Sweat -equity is the way to go. Us older viewers started the same way, all new to us and we survived and thrived and were proud of our achievements and laughed at our fails. ❤❤❤❤

@ragdolly22

Ай бұрын

I agree we all started the same way just having a go. Learning and finding the best way to do jobs and the satisfaction that we’d done it ourselves.

@judithstonier9872

Ай бұрын

Definitely agree the satisfaction of doing things yourself is worth all the hard work not to mention the money saved ! 😊

@LukeCatleugh

Ай бұрын

I love that! We are so proud we decided to tackle it ourselves ❤

@shirleymclean5895

Ай бұрын

Great job, smashing garden. Looking forward to its progression🌺🥀🌿

You guys are doing great ! Don't worry about negative people. It's YOUR house, do what makes you happy ! I think it's going to be lovely.

I so admire that you, Zara, Maggie and Ivy did this yourselves instead of paying for someone to come and do it for you, such hard work!

Stack the waste behind your shed, cover and in about 6 months you will have soil

@digidol52

Ай бұрын

Yes, turf breaks down into great compost.

@barbarahaines7661

Ай бұрын

Also turf can go at the bottom of boxed planters.

@LukeCatleugh

Ай бұрын

We’ve kept around 10 bags of soil for a raised bed planter - great idea❤

Please make sure that Ivy and Maggie stay away from the slug repellent! Well done to both of you, you have done a sterling job, you will feel so proud of your achievements when it's all finished and you can relax in the sunshine and enjoy the fruits of your labor with a lovely glass of wine. 🪴🌳🌻🌷🌹🍾🍷🍷🏖🌞

Well done you two! I don't think you need to justify anything you do 😊 Also, just a note, I would advise against using any poisons on your garden such as Roundup, a friend used that and her poor dog ended up dying from ingesting it 😢 No need to use any chemicals in a garden, hedgehogs and birds will eat slugs, pellets are dangerous x

Doing great guys! Just to say, we've never used chemicals in our garden. No weed or snail killers, please. Not with pets especially. Hand weed, mulch, make up natural solutions (internet is a great place for recipes) ... best of luck! Looking forward to your progress. x Nell.

Respect, you should both be proud.❤

Absolutely fantastic the only way to go by learning as you go. Cannot wait for part 2

I had planted several flats of vegetables and flowers. I used the plastic tags to identify what I’m growing. One morning I discovered that someone had pulled most of the tags out. The plants were fine, I just don’t know what is what. It was so frustrating, but we had no clue who was doing it. We recently purchased a bird feeder that has a camera so that we can see who is feeding at our feeders. Our bird feeder stand is down for repair right now so we placed it on a bench in our backyard. I thought to put a small pot with some dirt and tags to see if we could nab them. We did! It was a fox! He just walked up to the pot and ripped all the tags out of the pot!! They are little imps! So I had a laugh about your fox situation! It’s looking great! You’re doing awesome! Donna

Luke and Zara. Don't use slug repellent ITS SO DANGEROUS FOR DOGS OR ANY ANIMALS.Please listen to the comments,advise from your followers is good.Your doing a great job on the garden both of you.Soon you will be out there enjoying it.Gloria,fellow Geordie x

A brilliant, totally natural slug/snail deterrent is: Place 6 whole Garlics into a pan (do not peel) add 2 pints of water, bring to the boil, simmer for 10mins, remove from heat and leave to cool. Strain, then decant garlic concentrate into a large empty (coke) bottle. To use: put about 5cm of concentrate into a spray bottle and fill with water, shake and you’re ready to blitz. It really does work, although it does take a wee bit of time, (it stops them multiplying) Its also harmless to plants and pets. I saw this on Gardeners world and It really does work. As for the pile of turf cuts, use your turf cutter to shave off the excess soil which can be used around the huge conifer tree, the remainder can be put (upside down) at the bottom of the garden, then in 5-6 mths you have some very rich free compost. Plants that are Excellent Cat and Fox deterrents, they hate strong smells. Lemon Balm. Lavender, Rosemary, Peppermint, Scaredy Cat Plant (Coleus Canina) also, ground Black Pepper mixed with hot water and put into a spray bottle. Hope this helps on your gardening journey. SO looking forward to seeing the end result. Oh nearly forgot, another deterrent, I planted Garlic Cloves, which grew into fab big plants, the smell which we love, cats Hate, so does deter them. You can harvest the leaves in spring for cooking and making your own Pesto, if you want the recipe just ask 👍🏻😁 A great garden design does add Equity👍🏻 Gardens are an absolute joy. Good luck you two xx🫶🏻

