a years-long project, it doesn't all have to be done in one season.

I’m currently growing everything in pots on a fully concreted yard. I envy your bricks as at least you can lift them, ours is going to need a jackhammer…

No advice really, it’s just going to take time. But as others said, if you can’t face the whole thing yet, an investment in many many black plastic pots of various sizes and tonnes of potting mix gets you to something approaching liveable, gardenwise, and has the benefit that you’re growing things on for when they do eventually make it into the ground.

Id go bit by bit unless you’re going to pay someone to landscape the whole thing but I don’t think that’d be a £2k job