That is a really nice sized garden you have with some very mature and overgrown plants. Looking at the pictures I would say the garden is very tired and not at all suitable for a modern family.

A project of that size to redo will not be cheap, but if you are willing to look at upcycling some of the materials and work with some of the plants you already have you could save some pennies.

Even though it will cost something to start with I would recommend having a discussion with a professional garden designer and have some proper plans drawn up so all your wish list items are covered and even some things you may not have thought about.

That way if you do not do the garden in one go you can do areas as budget allows and you will know that when it is finished it will all be as the plan and still work as a cohesive design. Also if you get a few quotes in they will all be quoting off the same plan.

Regards Ian

What a fabulous garden and facing southwest is a dream for most home owners! It does present the need for shade however. It really depends on your budget as it’s such a large space. Paving alone will cost about £100 a sq meter and that’s a big space. I think it would be worthwhile for you to get a garden designer in to give you an overall outline plan. Then you can do the overall plan on a phased basis.

You will need shade near the house for outdoor dining and entertaining. Placement is key as you don’t want that to darken the rooms off the garden. As the current plan is split, would suggest t

To have the family area with maybe a pergola, dining table and some comfy chairs and maybe even an outdoor kitchen in time. If the sheds are salvageable, you could reposition to the edges of the plan and use to store garden tools and kids toys. A covered sandpit. The possibilities are endless.

I meant to say that the building at the bottom of the garden is drawing the eye for all the wrong reasons so I would paint it a dark colour and use plants to soften it.

Thank you, both. I agree we need a plan to work to, very helpful comments. I will research into a garden designer.

AGI landscapes, with your experience, what would you say the ballpark cost was, to getting this looking better, assuming we kept the general layout and relaid the patio, 10K, 50K, 100K?

I feel the patio needs replacing. It’s looks too big, unless you need all that paving? My sister had her garden completely refurbished - paving, lawn and new planting. Her patio is on 2 different levels so quite a lot of landscaping and the refurb came to £28,000 three years ago. Similar size to yours.

I think you could easily overspend here so I would try to work with what you have. Adding some mature trees and a lot of plants would really brighten it up and it doesn't need to break the bank. That said some areas would benefit from having the paving replaced.

Hello,

Depending on what your dream list is and how much you could recycle, I would be looking somewhere nearer the £50k. Nowadays a properly laid average size patio by professionals is in the region of £8-10k. Plants, you don't get a lot for a hundred pounds at a garden centre anymore, so looking at trade price plus some mark up, Site preparation and planting labour charges......

A pergola for shade, that's another few thousand, things soon add up.

This is why a good layout is important. A garden should last many years to come and getting in all those details is important.

Start off by writing a list of what you want your garden for, i.e. play, entertainment etc, then write down what you need in the garden, quite secluded seating area, outdoor kitchen, large patio or two patios, one with shade and a sofa and one for dinning and so on.

Think seriously about your budget, and definitely don't think 'but they did it for that on TV' it's won't last, and it's not done properly!

Just think how much a nice new kitchen will cost nowadays, £20k upwards, smaller room, less building work, and you will want a new one in 10-15 years time maybe. It is all relative.

As I mentioned earlier, if you have a plan, you can do it in stages as budget allows and it will all work together when finished.

Hope this helps a little more.

Regards Ian

I think it’s certainly worth getting quotes for a full garden refurb, as well as just the plan. Obviously there is a cost even just for a plan as it is time consuming for the garden designer. Then you can get a good idea of costs. My sister’s garden design refurb was 3 years ago and prices for everything have gone up substantially since then. I recently had a quote for a lean to pergola 4m x 3m for £1640. Will take 2 men a day to build. Will get more quotes soon. You have a beautiful space there and I feel it’s the paving that is letting it down. The rest looks rather pretty.

I'm thinking it might not need as expensive a makeover as I originally thought. I'll get some designers to come and look at it, and see what they say.

That's the best way forward as it's only when you have prices and detailed quotes to compare that you will be able to make a proper decision.