Incredible drawing plans Luke! How fabulous would a book be, documenting your start to end story of your house move, photo renovations, mistakes and learning and those amazing drawings! You’re both fabulous people and your house is a wowww x

@LukeCatleugh

Ай бұрын

That’s a great idea ❤ I am going to keep them to look back on for sure x

It’s going to look beautiful! All your hard work will pay off. Ignore the haters. Thank you for sharing your journey. 🥰❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Luke you can cut the bottom branches off your conifer, I did mine, then turned and fed the earth, just threw wild flowers seeds down as the roots are a nightmare, did manage to plant daffs and Tulips last September, they looked lovely when they grew. Gardening is never easy and something always needs doing, the end result is amazing after so much hard work, good luck with your garden.

Your doing great. You will learn about gardening etc. from experience. I luv gardening. It relaxes me. Ive been gardening for 50 yrs.and made many flower beds. I luv your new house and yard. When your all finished it will be so beautiful ❤️❤️

Such hard work! You are both amazing and you’re doing a fabulous job! You should be extremely proud of yourselves! When you’re out there enjoying you new garden space you’ll be so pleased ❤️❤️ & I love the doggies right in there with you!

A green thumb is only brown thumbs with practice

Hi Luke as previous comments have said don’t get rid of the pile of soil and turf put down back near shed keep turning it as it will save you money when you need to fill your garden beds as soil/compost is expensive ❤🇦🇺

Luke and Zara get on it get into it you two can do it...❤ Love you both.....

You could put some of the sods in the bottom of the raised beds before filling them up with topsoil. If you plan on having any large plant pots you could put some in the bottom. The rest you could stack, grass down, at the bottom of the garden - it will rot down nicely.

Used some of the soil you dug up for the raise beds, just turn the grass facing downward and it will compost. I wouldn't plant anything into the ground where you sprayed with weed killer for awhile, it will also kill your newly planted shrubs & flowers. Shall say on the bottle could be hrs or wks depending on the brand. Plus the landscape fabric is a weed blocker. Anyway Great job guys, nothing ventured nothing gained!

I giggled at Zara’s comment- god loves a trier!🙂‍↔️… I was giggling even more when in your garden plan you popped a humble 5x paving stones in the plan … (as if you have a bond with the hse already- like u knew; but actually didn’t-so 😎 btw) Then surprise!! you both tried and got 10x free paving slabs! - definitely on the right path! The hse is beautiful and loving you back with a few gifts! Doing home improvement is so satisfying! I learnt how to cut wood with a galax pro mini circular saw! Was a scary but cool experience and so glad I learnt a new skill. So I have a sun lounger I built ready for a sanding and painting and I have got comfortable outdoor padded cushion coverings ordered for it!… slowly- it comes together. Everything you turn your hands to is just given a flare 🔥. Congratulations you two. Your home is just stunning already!

I'm so happy this video ended up on my recommended, and there's already multiple parts!!! I recently started a similar project. The digging is just..... a lot. So looking forward to watching the rest of the videos!

Wow, the garden is looking so good - well done both of you! Me and my husband bought our house 8 years ago and have been steadily doing the whole house up ourselves, learning how to plaster and do plumbing from KZread videos, digging out our garden like you've done here, and stripping wallpaper/decorating/doing skirting and coving. It has been EXHAUSTING so I felt your pain in this video, but I promise you that you will feel a sense of pride like no other. Every time I look around our house, I'm so proud of what we've achieved and the fact that we did so much of it ourselves. Keep going, you've got this!! 💪😀

Love the variety of content you produce

Bet the London Marathon seemed easy after the gardening ! Looks great, huge improvement already,

Croquet goals for those little garden Fairies! (The metal pegs ) Let the games begin! :0) You guys are always up for a challenge! All good! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍French Skipping too! Those clever Foxes!

