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Any ideas?

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  • 13-01-2019 9:37pm
    #1
    368100
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,067 ✭✭✭


    I'm in the middle of buying a house, it's in rural/townland area.
    The house is built into a hill and the back garden is about 0.5 acres of a steep hill. It's currently mostly covered in gorse bushes (which I will get rid of straight away due to fire risk).
    From the parts I can see, there is a bit of rock showing so probably not a simple case of ploughing and seeding grass.

    Has anyone any ideas for landscaping? Seems like a waste not to do something with it....


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    #2
    macraignil
    Registered Users Posts: 3,443 ✭✭✭macraignil


    It would depend a lot on what you would like to use the area for. Would you see yourself being an active gardener or just want something to be low maintenance? What direction is the slope facing in? How steep is it(could a ride on mower drive on it without the danger of toppling over)? How much would you like to get the landscaping work done for, or are you hoping to do most of it yourself? Are you getting machinery in to remove the gorse? What is the perimeter of the site marked by? If you remove the gorse will the neighboring land be open for anything to wonder into your garden for grazing what you grow? A picture of the area would make it a bit clearer, what might be possible.


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    #3
    Harry Palmr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    We need pictures (good ones, not the usual terrible snaps we see here!)

    I'd not worry about the rock, indeed it could be a feature but pictures and a plan-drawing would help to get a feel for the site.


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    #4
    368100
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,067 ✭✭✭368100


    macraignil wrote: »
    It would depend a lot on what you would like to use the area for. Would you see yourself being an active gardener or just want something to be low maintenance? What direction is the slope facing in? How steep is it(could a ride on mower drive on it without the danger of toppling over)? How much would you like to get the landscaping work done for, or are you hoping to do most of it yourself? Are you getting machinery in to remove the gorse? What is the perimeter of the site marked by? If you remove the gorse will the neighboring land be open for anything to wonder into your garden for grazing what you grow? A picture of the area would make it a bit clearer, what might be possible.

    Something relatively low maintenance. I dont mind mowing grass but if careful pruning of bushes was needed then it wouldnt be something id be on for.
    Slope is facing the house....I.e. bottom of slope is at house.....slope is South facing.
    I think it just may be a little too steep for a ride on mower, might be ok up and down but wouldnt fancy going sideways.
    As for cost, id like to be able to do as much as possible but perfectly willing to get someone in if it was above my capabilities.
    Yes, im getting a machine in to remove gorse....someone I know has a machine that will remove roots also.
    Perimeter is marked by a ditch....it's roughly square shaped. No livestock in neighbouring land, house to left boundary....top boundary land is owned by someone who lives in states and right hand side boundary is earmarked for another house.
    Will try and post up a pic but I dont think it'll show the aspect very well.


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    #5
    macraignil
    Registered Users Posts: 3,443 ✭✭✭macraignil


    368100 wrote: »
    Something relatively low maintenance. I dont mind mowing grass but if careful pruning of bushes was needed then it wouldnt be something id be on for.
    Slope is facing the house....I.e. bottom of slope is at house.....slope is South facing.
    I think it just may be a little too steep for a ride on mower, might be ok up and down but wouldnt fancy going sideways.
    As for cost, id like to be able to do as much as possible but perfectly willing to get someone in if it was above my capabilities.
    Yes, im getting a machine in to remove gorse....someone I know has a machine that will remove roots also.
    Perimeter is marked by a ditch....it's roughly square shaped. No livestock in neighbouring land, house to left boundary....top boundary land is owned by someone who lives in states and right hand side boundary is earmarked for another house.
    Will try and post up a pic but I dont think it'll show the aspect very well.

