Before you tell me I am crazy...I already know! Here's the deal, my garden currently looks like this

Its bare, and dirty, full of spiders and just plain horrible. I spend countless hours just cutting back the plants because it very quickly turns into a jungle if left for a few weeks without any attention.

I've been looking for a "clean", low maintenance alternative and found this http://www.origingardendesign.co.uk/hertfordshire_garden.php which I really really really want!

I dont have the money to pay a landscape gardener to transform it for me, so I was planning on making this a life long project and do it myself. I'm pretty sure the best place to start would be the walls, but how do I even figure out how many bricks I need?

As you can guess, this is going to be an impossible mission for me but I'm willing to give it a try...might just need a few tips along the way! Where would you start?

measurements and a meticulous plan drawing of what you are after.

After my wife made a plan of what she wanted I cleared my garden and marked out all of the areas with pegs and string to get a picture of what it would look like in the flesh, then I chopped the project into parts and started on one part and moved onto the next (still got 3 parts to go on mine, decking, wood storage and secluded seating area).

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- Dave
http://www.pamperhouse.net
http://www.invertedcircle.co.uk

Hi beckyboo, my advice would be if you want to spend your time changing your garden rather than just maintaining/controlling what you already have. Bite the bullet and unleash a can of serious whoopass on the plants. Kill the lot. A dead plant is much easier to remove. Get back to basics and make your time in the garden productive rather than the status quo you find yourself with. So, starting point= clear the plot. when you've done this you may change your plans. Your right that the hard landscape things are the first things to think of.