It's going to look so lovely when it's done, it will be worth all the hassle, aches & pains lol, just think of all the money you are saving plus when it's done you & Zara can say "we did that" I have my fence painted black, black Ash I think it is & it makes all the flowers & plants pop. Well done guys keep going! xx

Luke, you could write a children's book about the lazy dogs, garden archaeology, and midnight cowboy foxes! Seriously, you have the art talent! I've lived in my home, lovingly called "Plesantville", bc it looks just like the house in the movie ... has those feelz! ... for 23 years. I've sketched my yard dozens of times. Each time, it looked more like One Flew Over the Coo-Coo's Nest, through the garden, grabbed the colored pencils, jumped over the lazy dog, stopped ... *shiny spoon* ... continued, and tried to sketch what I wanted to accomplish in my garden. Not even close. But, I have spent hours out there in the heat and sun of South Carolina loving every bit of it! The grass, dirt, flowers, trees, birds, everything ... it's mine and it's heaven to me! I've found green glass marbles that filled many many soup cans my first few years here. Puzzled and proud if my plunder, I carried on. I finally learned that about 70 years of so ago, the old Fiberglass Co. in town sold the cast offs in loads which were often used as fill dirt. My hostas pushed new ones up each year and occassionally still do. They catch my eye when the sun shines on them just right. They've been good to have around to put in the bottom of pots for drainage or weight or in case I needed to replace a few in my head. My daddy used them in his slingshot to shoot squirrels off of the bird feeders. LOL! I live in the middle of the city limits about a mile from our city and county courthouses, so I am not I'm the country! I've have had possums, deer (last year, for the first time, they ate almost ALL of my flowers and hostas!), armadillos, skunks, and, yes, foxes! But, none have ever built a cat's cradle! I just laughed out loud when you showed that! I am so impressed and proud of the work you two achieved! I have been in poor health for over a decade, and the garden has gone from a showplace to an overgrown weed riddled wreck. But, I've gotten out the a bit the last few weeks and dug around a little. Seeing you and Dainty and even Iwan's roof garden inspires me. So on days I feel up to it, I shuffle about! I pray you find as much love and happiness in your garden as I've always found in mine. I've had big parties, small gatherings, campouts in tents bc the house was already full of people. I even had a pool party - which had everyone soooo excited til they got here and found there were 3ft round kiddie pools everywhere. Like I can afford a pool?! Ha! Just enjoy it all. Don't rush anything. Let each season tell you what to do. Mulch is 1/2 green to 1/2 brown (ie. grass:leaves). Leave the blades higher on the mower when there's less rain, so the grass will shadow itself and keep itself cooler. Put habanero sauce all over birdseed - birds love hot, squirells do not! Put rocks in a bird bath so birds may perch on them and dip to bathe. Bluebirds nest in houses facing over the green grass. Wrens nest closer to the woods. Keep nest boxes spaced where they will not fight over them. That's just some extra stuff I thought I would share. Some of the latter I've actually just learned lately, and I've been doing this for a long time. In other words, you never stop learning! Y'all rest and then get back to it when your bodies and minds have recovered some! Y'all have made such wonderful decisions all around in the purchase of your home. And, you're not going anywhere! Right? Enjoy!

@LukeCatleugh

Ай бұрын

Some amazing tips there. Thank you so much❤

@melaniebarber2322

Ай бұрын

I absolutely loved your post. What an interesting, wise woman you are. 🥰 You're so right - you never stop learning. Gardening is so good for the soul and for nature. 💚

Great start - well done! Just a quick tip from me - don’t use the half moon edging tool like a spade because it will likely snap (experience talking). Just drive it vertically into the ground and use a spade to remove the turf.

Oh wow hats off to you and Zara Luke 🙏 you’re working so hard but I know it’s going to be so worth your efforts ! It’ll look amazing when it’s all done 👌 I hope you both had a lovely chilled glass of wine after that day 😍🥂 lotsa love guys x x

Great job guys! It's looking amazing already! It's probably too late but, if you still have that pile of soil/grass you dug up, you could use it to fill the bottom of your raised beds. The grass will die when it's covered and it will become organic matter for your plantings.