    South facing is good for growth anyway as the garden will get more light than one that would be north facing. There are good quality self propelled push lawnmowers that might be an option but before getting the machinery in to clear the gorse you could also consider breaking the slope into terraces or steps to make the area easier to manage. You might be able to get this done at the same time as the clearing of the gorse. Some shrubs and trees are best grown without any pruning and as long as they are not too close to and potentially liable to fall on your house will usually look better when not pruned. Its a good idea to plan what you intend on doing before starting out anyhow to make the whole project move a bit more smoothly. Gorse is supposedly good for nesting birds and flowers over a large part of the year to provide for pollinators so you could also consider keeping some of it at a distance form the house.


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    #6
    jhenno78
    Closed Accounts Posts: 208 ✭✭jhenno78


    I never get it when people say that a lawn is "low-maintenance".
    You spend far more time on it than anything else in the garden.

    is there a sheep farm nearby? If there isn't then the gorse probably wont go on fire...
    Not that you'd want gorse for a back garden anyway.
    Personally I'd plant it with fruit trees, berries and the like.


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    #7
    pixbyjohn
    Registered Users Posts: 6,250 ✭✭✭pixbyjohn


    jhenno78 wrote: »
    is there a sheep farm nearby? If there isn't then the gorse probably wont go on fire...

    Why not, I don't understand


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    #8
    macraignil
    Registered Users Posts: 3,443 ✭✭✭macraignil


    jhenno78 wrote: »
    I never get it when people say that a lawn is "low-maintenance".
    You spend far more time on it than anything else in the garden.

    is there a sheep farm nearby? If there isn't then the gorse probably wont go on fire...
    Not that you'd want gorse for a back garden anyway.
    Personally I'd plant it with fruit trees, berries and the like.

    I'd agree on planting fruit trees and plants with berries as being a good option. Just brought up the lawn option as it seems to be popular. It does provide a surface for pets and children to run about but how good it is to have in your garden comes back to the question of what you want to use the area for. Had to plant a good area of lawn myself as that is what the girlfriend wanted but also put in lots of trees that have fruit, berries and nuts.


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    #9
    jhenno78
    Closed Accounts Posts: 208 ✭✭jhenno78


    pixbyjohn wrote: »
    Why not, I don't understand

    https://www.thejournal.ie/gorse-fire-burning-debate-3352600-Apr2017/


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    #10
    jhenno78
    Closed Accounts Posts: 208 ✭✭jhenno78


    macraignil wrote: »
    I'd agree on planting fruit trees and plants with berries as being a good option. Just brought up the lawn option as it seems to be popular. It does provide a surface for pets and children to run about but how good it is to have in your garden comes back to the question of what you want to use the area for. Had to plant a good area of lawn myself as that is what the girlfriend wanted but also put in lots of trees that have fruit, berries and nuts.

    Yeah, very true - what op wants to use it for is the most important thing. You could have part of it be a grassy play area and the rest other stuff. It doesn't have to be very big, if OP has .5 acres then even 5% of that(100m^2) is enough.

    Terracing would be great if OP has the budget for it.


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    #11
    368100
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,067 ✭✭✭368100


    jhenno78 wrote: »
    I never get it when people say that a lawn is "low-maintenance".
    You spend far more time on it than anything else in the garden.

    is there a sheep farm nearby? If there isn't then the gorse probably wont go on fire...
    Not that you'd want gorse for a back garden anyway.
    Personally I'd plant it with fruit trees, berries and the like.

    I dont mind cutting grass, it's weeding, pruning etc that I don't think I'd have the patience for.

    No sheep farm nearby no....but the place has a history of gorse fire every few years so I want rid of it all. I'd still be close enough to gorse from neighbouring land but at least if I cleared it from my own the house would be safe.


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    #12
    368100
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,067 ✭✭✭368100


    jhenno78 wrote: »
    Yeah, very true - what op wants to use it for is the most important thing. You could have part of it be a grassy play area and the rest other stuff. It doesn't have to be very big, if OP has .5 acres then even 5% of that(100m^2) is enough.

    Terracing would be great if OP has the budget for it.

    I'd like the bottom of it to be dug out and flattened so there would be some form of play area, as none really at front of house. Had a look at retracing, looks interesting thanks for idea....


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