Grass is always greener...

Just appreciate what you've got and bear in mind that such a garden is more than many folks can ever aspire to. Otherwise sell the house and find a smaller garden.

 

As I said above, I do appreciate the garden. It's the main reason we bought the house. It is just daunting some times. But thanks for your kind suggestion anyway.

 

I know the feeling as parts of mine have the same look as yours, however we are very fortunate to have all the space we could want.
As others have said don't look at the whole picture, concentrate on 1 small area at a time otherwise it appears too daunting.Your immediate plan of removing the Leylandi sounds good. Picture number 1 is really rather nice as is. With loads of say Daffodils and Snowdrops planted (maybe there already?) I'm not too sure that much needs doing other than perhaps taming the jungle effect.The build up of leaf mold on the paths will make a great addition to the flowerbeds once they have been cleared.
Don't be tempted as I was just to cut down saplings which were growing in the most annoying places. I discovered that most of them just regrew with added vigor! While I keep using weedkiller to a minimum a few applications of say Roundup when in strong growth will kill saplings that are nigh on impossible to dig out when growing in a wall/pathway etc.
I too had to resort to using a chainsaw on overgrown hedges shrubs even. While definitely not what "the book" says to do the results were much better than I expected and there are only so many free hours in a day to be able to prune correctly!
I completely understand the "gardening should be fun" remark! however you will I'm sure gain great satisfaction in time plus a very sore back!

 

Amen to that! Although I can't wait for the lighter evenings so I can get out there after work.

 

A friend of mine had a large garden and when they moved in the brambles were 5ft high. She went and spoke to her local farmer who 'loaned' her two goats - it was amazing how fast they ate through the brambles.

 

Auntpol... Yes, I must admit I have considered that! Trouble is they'll eat everything else, they're about as fussy as the chickens!

 

How do they cope with all the thorns???

Val

 

In my opinion if you have a large garden you do need to tool up for it. Decent tools cost money, but if you have several hundred yards of hedging then you need a hedge cutter that will do it quickly enough, and without you needing to be like Sampson!, or it is going to consume your time and become a chore.

Of course you can hire equipment if you only need it for a few days of the year, or can't afford to buy your own, although I do think having your own means you can just do the job when it suits you, and conditions are right. When I used to hire a rotavator, annually, in the Spring that was always the weekend that it rained heavily!

Same with the lawn mower. Something that will nip round it in short-order means you can just nip out and do the lawn because you have got people coming in an hour, rather than having to plan to do it over several evenings in the days before ...

Looks like you have several small areas of lawn and lots of trees to go round? A zero-turn ride-on mower might be best for that job ...

 

Sorry, it's nothing to do with the situation in question but the phrase ... the grass is always greener ...

Here in Portugal we say 'a galinha da vinzinha e sempre mas gorde' ... ie, 'the chicken of the neighbour is always fatter' ...


So, how would you gardeners re-phrase this ... ?

 

That's a bit mean

 

There's always the Jones to keep up with ... particularly as our neighbours are actually called Jones !!