We did something similar but just mowed the grass really short, covered it with the weed membrane and put the gravel straight over. No grass came through and no digging. Looking great by the way! ❤

You worked hard. Will be lovely. No more than half inch of wood chips around tree base. You don't want to smoother the surface roots

Yes, you are both doing a great job, love your videos, but on a serious note please use hedgehog friendly slug pellets and before you go shopping for plants check out pet friendly plants including cat friendly as well as dog friendly ; as you may receive feline visitors. Make a list and take to garden centre and stick to it. I sadly heard of a poor dog who was poisoned recently by eating bluebells in his own garden, the ending was not a happy one.😢 hope you both feel better soon. Xx

Luke.... well done to you both!! But, please don't get rid of the topsoil/grass bits..... they can be used for the beginings of a compost heap (somewhere out of site, like behind your shed). Or to line your raised beds. 🌹🏵🌸⚘🥀🌼🌻🌷🥂🍾

@LukeCatleugh

Ай бұрын

Ahh that’s exactly what we have done ❤ we kept around 10 bags for the raised beds x

@emilyrowan8779

Ай бұрын

@@LukeCatleugh brilliant love! Plus it saves your back and having to carry it all through your house to the car 😊👍. Hope it's all going well for you both xx

Wow you both worked so hard x Could you not put the turf that you have dug up in your front garden with a sign Turf for free collection only ? Someone did this recently near to our house people took it x

You guys have done so well , I dug a massive fish pond a few years ago which started my garden journey. The immense sense of achievement is worth all the blood sweat and tears and the money saved is a bonus. You will find it becomes easier the more you tackle and to be fair you have done a huge amount inside and out already. Of course your fur babies are making sure you don't lag lol.xxx

Hats off to you and Zara! You took on a project with a vision and huge enthusiasm and you got it done. An inspiration to all the ‘I can’t do this’ people. The pile of turf you lifted will compost down and you can use it to fill your raised beds.

Great job guys. Best way to learn is by doing it yourself. You'll soon learn the tips and tricks to make life a little easier.

Well done darlings ! Hard work for you both ! The garden will be lovely when you are all done ! Suggestion .. buy lots of bath soak 😊😊

Oh I feel your pain moved last August and takling the front garden need to dig up old gravel around the grass and replace it with new gravel gave up and hired a gardener my husband and I where in so much pain but we are so much older than you two good luck with it lol

It’s an enormous amount of work but you’re doing a great job! We’re doing a similar project in our garden: dug up lots of our grass to make a terrace with a wooden pergola and wood chips around the terrace. We starten 2 weeks ago but due to the bad weather it all became very muddy but I hope it will look nice once it’s finished 😊

Well done, any garden renovation is hard, already you can see how much progress you have made xx

You can stack your turds grassdown in the bottom of your raised beds they will rot down, means you do not have to buy so much compost/loam to fill them. Stack the rest behind your shed grass down and then soil to soil, grass to grass, water when it is really hot and it will rot down and make great nutritious compost next year. Keep up the good work.

@green16_

Ай бұрын

Hoping you mean 'turf'!? 😉😂

@juliegriffiths3105

Ай бұрын

Sorry a typo, I really need to read what I have written and not what I think I have. However, the comment about 'the turf' stands. Judging by the colour and movement of the soil when you were digging it up it is in excellent condition and will be really good for planting. You won't get much to grow under your fir tree, I speak from experience, go for drought tolerant ground cover plants or black membrane and chippings/slate.

@green16_

Ай бұрын

@@juliegriffiths3105 No need to apologise, it gave me a chuckle.😉 Great tip though!😊

Heavy duty garden sacks are useful when you have to carry garden waste through the house....But never mind. It'll look brilliant when you've finished..

Your garden already looks great. Hard graft, but worth it.

Keep that turf to fill the bottoms of your planters , less soil to fill them with 😉

Well done you two. Feel shattered after watching your hard work. Good comments below and using turf cutouts for planters and compost, definitely make your life easier.

I created a patio in my garden few weeks again by myself doing the exact same thing you did here so I can feel your {body} pain. Great job so far, it will look fantastic. I cut the grass in squares and donated them on Marketplace so I didn’t have to move them anywhere 😂.

