Ideas for concrete eyesore?!

Hi,

I would love any ideas people might have as to what to do with a concrete area I have in my garden.

I've attached a picture of it and the rest of the garden. It's a bit of an eyesore at the moment as when we are sat on the decking or looking out at the garden from the kitchen this is what we see instead of something nice!

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

Well I know what Tropical_Gaz would do,

The Big Pond Build (so far) ~ Alternative Eden

 

Hi,
Do you mean the concrete plinth that the greenhouse is standing on? It's not that bad! In fact, it looks pretty neat and tidy, if a bit plain. I think if it was mine I'd....

1. Get a much bigger greenhouse. Then you wouldn't see so much of it and it makes perfect hardstanding for a greenhouse.

2.Acquire a huge collection of container plants and arrange them tastefully on the concrete. Paint the concrete first with garage floor paint if you hate it enough.

3.Cover it entirely in wild mosaic - see Gaudi for inspiration.

Barcelona, The Guell Park

4.Turn it into a moss garden using the liquidised moss mixture mentioned eslewhere on the forum.

5.Construct a raised pond on it using railway sleepers or other material, then pave around the base of the pond with suitable outdoor tiles.

6.Move your patio area onto it as that decking is bound to wear out sooner than the concrete. (You'd have to relocate that useful shed)

 

here is one of your photos, with the concrete slab removed, grass planted, sheds removed and shrubs planted against the wall ....

 

welcome to GC This is only Personal i love Quarry Tiles large or small Ava from most reclaimed yards or ebay the pot idea sounds nice with a pool i just bought 2 pre formed pools off ebay absolute bargin 1 @ 6ft x 4ft and 1 @ 4ft x 3ft if my memory serves me right £19.98 for the 2 they am a fortune in Garden centers but this time of year am cheep 2nd hand Let us know wot you Decide you will get loads of Advice Here :WINK1: Good Luck

 

Possibly the cheapest quick fix option would be to fix pressure treated timber to the sides keeping it raised slightly above the concrete, then cover the area with gravel. You could then put pots etc oo the area, and even border it with trellis to separate it up.

 

heres the other photo (keeping your current decking) .... plants etc are not to scale, and is merely a visual representation

 

That concrete base is an absolutely ideal site for a hen house together with a straw covered run over the remainder of the slab.



EDIT: Or somewhere to keep the Muscovy duck(s) shown in *dim's* post #7.

 

There seems to be a strange object in the sky just out of shot, casting a shadow in the perfect shape of the word 'Trial'.

 

:D ... I'm learning the software (try before you buy) ... so it adds a watermark of the word 'Trial' on every completed design when you convert it to a jpg file

very good though, and once you get the hang of it, it's fast .... when you get the full version, you have thousands of plants (all to scale etc) ... trial version only has a few

 

Surely you could get round that by using the screen shot key on the keyboard

 

Hmmm .... never thought of that ... but if I do that, I get the program menu's etc on the picture .... but will upgrade to the full version as then I can choose the plants that I want (instead of 12 on the trial software)

 

These are large birds, and you shouldn't just stick them on your design pics without also including suitable facilities for them:

 

:D thats a wild goose that has returned early to the UK due to the mild winter

 

So here's what you need to do with that concrete area as it will be an ideal site, and Muskovies just love trees like you've suggested for roosting in:




P.S. I think you ought to have a gander at goose pics on Google.