Backyard Makeover: Transforming a Long-Disused Garden Into Something Usable and Enjoyable

Welcome dear reader.

This Instructable will show how I transformed a long-disused backyard into an enjoyable and usable area. I will share what I did along with some tips and tricks to hopefully give you inspiration to transform your outside space if you're lucky enough to have one. Transforming a back or front yard is not just about aesthetics, it can be a sanctuary that reflects your personality, something that makes a first impression, a calming and relaxing area to do a spot of gardening or just to relax in, and somewhere inviting for people and wildlife alike.

The Project:

When my good friend offered me my own apartment attached to the side of her house, I was aware there was a lot of work to do both inside and outside. When I cleared out, cleaned and redecorated the apartment and moved in, the next job was to tackle the backyard/driveway area... a mammoth under-taking to be sure, but one that needed doing. For reasons I won't go in to, my friend had neglected this area for some time and was never really used except for a dumping ground, and when I moved in, she told me I had free rein to do whatever I wanted as this was going to be my space as she had her own back garden.

So the plan: to clear out the entire area, de-weed everywhere, make a blank canvas, then make the driveway usable, create a decking area, lay some new turf (natural or artificial, I hadn't decided that right away), and a storage shed for my gardening tools, not just any shed, but a TARDIS shed because I always wanted to build one of my own but never had the opportunity to do so. I was on a budget, so I had to keep costs low and somehow managed to do it, even with my spinal health issues.

The Inspiration:

The inspiration to do this came from different reasons...

1. To tidy up the area for my friend (and tidied up her front and back gardens too which she was unable to do for health and other personal reasons),
2. My friend also wanted to sell her caravan which was imposable as it was blocked in by all of the mess,
3. I enjoy being outside and as my apartment is a studio apartment, transforming the backyard would essentially give me a second room,
4. This would also give me a nice area to entertain family and friends,
5. And having something nice to look at from the window, compared to what it was, would be an added bonus.

The Plan:

1. To sort and clear all of the rubbish
2. Clear all of the weeds and overgrowth
3. Make the parking area usable again to park my car and guest parking
4. Then turn over/rotavate the old turf and soil
5. Build a reasonable sized decking area
6. Returf the rest of the garden area with rolls of turf (I ended up deciding to use artificial turf)
7. Make the TARDIS shed
8. Do some other jobs here and there (new fence panels, covering uneven areas, and other small jobs
9. And add some LED lighting for decorative, practical and security purposes.

This was a project that took me around 5 months doing this on my own, and my spine issues didn't help, but it was very rewarding in more ways than one, and was a happy to start using the new space. I have written this not as a "do this then do that" Instructable, but rather as a "this is how I did that" tutorial because you may very well have differences in your backyard space and different things what you may want to do, but the fundamentals and techniques I have included should help you on your way. Lets get to it.

The following are the items I used to do the work needed in my backyard.

Tools:

1. An electric rotovator, and garden fork to turn the old turf/soil over
2. Garden rake
3. A wide head Yard broom
4. Gardening knife
5. Dustpan and brush
6. Bucket
7. Handheld circular saw
8. Jigsaw
9. Pencil, ruler, straight edge
10. Paint brush (and an optional paint roller)
11. Hammer or rubber mallet to knock in wooden stakes
12. Electric wire cutters/strippers for LED lights
13. Soldering iron for LED lights
14. Hose pipe or jet wash

Materials:

1. Weed membrane sheet
2. Rolls of artificial turf
3. Shuttering plywood and various other timber for the TARDIS and decking
4. Wooden shipping pallets
5. New fence panels
6. External/garden paint
7. Set of solar LED garden lights
8. Outdoor LED lights
9. Photocell sensor light switch
10. Electrical wire
11. Electrical wire heat shrink tubes
12. Plant pots of your choice
13. Plants of your choice
14. Decorative stones

*The material links I have listed above are U.K links as that's where I am, so they are intended for reference so you can purchase the same or similar items in your location.

I started off with a 3D sketch of what the backyard would roughly look like as I had ideas in my head, but needed to visually see it. My plan was to built a 4.5m by 3m decking area using wooden shipping pallets and shuttering plywood, the back area turfed, and my TARDIS shed at the front end of the turfed area. I finally decided to use artificial turf because I already take care of my friends garden by mowing and strimming the lawn regularly, so I wanted my garden area to be virtually maintenance free. Along the back fence there was a cobbled area which had some very fast growing weeds, so I decided to cover this with some more shuttering ply and top it off with the leftover artificial turf. And to make the area look even nicer, I decided to replace the back fence panels, which also included removing the gates which were ready to fall off anyway.