Aways takes 3 times as long as your thing and 3 times as hard. I’m not a gardener but videos I have watched show people putting down a form that helps keeps the gravel in place ,see Dainty’s video where she put down gravel, and there seems to be a glue like substance that keeps gravel in place. You guys are doing a great job.

Well done to you both! Your garden is going to look absolutely fantastic!

Brave wearing a white tee for gardening/digging! 🫣🤭

Such back breaking work, but congratulations for doing it yourselves. 😊

It’s going to look great when you’re done. Think of the satisfaction and pride you will both feel when you sit and admire the finished garden over a chilled glass of fizz x

What a beautiful day ,bet you ,zara andThe Doggies are loving sitting in your garden ❤ it's going to look fabulous, cannot wait to see it develop ,good luck, and ENJOY ❤loving your mug zara very summary 🌻

You all did an AMAZING job! I love how you sketch it out first, then execute the plan. Zara is a hard worker

Luke, I know this is much later and so I am assuming that Maggie and Ivy are fine, but slug and snail pellets can be highly toxic to pets! A common ingredient in slug and snail pellets - metaldehyde - is EXTREMELY toxic to dogs and cats and can quickly be fatal if left untreated. The pellets are green/blue in colour and dogs particularly seem drawn to eating it - so never let the dogs in the garden unsupervised with slug repellent uncovered. They are also fatal to foxes, hedgehogs, insects and birds as are many types of weedkiller. There are many much more environmentally and pet friendly solutions.

Dead behind the eyes😂😂😂. It is well worth it all the hard work. Garden looks fab. Well done so far.

You have both done amazing, love how your garden is looking. Made me laugh how Ivy and Maggie were supervising the gravel laying ❤❤❤.

Well done, I’m sure it will look fabulous when you’ve finished. The only thing I would say, (personal opinion), leave your fence panels natural as you are just creating work for yourselves as they will need to be done every other year for them to stay lovely looking.

@willowtree4121

Ай бұрын

Agree with this. If you want to remove the green algae sponge on a mixture of one part bleach to two parts water no need to rinse.

It might be a good idea to look into gravel bond. This way all gravel will stay in place

You both worked very hard. It will look amazing when u have finished. X

❤ Love the garden so far you & Zara are doing a fab job. Gardening is such back breaking hard work . Time for a cuppa now , put your feet up you two have both earned it . Good job well done, can't wait for more . Love these house & garden updates.

Well done both its going to look awesome and you both should be very proud of yourselves. You can both say you worked blooming hard on that xx

I am so impressed by what you guys accomplished in such a short time! Landscaping like that is backbreaking work. Your garden is going to be gorgeous.

Really great job! Impressive. It already looks nice🤗But please don't plant more than the one cherry laurel. Use local shrubs for your hedge to invite insects and birds to your garden. Greetings from the South of Germany.

Well done Luke & Zara. You’re doing great. Love your videos. ❤️

Well done luke & zara it is truly back breaking work it will look great once it's done u both will b ever so proud of ur selves that u did it all ur self u will have a garden thar u will b proud of, lots of love to u all 💞💞💞

It will be lovely when it's finished.

Love your garden plan, try planting some climbing scented plants like jasmine and honeysuckle, planted against your fence near the house so that you benefit from the scents

It’s going to be so beautiful Luke and Zara. You should both be proud of what you have achieved. We are all proud of you. Ivy and Maggie make great supervisors❤️🐾

You have done so well so far and doing the job yourself is building sweat equity. To be honest I might have made the garden borders a bit wider. I would have also hired either a mini skip or trailer to get rid of the excess soil etc rather than bagging it and making multiple trips to the disposal yard. Having said that well done to both of you.

Use what you dug up into the bottom of your raised bed to save on your soil,add bone meal as ferterilserx

Your hard work now will all be worth it when you can sit and enjoy your gorgeous new yard 😊

Keep at it guys you are doing a grand job! You might find it useful to watch some old episodes of Ground Force, Alan Titchmarsh and his team's make over show, you would be surprised just how many little tips you can leearn from watching them.

