Encouragement or a reality check

Oooooh! Ok, well, now I have an additional project!

 

You have made the correct start already, removing the render from the walls, you do not want loads of rubble on the soil, much more difficult to clean up. Your plan looks good as well.
Lucky you for such lovely walls. I do not have any fencing,walls etc for my boundaries, I have stone walls and earth banks which are difficult to maintain.
How lucky to have lovely old walls which might need repointing after being rendered and now banged about a bit. Another project? I do not know if there is something which can be applied to old brick work to stabilize it. A shame to cover them up with climbers.
When you decide on your final layout, do not dig up the area that is going to be your path/patio as it will need to be levelled and compacted before any slabs etc. can be laid, that job has already been done for you. Also, as above, try to reuse the wood from the existing decking to build the shed, use as edging for the flower beds etc. if it is sound.
If you decide on flower beds going along the front of the walls consider making curved edges rather than long straight edges. To echo the curves of the patio. Mother Nature never grows in straight lines.

 

They definitely need repointing - which is a bit of a worry! I just had some small patches of the front of my house repointed and it cost an absolute fortune. I’m hoping I was either scammed for my previous repointing job, or they added danger money because they had to do it on very high ladders. There seems to be a lot more of it to do on the garden walls, and I think repointing is a very skilled job? I.e. Not one for amateurs?

 

I think that repointing the walls is well within your capacity - removing mortar and replacing it.

 

You might want to consider using hydraulic (NHL) lime instead of cement to repoint...

 

Oh! Ok, well that’s good to know. I wouldn’t have wanted to climb the giant ladder to do the front of my house, but it’s helpful to know I can probably diy the garden walls. I’ll save these comments for when I reach that point (I suspect I’ll be removing render for a decent length of time - I’ve got all the loose bits now, and the rest is going to just be chipping away).

 

No reason why you shouldn't have a go. It isn't as if a garden wall is part of your house.
Go on line and research techniques etc. I am sure you would be able to do it. a bit at a time once you have sorted the garden.
There is an old house at the end of our lane where someone is repointing the outside of it. Making a pretty good job of it, looks really smart, still more to do. They have hung a large sheet of sacking over each section as they have worked along the front, they have hired a scaffolding tower to work from. It looks as if they have used lime mortar, not cement.

 

'Never presume that a tradesman is a better craftsman than an amateur; remember that the latter digs bigger holes from which to escape.'

 

Hi Lucy,

I've just come across your thread by pure chance and has give me my first smile of joy today.

I too have ADHD, I was only diagnosed last year at the age of 42 and totally changed my life. Since being medicated, I want to just "do stuff" all the time and feel your excitement for your new project because I totally GET IT!

Us ADHDers are soooooooo creative, big and out of the box thinkers, problem solvers and love getting stuck into projects. The only downside is we can get very disheartened if things don't go the way we planned. Now I know about my ADHD, sadly so late in life, I've rediscovered myself and new passions. Gardening was something I thought I'd start and get fed up with but it's quite the opposite.

I had quite a nice garden to begin with, rather small with old patio immediately outside the back door and steps up to a lawn with beds all around the side. in the beds are a couple of dwarf acer trees, roses and some other shrubs. We used to have some very big conifer trees along the back fence but had to take them down, simply because they were growing way too tall. Over the years other random shrubs self seeded and got rather large. One morning I decided I wanted to just see a lot of colour there. Lots of flowers.... nothing else but just colour! That was it..... I was up all night dreaming of what could be and the project literally took over my life for a year but I really did achieve what I set out to do, the reward I feel is something else. The only downside is I had no time for anything else. It's not just the physical work, there was so much to learn, mistakes to be made also. Now I have achieved my new dream flower bed, i've realised that I've had no time to rest and just enjoy it. So my new project is to redesign it all again! Simply so I don't have to do as much to keep on top of it next year.

