Replacing a large lawn with patio or resin: reasonable idea and cost?

[Happydays777]

DH has decided he wants rid of the garden and replace it with patio / resin. The grass lawn is about 70 square meters in total. It's rather a large garden and DH struggles to do it as it needs cutting every 2 weeks in summer. He's never been a gardener but likes to keep the grass nice. We have seen some nice block paved drives and resin drives. We got a quote and it was 20k to do a block pave drive and put a drain and a gate in and a gravelboard wall up. I must admit the idea sounds good and so does the company. The manager was great and very friendly. We asked another contraactor but we didn't go with them as he said he won't know how much it costs and said to give him money to buy materials without a quote in writing just asked for upfront money. I said to DH we should get a few quotes as we have no clue re: prices. some like in picture. WWYD? Pay it or get some quotes? DH just wants to go for it.. Or leave grass?

It's better to keep as much absorbent ground as possible to prevent flooding. I think getting a robot mower sounds like a good idea.

Our neighbour is a woman in her 90s, and she still mows her own lawn regularly!

The neighbours on the other side have replaced their lawn with a large patio and artificial grass, which is too hot to walk on in the summer, and seems to require regular maintenance.

That's only a small lawn. Pay someone to do it or get a robot mower. You'll devalue your house.

He will just create a nuisance for himself with that kind of patio anyway. Even if you put sheeting under it, the weeds will grow between and that's a lot of work. Unless he is content to spray weed spray over it on the regular, which I wouldn't want for health reasons.

Find an environmentally friendly solution.

Don't do it... Environmental vandalism.

Grass… love to look out at a green space instead of concrete. I did the opposite and the hard surfaces dug up and lawn laid and best home decision I ever made. Yes I have to cut the grass weekly at this time of year but so worth it.

If you can’t find a local lad to cut the grass Green Thumb have just started a grass cutting service

Please keep your grass! So much better for the environment and much easier for you to maintain. It doesn't need to be kept short. Scatter some wildflower seeds and let it grow! All the better for the insects and the birds.

Or you could find a local kid looking for some pocketmoney to mow it for you cheaply. Or buy yourself a robot lawnmower- I was looking at one at Argos the other week out of curiosity, it was about £300.

70sm/m lawn is too large?!?!?!😖

Our NB lawn area is about that size (with the rest laid as patio, borders etc) and it takes us (yes, I do it as well) just 30mins to mow and tidy up.
My OH loves a nice, lush lawn so does spend time maintaining the lawn but that is not necessary if you just want a patch of nice, healthy, green space.

As PP's have said, plenty of people have lawn care who will do it all for you. Can't get my head around that one but if it means there is more real grass, I am happy.

I'm afraid I agree with everyone else.

I'd look at ways to keep the nature but reduce the work. Eg

• pay local teen to mow it
• replace grass with micro clover / embrace the natural look with daisies etc.
• just mow the strips by the path and allow the rest to grow long
• robot lawnmower

What kind of mower do you have? I used to have a useless hover type mower and dreaded mowing the lawn. Now I have a great Bosch Rotak which wasn't too expensive and it's made the job much much better.

I also agree that weeding and power washing a patio would be worse than mowing.

It takes me 15 mins to mow a lawn twice that size.

There should be a special place in hell reserved for people who rip up plants and grass and replace with hardscaping.

I know it’s your garden and it’s none of my business, but as someone who doesn’t have a garden I could weep when I hear about people paving over their lawn!

Keep the grass, get a robot mower or find a teenager keen to make a couple of quid.

Please leave the grass.
Pay someone to cut it or get a robot mower.
You can get a really decent one for a lot less than the cost of turning it into another dead zone.

I lived in a small house for a while where I was the only one who had grass not a wasteland of concrete and decking.
I ripped out it out and put in a lawn in mine.

My garden had butterflies, bees, birds and a hedgehog once in a while within a year.
Some of the neighbours children had never seen a butterfly in real life because all of their natural habitat is being destroyed.
They didn't even know we had robins in the area until they were perching on my fence.

Your lawn supports thousands of lives, they just mostly are not ones you can see easily, but they make the world a better place.

OP I’ve never seen such a one sided thread as this! I really think you will miss that patch of green.

Save the grass!!! Paving over a garden will reduce the value of your home and is completely unappealing. DH idea is really tasteless.

Robot mower or hire help to mow. Much cheaper and much nicer aesthetically.

When I moved into my current house, nearly divorced with two kids the back garden was paved. Oh well I thought low maintenance ha ha anything but! Keeping the weeds down was a full-time job and it never looked attractive. I’m so proud of the garden I have now, A little Robin comes to see me every day and it really feeds my soul to say that green rather than the grey concrete jungle that used to be there! I’m evangelical about it as you can tell! 20 minutes once a week in the height of summer …that’s it to cut the grass

Get a teenager who needs to do something as part of their DofE skills/volunteer requirement to mow it. Probably cost you a few biscuits every fortnight!

70 square metres is not a large lawn.

Agree with the Robot mower. You could get a handyman to install it, they need cables slightly dug in around the edges but once that's done you're good to go. I know someone who has one for a small garden and it looks lovely now.

If you come to sell it will devalue your house so much. You’re basically replacing your garden with a back yard. 20k is a crazy price to pay to save 15mi s worth of work a fortnight. A robot mower is less than 1k!

Why don’t you mow the lawn? Not sure why it has to be DHs job anyway?

If neither of you want to do it just get a gardener to do it once a fortnight, cheaper than £20k, looks much nicer and better for the environment, who wants a garden that looks so bare?

Get rid of the husband and keep the grass.

Ha ha

My block paving and gravel areas (here when we brought the house) actually require more work than the lawn: lawn is basically acceptable after 10 mins with the mower. The hard standing parts are endless chemicals and weeding and still look a mess. Keep the lawn, get someone to mow it

Keep the grass. Buy a robot mower or get a gardener.
If you cover the grass you'll increase your flood risk in heavy rain, bad for the wildlife. And you'll be tormented by weeds growing up though the brick work, which looks way worse than long grass.