After planning what I wanted in my backyard, there was one important thing I had to keep in mind. You may have noticed the red brick estate building on the other side of the grey fence by my driveway, directly on the other side of that is the North Sea. And while it's nice living so close to the sea (nice sea breeze, the smell of the sea etc.), when it gets windy, oh boy does it get windy. So everything I going to do had to be structurally sound, the decking and shed, turf, plant pots and the fence at the back of the garden which has seen better days.

So the very fist thing to do, and what was the biggest job of all as you can see from the photos, was the clearance. A nasty, dirty back breaking job to be sure, but a job that needed doing. I started off by concentrating on one area first, the soon to be decking area and the pathway leading to my door. Then it was the driveway, garden area, removing the old greenhouse, and then by the caravan.

Full length trousers, long sleaves , a good quality pair of work gloves and a face mask at times were worn because who knows what was lurking underneath all of the mess, broken glass, protruding nails, rodent mess etc. Once I had an area clear, I used this to separate the rubbish, metal, wood, plastics, and then use thick rubbish sacks for the rest. Once everything was sorted, I had a scrap metal company collect all of the metal (free of charge as they make money from the metal), then hired a rubbish clearance company to take the large items (old sofas, carpets, buckets of broken glass from the greenhouse etc.), cleaned up and donated anything in good condition, and then made multiple trips to the local tip/recycling center to get rid of the rest of the rubbish.

The metal frame of the greenhouse was moved to my friends garden and converted into a chicken house. When clearing the trash between the caravan and garage, I came across some decent paving slabs. Because the ground of this small area was soil and full of weeds, I decided to cover this with the slabs. The trash was cleared, weeds removed and area swept. I flattened the soil by raking and smoothing it over, covered it with sand which was spread evenly, compacted with a makeshift wood compacter, double covered with a weed membrane and covered with the slabs which made this area look much neater.

To finish of the clearance, using a good quality yard broom, garden spade and dustpan and brush, I swept the driveway a few times over the course of a few days to clear up any remaining broken glass, old screws and nails, and anything else. Then I borrowed a friends jet wash to clean the drive and the side fence which was stained and dirty, but ended up a nice silvery gray colour. Two months of clearing and cleaning left me with a nice blank canvas, an area I wasn't embarrassed by, and a large sense of satisfaction. A blank canvas ready to start doing the fun stuff.

TOP TIPS:

Don't underestimate the amount of work needed to do a clearance, even if it doesn't look much if you are working on a timetable. I didn't have the option of help at the time, but if you can get other pairs of hands to help you, make use of that.

Do not take wearing suitable clothing for granted. The clearance I did hear was one of the worst I have ever done and came across all kinds of nasty surprises. So take your health and safety seriously, take your time, and always think "what could be under that".

Sorting things into piles may seen like an extra job, but it will save you time in the long run. By separating the metal for example, the extra time sorting it into a separate pile made having it finally cleared so much quicker and easier.

And if you feel you're not up to doing a clearance like this, there are companies that will do this, although depending on how much you need cleared, expect to pay handsomely. That said, get several quotes from reputable companies, and make sure that they are fully licensed waste carriers so you know your waste will be disposed of properly and legally.

After the clearance was mainly done, the first thing I really wanted to do was to make the decking. I will write a fully detailed Instructable on this which I will link to here once I have written it, but the following is the basic rundown of what I did to help you if you wish to build your own.

Ground Prep: With the area cleared of all the trash, the first thing to do was to prep the ground. I went around with a bucket picking of any broken glass, stones and anything else that didn't belong, then went around with my lawnmower on the lowest setting to cut any grass and weeds that remained. Next, I used a cordless rotavator to turn over the soil going in one direction, then changing direction and doing the area again. Any large clumps of soil were either broken up with a garden fork, or removed. Then using a long length of timber I smoothed out the soil using a piece of board to kneel on. I did this in multiple direction taking the time to make sure the ground was as smooth and level as I could get it. Placing a spirit level on the timber length helped doing this.

