Turning a concrete terraced yard into a garden

[tornado99]

Hi,

I currently have an average sized concrete terraced yard (4mx3.5m) with about 15 pot plants in. It's north facing but gets a reasonable amount of sunlight. I'm thinking about what I can do to make it "more green", and to attract more wildlife. Currently we get visits from blue tits, robins, slugs, bees, blue bottle flies, and ladybirds in small numbers.

I would like a patch of lawn but there doesn't seem space for it. Also anything that involved digging up the concrete would probably be expensive.

Does anyone have an ideas for things such as lawns,water features,beds,particular plants that would make my yard more green?!

I have photos of it but can't seem to post them here.

thanks

Ric

[nightshade]

A photo is always useful. Do you have fences or walls? are they, or can they, be painted white to reflect more light about. A circular pond in the middle of the yard made from a big drainage pipe section then a circle around that in angled bricks filled with chippings and 4" topsoil then laid with turf.
The pots need to be terraced ..............
With me so far?

[shadowx]

Plus, if you are physically able you can just rent a jackhammer and take the concrete out yourself, shouldnt cost much, You'll feel it though!

[Lancashire Lad]

What about making some raised beds? Probably not the best option if you definitely want a lawn, but simpler than excavating the concrete if you'd be happy enough with flower beds.

You could use such things as ex-railway sleepers. They can be obtained "refurbished" or "just as they come". They can be bracketed or nailed together using short upright pieces of 75x75mm timber internally at the corners. For additional cost, you can generally get them cut to any specific size before delivery. (They are extremely heavy ).

Alternatively, you could use concrete breeze-blocks, or bricks, etc. etc. They wouldn't necessarily have to be cemented together, or to the concrete floor, they will retain topsoil filling under their own weight. - (As long as you don't go to more than about 300mm in height). - But you could of course, cement them up, and top them off with suitable cap-stones, or maybe 600x300concrete half paving slabs.

Or, you could construct raised beds from decking timber, (pre-treated against rotting, and will last for many years). - but would be the most costly option.

Depending on how you construct, you might need to provide a few drainage holes, but if you just stand sleepers/bricks etc. on the concrete, then there will already be sufficient escape routes for excess water.

Raised beds would also allow you to incorporate a small pond without any digging requirement.

Topsoil for filling such beds can be bought from most garden centres.

Keep any raised beds away from the house walls, so as not to breach the dampcourse. Soil or any other path for dampness against an external wall is a definite no-no.

If you decide to dig up the existing concrete yard, you will still need topsoil, as the quality of whatever is below the concrete will very likely be useless for planting in. (Also, if digging - be very wary of the potential for damage to drains pipes & cables which may be under the concrete).

Regards,
Mike.

[tornado99]

hi,

many thanks for the suggestions. nightshade - very interesting, i guess you mean for me to have both a raised pond and a raised circular lawn.

i'm probably going to go down the route of getting a couple of very large containers.

how would i fit a pond inside a container? i was thinking of actually getting a separate half-barrel from somewhere and making a tub pond

also, i don't have a car. so does anyone know of how to get a large quantity of soil to fill my containers delivered?

[bigdave60dog]

Nothing wrong with Mikes advice. I have raised beds. if I made them now I would use 9"x1" sawn and treated wood. It comes in lengths of 4.2metres. I would stabilise it with 3"x3" treated square stakes cut to size. I would also make these beds 1.7 metres wide and a length to suit my patch. i would design them so that I could pull clear polythene sheet cloches along each bed to cover all of each bed as needed..
I did things entirely different to this when I first laid out my beds 8 years ago.
They are good but that design would be better.
make holes through your concrete under the beds with a big bore SDS plus drill.
that would be by far the easiest route.
Dave

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by tornado99

hi,

many thanks for the suggestions. nightshade - very interesting, i guess you mean for me to have both a raised pond and a raised circular lawn.

i'm probably going to go down the route of getting a couple of very large containers.

how would i fit a pond inside a container? i was thinking of actually getting a separate half-barrel from somewhere and making a tub pond

also, i don't have a car. so does anyone know of how to get a large quantity of soil to fill my containers delivered?

We still do not know wether you have walls or fences, If you make some trellis using tile batten (very cheap) and mount it 3" off the wall you could grow Honeysuckle etc. up it or varigated ivies down it birds will queue to nest there. Top soil delivered start with your local council, most bid for gardening contracts or a quick look for topsoil in yellow pages.
Pond raised make a hexagonal frame with 2"x3" studding timber and clad it with decking timber line it with something to keep sharp edges (polystyrene?) from puncturing a butyl liner this will help stop it freezing.
Log Sided Ponds: Water Features On-line

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by tornado99

also, i don't have a car. so does anyone know of how to get a large quantity of soil to fill my containers delivered?

If Nightshade's suggestions don't work out, the large DIY store chains do bagged and bulk top soil. Wickes are pretty good on price. For raised beds I'd suggest a 70/30 mix of top soil to fibrous (non peat) compost which will provide a better moisture retentive medium than plain top soil.

CM

[bigdave60dog]

Yeah! if you don`t have car that can be problem.
Listen, abit of good advice. Don`t bother too much with the likes of B+Q. They tend to cater mainly to the DIY market and generally give poorer quality service and goods that your local smaller professional building supplier.
The staff in the popular stores generally know very little about building but still seek to advise. There is usually a builder or two at the counter at the builders merchants who will advise. Most of these merchants will always order goods that they don`t have in stock and their delivery charges are much less than the big chains.
You will get to network with local professionals and develope contacts for the materials that you need and for the transport to your property.
I have rebuilt, extended and renovated several houses and have owned and run two Garden Design and landscaping businesses. I have always found that one local tradesman is worth a dozen amateur salespeople in Homebase.
Dave

[dogstarheaven]

i've lived with a tiny back garden with a 10ft x 8ft ornamental bed and the rest is concreted with a narrow paved path and a 10ft x 8ft piece. Over the yrs, my pots grew and grew where it got to the point i could have a raised bed or two. I made it out of treated decking to the cost of £65 which inc. £5 del from a local timber yard (they cut the pieces to size too). this made one 2m x 1.5m bed and a narrow 2m x .5m. i bought about 10 bags of MP compost and about 8 bags of John Innes no. 3 potting (soil-based) compost, i think it was about £50 inc. £5 del from a local garden centre. the last few yrs, i've had lots of salad stuff growing in it inc. toms, runner/french/mange tout, annual herbs, carrots, radish etc.,

if i were to do things differently, i wouldn't have bought MP compost tho', but I didn't know of Freegle/Freecycle back then then where I notice thesedays, ppl seem to be giving their topsoil (plus other gardening equip stuff) away. Topsoil is the best soil for a permanent raised bed imo, but like you, i didn't have a car, so getting things delivered means we had to pay extra. Over the growing seasons, I noticed that MP compost isn't ideal as it doesn't retain water v. well and the soil surface 'caps'. I haven't had any probs with compaction as I didn't didn't layer it with rubble/stone/grit to allow drainage. I mixed the JI soil and the MP together, so this would allow the mix to be a bit gritty and more water retentive...it's not perfect, but I had to think of something that was readily accessible. I couldn't have a ton of topsoil delivered to my terraced house, altho' that would be possible if you had a driveway where the supplier to dump it there.

so all in all, instead of going straight to a DIY store, see if you can get onto your local freecycle/freegle and see if anyone's giving away topsoil/implements/planters/barrels. if not, then put in a 'wanted' post instead. I found a local man with a van who only charged me £15ph and I hired him to get me a shed from gumtree.

hope this helps.