I'm not really one for huge renovations, especially since I live alone and I'm not the best with DIY, so I love that when I moved into my house it was only 3 years old and needed nothing more than a lick of white paint and new floors (check out my home tour post if you want to see the inside). The garden, however, was definitely in need of some love. When I moved in, it was a very basic plot of lawn with a postage stamp-sized flowerbed and cheap yellow patio tiles which I hated as soon as I saw them. Below you can see what it looked like when I moved in (that's my amazing mum mowing the lawn for me!)
I waited until a year after I moved in to tackle it and decided to make it my priority last year (instead of a holiday!) The main thing I knew was that I had to replace the patio tiles, but I also wanted to extend it to increase the seating space (and reduce the amount of lawn to mow!), as well as make more space for some plants. While I explored quotes for the patio (as I knew it was a big job and needed the professionals), my boyfriend kindly offered to dig out the flowerbed to save me some money (I paid him in Heineken!) Since I already had a small flowerbed down by the house (squint and you'll see it above, behind the water butt), I asked him to make it wider and extend it the whole length of the garden. He dug out the turf and first laid weed control membrane for easier upkeep, followed by bark chippings, with a wooden border. I got all these supplies pretty cheaply from Wickes. I then enlisted the help of my mum to choose some plants. I wanted a tropical feel as I'm obsessed with palms, so I went for a back row of 3 x banana plants, mini spiky palms and cordylines, with a front row of 3 x white lavender ("snowman") and white geraniums ("bloody cranesbill"), plus a fig tree in the back corner, which I'm keeping my fingers crossed will produce figs soon! They are all perennials and pretty low maintenance, though the banana plants need frost protection over winter.
I decided on black limestone for the patio tiles in irregular sizes, with an extension of 4 extra "rows" to give me more seating space. The landscapers also recommended levelling out the patio, as my garden is on a slope. In the end I also decided to get rid of the flowerbed beside the patio, as it seemed too long and detracted from the patio space (luckily my boyfriend was very gracious about the wasted work!)
Furniture-wise, I'd bought the black Acapulco-style chairs and matching table from Alice's Garden when I moved in (still available here); they're great because they are totally weatherproof. I also initially bought a metal firepit, which was a huge mistake because it completely rusted and leached orange residue onto the old patio tiles. The landscapers took it off my hands to use on fishing trips, so I'm pleased it didn't go to waste. I replaced it with a faux stone-based one which is far superior (La Hacienda's Monaco style, though I couldn't find it being sold anywhere anymore). As well as being far less prone to rusting, it also has a removable bowl so it's much easier to get rid of the ash (do still invest in a cover though). The lounge chair and footstool from Swoon Editions were snapped up as soon as I saw them on These Four Walls' round-up of minimal garden furniture; sadly it looks like they've stopped doing garden furniture now though. The lantern and solar string lights are both IKEA, while the solar lights in the grass are from Clas Ohlson.
All in all it cost me about £4.5k (£4k of which was the patio), which I think is pretty reasonable considering the difference it made. I now absolutely love spending time in my garden and feel so lucky to have this space, especially at a time like this. I'm off to sit out there with an Aperol Spritz now!
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