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?

Please don't rip the grass up, and be careful what fencing you use, all my neighbors are doing this and its heartbreaking to see the wildlife that used to visit our garden gradually disappearing. Hedgehogs need to be able to get under fencing to move from garden to garden and if you put up that godawful gravel wall stuff they cant. Not to mention food sources for hedgehogs, birds and squirrels disappearing. As others have said, a robot mower, or a gardener is the way to go, our gardener charges £25 an hour and usually does two hours in a similar sized garden to yours, March to October, sometimes once a month, sometimes twice, depends on the weather if the grass and weeds are growing fast, so maybe £500 a year. That's 40 years worth for your 20 grand.

@OrangeLane not personal experience. I know the National Trust are trialling them, and a friend of mine is a total convert. She doesn’t have very young children- I suppose it would be wise to do a pick up across the lawn before setting the robot off.

My dad has one that you don't need cables dug down for and it's brilliant. His garden is 0.4 acres and it's set to cut it for three hours a day 3 days a week. It remembers where it was cutting before so starts in a new area and makes sure everything gets cut every week. He could set it to do one full day and do all of it but he has dogs who likes to be out there so 3 hours a day works better for him. You can set how high you want the grass to be and the times you want it run. He avoids evenings, nights and early mornings because he has hedgehogs living in his garden.

I probably wouldn't buy the cheapest one I can find, but a mid-range on should be perfectly fine.

It's good that you are taking people's comments on board and are considering other options.

Sorry to hear you are under the weather. I hope you get well soon 💐

That’s shocking he wants to rip up the garden, devalue his home, spend 20 k, gather than hire a gardener, all as he doesn’t want to mow the lawn.

that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.

You could buy a ride on mower for less than the cost of hard landscaping.

Thanks so much. It's so good to hear other people's point of view. I've been ill and landed in hospital earlier this year for a week and waiting on surgery so I get back to normal.

I'm talking to DH aboit cancelling the quote politely and will ask a local grass cutter instead until i get back to my usual self. When he gets home from work tomorrow. Im still thinking of some kind of wall just to make the garden at the front more private.

Do a wildflower meadow, you don't have to cut it then.

If you don't like mowing, I don't think you'd want to create a wildflower meadow 😀I've tried to create a small one in our garden, and it looks really messy, the plants need some support, and then I'll need to cut back at the end of the season. However, I have a wildlife camera, and the garden's full of wildlife at night, including hedgehogs - and sadly several handsome cats that I've never seen during the day!

OP, I hope you are better soon.

Don’t do this it’s an enormous amount of work to get it right.

Say it was 30 or 40 quid a week to cut the grass, unlikely to be that high, much lower, you could get your grass cut for the next 24 years before it cost you 20k, and you’d not devalue your home in doing it either.

excellent to hear you’re thinking of keeping the grass

check planning permission restrictions at the front: usually in the uk you need planning permission for a front garden wall over 1m

Mine is brilliant! I call him Dave and have a deep meaningful relationship with him!

There is a wire laid under the surface round the edge so it knows where to stop. It is a DIY job.

Gradients need to be considered ... they do not cope with very steep slopes ... but it copes with the gradual slope in my garden. You set it to a schedule via app on phone to mow several days a week ... it takes a tiny shred off each time which drops onto the lawn. Because it is so frequent there is no need to rake up grass at all.

If a big toy is left on the grass it will navigate round it. If a small toy ... it might get mown! And don't leave a hose on the grass!

Mine has brought to the surface the occasional walnut that a squirrel has buried!

It has been a godsend for me as I have disabilities.

It lives outside on its charger and it is fine in the rain. It knows when it needs charging and trots off home to base!

Why not get a robot mower £2-3000.
they are marvellous.

I thought I’d see all the posts hailing the non existent virtues of slabs and resin or plastic grass

I am so happy to see everyone loves their grass
Think of the wildlife OP
Ignore the company realing you in and get that gardener and enjoy your garden

updated to see I noticed you have changed your mind
The power of mumsnet 🥳

Dave sounds amazing @Mischance
Wondering if I should replace dh for one 😉

Has your husband agreed to cancel this idea, OP?