Grassless Garden

SmithsFan

I have a small back garden which has never been treated or landscaped properly. At this stage I want something that's low maintenance but looks fairly good also. I have no side access our no real room for storage so I want to kill/cover up or replace the grass with whatever people reckon is low maintenance and fairly cheap e.g. mulch, pebbles, decking or a combination of all.
Can anyone firstly recommend the best way to kill and cover up the existing grass and secondly any suggestions as to what might work well in its place.
Thanks.

looksee

If you decide to use pebbles you need to take out the top soil - maybe create a raised bed for shrubs to one side - and put in some hardcore/filler. If you just put pebbles on soil, weeds will grow through. If you use thin/cheap membrane weeds will grow through. A few weeds will grow anyway but if the site has been properly prepared they will just be in the top layer of pebbles and will be easy to get out.

Markcheese

Don't know how big your garden is bit first thing is wrote a list of what you want out of it , so, space for a shed, patio or decking, beds or shrubberies, herb garden ect... Now your budget, and a rough time frame.. Draw a rough plan..
You could just cover the grass with weed block fabric and 2 or 3 inches of bark mulch ... Easy but very boring on its own.

looksee

A few inches of bark mulch on weed block membrane will just all blow into a heap and leave you with membrane exposed, agree about working out what you actually want though, and who will use the garden.

lk67

Spray off the area with a glyphosate based weed killer like Rambo or Roundup before putting down membrane. And use Hipex or Mypex membrane if using gravel.

My own back garden is composed off a house floor level deck, graveled area and raised sleeper beds. Works fine but showing its age now.

pwurple

Paving may work better for you long term, rather than pebbles or bark mulch. I always consider them a medium/short term ground covering.

Raised beds to the side with paving in the center is a useful configuration for a small back garden, especially if you make the raised beds at about seating height... So they can double as seats... One less thing to buy/store.