Decking Base: I cut the 18mm shuttering plywood to size and sealed all of the edges with a couple of coats of plywood edging sealant. While the sealant was setting, the ground area was then covered with a good quality weed membrane, doubled over and overlapping. The pallets were then placed on top leaving small gaps between each so they didn't rub and squeak when walking on them. The pallets I used were new, identical size, and the wood already treated. Then the plywood sheets were placed on top and screwed down using decking screws. I also left a small gap between each sheet to stop and squeaking due to any wood expansion. The base was finished off by screwing in some lengths of curved cladding timber around the edges of the pallets (the cladding width the same as the pallet thickness), then 5 coats of a grey weatherproof paint was applied all round.

Pergola and Deck Rails: With the paint dry, the next job was to make the cat climbing frame, er I meant pergola and balustrade. First I measured, marked and fitted the ten post brackets to the decking base and fitted all of the posts (4x4 treated timber), six short, and four tall ones for the pergola. The four cross sections there attached to complete the pergola, screwing each one onto the posts using heavy duty brackets. The balustrade was made by screwing in some flat lengths of treated cladding timber to the posts, evenly spaced, leaving an entry/exit area. The handrails were made by attaching some more of the curved cladding lengths using mitre cuts to join the corners together.

Final Jobs: With the structure finished, I finished the decking off with a few finishing touches. Table: First was to make a table using the leftover timber and plywood. A simple rectangle shape with curved corners cut with a jigsaw, and a hole cut near the middle using a hole cutting drill bit. A new parasol base went under the table and the new parasol went through the hole in the table and attached to the base. Electrics: I fitted an outside power socket to the decking balustrade which I wired into a spare socket inside of my apartment using a smart switch. Lighting: I found a nice 36 meter waterproof blue COB LED strip which i fitted around the inside of the balustrade, and around the outer edge of the decking base using some clips to attach the lighting. The LED strips would be switched on and off using the above mentioned smart switch either using my phone of on a timer. Sun Shades: In addition to the parasol, I found some wooden venetian blinds that someone was giving away. I simply attached these the the pergolas upper cross sections using zip ties so I could easily take them down during the winter.

Adding a plywood corner unit, some chairs, a couple of potted plants, a small cabinet to put a TV on to watch sporting events and play music, and a small BBQ area, the decking was finished and I couldn't have been happier with it and use it any chance I get. And actually doing this, gave me the motivation to get the rest of the backyard sorted.

TOP TIP:

I measured, cut and painted the majority of the timber 'before' assembling everything. This helps to get all areas of the timber covered and protected with weather-proof paint, and where I used two paint colours, saved the job of masking or cutting-in.

Ground Prep: Fully motivated after finishing the decking, I moved onto the garden area. The same ground prep techniques for the decking were used to prepare the soil, removing stones, rocks, weeds, and anything else, rotavated the soil and leveled it out. I also took the time to remove as much of the weed roots as possible and fulling the holes with leftover soil. Then the area was compacted using the scrap wood compacter I made earlier. I then poured over some builders sand, spread it out and compacted it.

Weed Membrane: When I made the decking, I left some weed membrane showing along the back of the decking. This is where I would overlap the rest of the membrane for the turf area. With the membrane unrolled and flattened out, it was dragged into position using some scrap wood to temporarily hold it in place. After one for was done, it was cut to length, positioned to overlap the existing membrane, and continued this until the whole area was covered.

Laying the Artificial Turf: After I removed the package netting I unrolled the turf, pulled it over the area it was to be laid, roughly cut it to length with a sharp knife, then carried on until the area was covered. At this point I removed the wood holding the membrane down, placed it onto the turf, and left the turf to settle over night to help the pile to fluff up and remove creases. The next day, the turf lengths were moved into their final positions then nailed down using landscaping nails and a mallet. To join the turf lengths, I used an artificial turf joining tape, attached it under the edge of one length, laying the edge flat then joining the adjoining turf length. A quick walk up and down the join to help make the tape adhere, the rest of the area was completed the same way, driving in some more landscaping nails to make it extra secure (remember what I said about the strong winds I get in my area). A quick and careful trim to cut off any excess turf was all that was needed to finish the job.

As you can see in the GIF above, my cat thought this was a great little playground, lol.

After clearing all of the mess along the back fence, I discovered a small cobbled area. After cleaning it up, it looked okay but did present an ongoing issue... weeds, fast growing tall ones and no matter what I did, the kept coming back, so I decided to cover this area.