It is nothing in comparison to what you want to achieve whatsoever, but I agree with all the advice you have been given already. Learn, plan and set small goals over time. The decking can almost certainly be reincorporated back into your new garden... your shed, raised beds, planters, wall art/planters, even to create another small decking area in the late afternoon sun for a chair/lounger/BBQ etc..... Always try and find some creative way to use it. I'm now always dreaming of having a garden with little areas winding through (rather than a square/rectangular set up ie: lawn in middle, beds around the side) as it will make any small garden look a lot bigger! I have learned so much in the past year watching gardening programmes, subscribing to magazines, and getting advice from other gardeners online. Joining GC was the best thing I did in the last few months, everyone has been so friendly and have never been made to feel stupid for asking anything. There is so much to learn!

Gardening is NEVER finished and to start a whole new garden from scratch like you want to is going to take a lot of time, planning, money, sweat (tears if you are anything like me) but most of all learning. You will make mistakes and encounter huge problems. Never give up though.... and please keep us updated, I will be following this thread and be checking in on your progress (no offence..... when I remember! ).

I did search forums to see if there was any threads made from people like us, as there wasn't It crossed my mine to create one, but the shear RSD of nobody joining put me off the idea. Seeing your post today made me so happy. I can TRULY FEEL your excitement for your new garden and nice to finally read a thread made by somebody that has my kind of enthusiasm with creative new projects.

Good Luck Lucy! xx

 

Being a ludite I prefer paper, 2B pencil and a rubber or as Americans say an eraser. I think Americans call something else a rubber.

 

You can still put it on your pencil,though

 

It does make a big difference to understand why I do particular things! The project focus is one of the best side effects though!

 

I also have those sorts of problems, and have passed them onto my daughters, which can make everyday life quite difficult at times. I'm always looking for another project, and I'm used to doing work myself, and it can be frustrating. I've learned to manage it though - most of the time!
Just decide on the plan/design, and then work your way through it, depending on your budget.
I really don't think you have room for grass though, and it could also be hard to establish it and keep it thriving due to that underlying concrete/rubble, and generally poorer conditions. The ground will need a lot of attention to get it healthy, and keep it that way. I think other planting in those raised beds will be easier, although it'll also be quite expensive as you'll have to fill them. Ultimately more pleasing year round than just grass though.

If you want to tackle repointing the walls [and they might not be very attractive once you get that render off - if you get it all off] then start with a bit where the shed will go. That means that it'll be hidden if you don't feel it's good enough, but if you manage a decent effect, you can do the practising there, and the bits you'll see will inevitably be better. I'm not sure if you actually mean repointing, or re rendering though. Some of that base layer in your pic looks pretty well attached, so you'd have to decide whether it's better to try rendering the brick, or trying to get it all off and just repointing the brickwork itself. Only you can make that decision though, as we can't tell from photos how easy or hard it is to alter.
Worst case scenario, you can add trellis/battens to cover areas if they aren't going to be good enough, and have those raised beds in the same areas so that you can use climbers for covering it all.

 

Unfortunately the grass is non-negotiable as my puppy won’t go to the toilet on a hard surface. At the moment she has a litter tray full. I’m just going to have to be very creative to make a tiny, tiny patch of grass look natural. Maybe I can manage a tiny, fairy glade vibe. It’s going to be a huge pain anyway, to put it in deliberately to let my (female) dog urinate there, but I think there are some natural grasses that are somewhat resistant to dog urine, and needs must! Well, unless she grows out of her pickiness before I get to this point - I’ll have to wait and see!

I mean repointing the brick - it’s quite a nice red brick, though old and imperfect. I think that’s ok, if structurally stable, though - it can look romantically worn. Good idea to repoint a bit behind the shed first! I’m not naturally a precise person and my main worry was getting mortar all over the brick, but I’ve looked it up and it looks like that expected and you just make it a consistency that can be brushed away. Which sounds much more manageable.

The render removal was taking ages, so I ordered a rotary hammer drill next day delivery, for today. Please wish me the care to not chisel right through the brick or into any part of myself, and tolerant neighbours/puppy!

 

Could this be the (only!) legitimate use of astroturf ?