herrchook

Our back yard is a disaster . It's a new build house and the landlord hasn't touched the garden so it's an oasis of weeds. It's a decent size lot so there's a fair bit of it and it's a good sized house but without anywhere to sit (other than the teensy patio) we feel a bit hemmed in.

Anyway, OH has had enough and says he'll go mad for another 8 months in the house with nothing nice to look at. He loves to eat outdoors but with the garden as it is, he hates going out in it. So, he has decided to pick a rectangle directly outside the lounge and do something with it.

Not having had a garden here before, we are not sure where to begin. Some of the ideas we have are removable decking slabs or fake grass. Anyone else had a similar problem? How did you overcome it?

We don't want to spend a huge amount of money as our landlord is such a tightwad - there's no way we're doing his whole garden for him when he won't even reply to our requests for anything to be done.

Cheers

gillysm

You have to be careful in a rental as anything you do will have to be put back exactly as it was (even if it is a mess at the moment). If your landlord is a plonker be even more careful.
How about those timber decking "tiles" you can get in Bunnings or Freedom? If you clear and level an area they might work although you might need to put down sand or something to lay them on. Not ideal but it might to the job in the short term. (or is that what you meant?) Paving slabs can be removed too if they are just laid on sand or crusher dust.

Pollyana

Are you sure that your contract doesn't include maintenance of the garden to a certain standard? You might find that you HAVE to do the whole lot

Possums

check your contract we had to maintain all the gardens and keep a very large veg patch weed free that we never used!

Margaret3

gill, our bloomin garden is huge, and we were getting a visit from the owner today, its taken hugh about 3 days to tidy it up,

the estate agent had told me a couple of times the owner of this house was very nice, he arrived with his wife and two young children, i thought they were going to stay all day, they were absolutely lovely, thanking us for taking care of the property and chatting away for ages, and their little girls were so well behaved, estate agent phoned later to tell us he was very impressed by us all!!

bridie

like someone else said, you usually have to leave it how you found it, so be careful you dont do anything permanent.

we had a similar problem with ours, the garden wasnt even laid until we'd been in two months and wasnt done properly so the weeds were atrocious. I rang the tenant advisory service who told us not to worry and that technically (although it would never be done of course) we were within our rights to take up all the lawn and plants and leave it as it had been when we moved in.

Timber Floor Au

My mates a professional renter, and has been renting for over 30 years lol.

He swears black n blue and blind... get some bloody bark chippings delivered, about 40 bucks a ton, and sprinkle 4 inches of it everywhere including your concrete, lol

Much cheaper than weedol, and long term easier on the back !

herrchook

No we're OK there Polly. We discussed the state of the garden with the realtor when signing the contract. The front grden is "landscaped" and we have to maintain that and the nature strip but the back is just a pile of weeds and sand, oh yeah, and the rubble the landlord added when doing the front!!.

herrchook

Yeah, that's the kind of thing we were thinking of, or maybe that artifical grass. We would be lifting it when we leave.

herrchook

If he's that nice, you should have angled for a new kitchen from the sales lol

herrchook

We've just got to maintain the front thankfully, and the realtor is happy that anything we do in the back is an improvement - think abandoned building site at the moment!

herrchook

And presto, you've an instant spider home

herrchook

Intersting that - our front garden wasn't done when we first moved in

Tuxtrip

You should suggest to the landlord that you are prepared to spruce up the back garden and maintain it whilst you are there. Give him your suggestions (keep them simple and cheap!) and then ask if he will consider a couple of weeks free rent for your efforts. You may be pleasantly surprised. It will, after all, increase the rental value of his property.
If he is not prepared to do this, put down brick pavers and buy yourself some nice potted plants - they can then be removed and used in your own garden. (Avoid the woodchips - spiders love them!!)

Possums

thats ok then but bloody hell mate dont be spending lots o dosh its his bloody house, on the other hand can totally understand you want a nice outdoor area reckon he should pay for it though