Ground Prep: After the general clearance, I gave the area several sweeps with the yard broom removing all of the rubbish between the stones and all of the weeds. I also removed any of the stones that sat a bit too high. I then laid down some CLS timber along the border and covered the cobbled area with builders sand, leveled out and compacted.

Base: I laid out the left over plywood sheet I had, measured and cut the pieces to size, then treated with some edge sealant and painted with some left over weatherproof paint I used for the decking. Some weed membrane was laid over the sand, the plywood laid into place and screwed the ply to the CLS timber lengths to create a border and to help contain any weed growing from the edge. The CLS was then painted grey as well.

Turf: To finish off, I laid the turf down, cut the pieces to size then removed them. I rolled on an external adhesive over sections of the ply using a paint roller, laid down the turf pieces until fully covered, the used some galvanised screws to screw down the edges of the turf for extra support during them windy days.

Even though I kinda liked the look of the cobble stones, I actually prefer the way it looks now, especially with the small finishing touches of some potted plants, a simple scrap wood table and a couple of chairs... and no more weeding.

Whether you see it an an early 20th century police call box, or a time and space travelling TARDIS, I've always wanted to build one of my own, and now I had the opportunity to do so and make it usable... as a shed. I won't go into full building details here as I already have a detailed build Instructable you can look at, but I will run through the basics below.

Base: The ground where I was going to put it was already prepped I started with making the base using Marine plywood sheets and 25mm x 50mm treated timber lengths. I cut and fitted the base frame to what would be the bottom of the base, moved it into position then laid four of the leftover paving slabs inside (same depth as the 25mm x 50mm timber). This would not only make a solid floor, but also add much needed foundation weight to make the whole thing sturdy during strong winds.

Frame and Sides: Four 4x4 treated timber lengths were added and secured to the base. Four box frames were made using some more 25mm x 50mm treated timber and these were screwed into the top of the frame uprights to bring them all together. Four slightly longer box frames were made and attached to the outside of the smaller box frames. These would be the light boxes for the signs. The left, right and back of the TARDIS frame were fitted out with Marine plywood sheets I cut to size, with cutouts for the windows, fitting to the inside of the frame to give the TARDIS its iconic outside styling. The doors were made a similar way, essentially making two half size panels then attached to the frame uprights with galvanised hinges.

Roof: The roof was made as a separate piece from lengths of treated 4x4 and ply. A larger square, then a slightly smaller one, then a much smaller one for the lantern to sit on. There were fitted and attached using exterior wood glue and decking screws. The roof was lifted/slid into place and attached with more exterior wood glue and decking screws from the inside. This was finished off by going all around the edges with an external flexible sealant to make it watertight.

Final Jobs: To finish off, I fitted a shelf and hooks for my garden tools, an electrical outlet, and to fit the windows and signage. The windows are 5mm acrylic what I order cut to size, then I covered them with a frosted window film and added white vinyl stripes to make the window framing patten. The signs where also cut to size clear acrylic, then I applied a self-adhesive black vinyl and cut the lettering out using a stencil I made with my printer. The letters were then covered with an opaque white vinyl to allow the inside LED light to shine through. Outside signage was added, the lantern and inside lights were wired up, and a lock and door handles added to the doors. Unfortunately, I failed temporal mechanics at school, so I couldn't make it bigger on the inside, but still plenty of room for my garden tools and my mobility scooter.

I had some fun with my friend with this build. As I mentioned she said I had free rein to do what I wanted, and while I knew her well, there was still a part of me thinking "What will she think of this". So when it was finished, I heard her leave the house with her 11 year old son. I I called over and said that someone had parked their blue vehicle on the drive and asked if she would have a look in case she recognised it. When she turned the corner and saw it... she burst out laughing and kept saying "that's sooo cool" (phew, I got away with it). Her son was equally impressed and they both came back round in the evening to see it all lit up. Happy days.

Not a lot to say about this area as after the clearance was done, there was little else to do. But there was a couple of small jobs I wanted to do. First was to clean the fence because as you can see in the photos, the years of having things resting against it and with all of the overgrown weeds, it needed a good clean. This was a simple matter of clearing any remaining weeds, jet washing the fence a couple of times and letting nature take its course to dry out and wait for it to get its natural look back. I considered painting it, but the end result actually look pretty good. I don't have a photo of it, but the bushes behind the fence were really high, so I cut them down with my hedge trimmer, and a couple of weeks later, the estate managers who's bushes they belonged to, hired someone to cut the rest down, meaning I got my little bit of sea view back from my kitchen.

The driveway itself I swept a few times as it was inevitable I would miss things like small bits of broken glass, old screw and nails etc. then I finished it off using a friends jet wash to give the whole area a really good clean, and it did make all the difference. From an area where I could barely one car in to, I now have space for four maybe five cars, or a large party area.

The fence panels along the back of the garden were in pretty poor shape, with a couple of panels almost completely missing. So I decided to replace the panels altogether. This was I job I did need help with and my neighbour very kindly offered to help (in fact they were more than grateful I cleared all of the junk too and have since become good friends).

So with the new panels delivered, a nice calm day (no wind), and a couple of step ladders, we set to work. We removed all of the old panels, broke them up and took them down to the local recycling center, removed some of the concrete panels and leveled them out to they equal height, then inserted the new panels. Just replacing the panels made a world of difference to the overall look of the backyard.

I final job I did was to remove to driveway gates. These were also in pretty poor shape and as the house is in quite a secluded area, they were more of a hinderance than anything else. Removing these was simply a case of lifting them off the hinges and disposing of them. Just by doing this makes the area feel much more open, although I am playing with the idea of putting in a sliding electric metal gate at some point.

TOP TIPS:

The fence posts are concrete which have recesses that the panels slide in to. So when ordering the new panels, correct width measurements were taken making sure the new panels would not be a tight fit as there should be a small gap to allow for natural timber movement and easy installation (usually a few mm).

Also, when removing old panels, keep in mind that when the panels become free, they will instantly become top heavy (hence not doing this on a windy day), so keep this in mind and be prepared for this.

Finally, keep a rubber mallet of hammer handy. Slowly lower the panel into place, minding to to catch your skin anywhere (best to ware gloves here), and if the panel stops moving down, tap the lowest end with the hammer, upwards, to free it and continue to lower the panel down.

To finish of my new backyard space, a few finishing touches would bring the whole thing together and make it an area to use and enjoy. I few final clearing jobs like clearing my pathway to my door and a new door step made from left over 4x4 timber and plywood made stepping into and out of my fairly high door step made things easier, especially going to and from my decking area too.

A bit of garden dressing with a few potted plants weighed down with some bricks so they didn't blow over, and some furniture made it look pretty and functional, especially the sun loungers I picked of for free and needed a bit of a clean up and paint. The frames were black powder coated but had started to flake off leaving areas for surface rust. The rust was cleaned off and treated, old paint sanded off, and the whole frame repainted with black Hammarite. The cushions would be stored on the TARDIS over the winter. Some outside LED lighting was also added to the outside of the house to light up the backyard because when it gets dark by the coast, it gets real dark.

And a small mention about the little tree. This was at deaths door (in fact I already thought it had kicked the bucket) after being suffocated by all of the weeds and being neglected. After the clearance I took all of the weeds away, broke off the dead branches and was going to cut the rest down and dig out the roots. But while doing the rest of the backyard, it started to burst back into life. It also turned out that my friends mother gave it to her years ago as a plant, so there was sentimental value there too, so I'm really glad I kept it and pleased it got its new leas of life.

If you're presented with an area full of weeds, trash and other things that shouldn't be there, it can look intimidating and overwhelming task to start, but if you think of it as "once its done, it won't need to be done again" and later down the line, all of the grubby, dirty sweaty back breaking work will just be a distant memory while you're sitting or laying back and chilling out in your sanctuary. Because of my lower spine condition, I did have to do a bit, rest a bit quite a lot which was frustrating, but it really was worth the effort.

My friend was in tears when she finally saw what I had done and couldn't stop thanking me for the work I did and saying how good it looked. My new neighbours who moved in not long after I did, were thankful and generous with their praise as they saw to ongoing progress, and as for myself, yeah I'm really happy with what I managed to achieve and love using my second room whenever I can.

Each of our backyard spaces if you're lucky enough to have one, will be different in all kinds of ways, but I really hope that this Instructable helps to give you ideas or the inspiration to do something wonderful with your own backyard.

Thanks for reading, and happy making.