Good for you having a go at doing this yourselves. Hard work but I'm sure it will look amazing and you will be so proud of yourselves. I'm not a gardening expert but I'm learning by trial and error! I don't have rear access to my back garden either and everything has to be taken through the house which is a pain. I won't use any weedkillers, slug pellets or any other chemicals on the garden as it can be harmful to humans, pets and the wildlife. Something to consider with Maggie and the foxes who visit. Also if you have hedgehogs they will eat the slugs. But poisoning the slugs will then poison the hedgehogs who eat them. Also, try and have spaces under fences for hedgehogs to travel through from garden to garden. Good luck both. You'll need those massages!

Stick topsoil in corner of garden grass side facing down you will have nice compost when it rots down. ❤

Wow, back breaking but will be so worth it ❤

You should save the soil and sod you dug up to put in the bottoms of your raised beds. Lay the sod side down and it will rot and enrich your soil more.

Looks good. Love a plan! What’s the dimensions please? I heard 12 feet / 2 fence panels deep for the new gravelled space but not how wide it is, nor the length and depth of the raised beds. As a suggestion beds should be 3-4 feet deep to give enough room for mature plants and ideally a shorter one in front of a taller one. Building in future flexibility with your planting is worthwhile. Best of luck! 😊

Well done guys you are amazing tackling this yourselves be proud it’s great ❤

Yes the gardener’s quote was very reasonable but you’ll have so much satisfaction from doing it yourself as much as you can. Possibly that huge chunk of concrete was where a clothes post was previously set into the ground. It’s all looking fab.

Make a "compost pile" of the sod you dug up. It's also top soil which you want. It will decompise and become soil that you can use. ...the weed suppressant is horrible. You will have a very hard time digging it up once it's in.😊😊

A good start! Prep is everything……decorating and planting is your reward after the hard work is all done.

You both did amazingly well considering neither of you are feeling 100%. I did have a laugh when I saw Zara doing the raking, she looked like she'd been Tango-ed all dressed in orange. 😂 It will be so worth the effort and already looks 100 times better even though its not finished.

I am imagining that once this garden is done...you two neat freaks will keep it immaculate...there will not be a stray leaf allowed to land or an odd weed to pop up...everything will be just so...can't wait to see how it all turns out!!

You both remind me of that sitcom Will and Grace, LOL. You work well together. It's looking great by the way. Can't wait to see it finished. ❤

Don' get rid of the dirt. You can use it in the bottom of the planter boxes and save a lot of money. Dirt is expensive. Love y'all from Memphis Tennesse.

Its very exciting! You've both done a fab job, the only thing is banana?? Chocolate digestives are the only way to go when gardening! I beg of you to take some of the lower branches off your connifer, it will really open up the garden but wont damage the integrity of the tree and the privacy. Its very exciting!!! It looks fab already and its only just started! I viewed a house recently where the garden was an oasis but down the side return she'd put a little bistro set and some nicely shaped trees in big pots and it was really really nice even though the garden had lots of other places to sit...

Well Done Luke Zara. Would look Lovely With Clematis Going up The Fence When You paint it And Climbing Hydrangeas. Great Job. Xx 👍😊😘

You're doing a great job. With regarda the turf you have dug out could you not use them in your raised beds. If you put them in the bottom and stack them grass side to grass side the will eventually turn into loam. Also you won't have to use so much compost to fill them up 😊

You have done really well guys these things take time, i remembered when we moved into our house the back garden was full of brussel plants it was a nightmare to deal with but it took us some time to sort but we did it in the end. you both should be proud of your acheivement. love to all xxx

Hello 👋 My Dearest Friends: Luke, Zara, Maggie, And Ivory-Luke:Yours And Zara Plans For Your Paradise Back Yard Is Such A Wonderful Plan. Once Done: It Will Be Such A Amazing Job Well Done 👍 Both Are So Talented. Both Of You Get Well Soon. All My Love 😍 Your Friend In San Antonio, Texas USA🤠🇺🇸🐒🤗🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Well done you 2 the progress is amazing I can’t wait to see more !!!

Wow great job!

Well done. Hard work but it will be so satisfying. Please don't get rid of your dug up turf, it makes excellent soil. I made a rockery out of our dug up turf. Covered it with weed suppressant put in plants it's beautiful now 3yrs on. You can also use it, grass side down in your brick planters you are going to have built. ❤x

Brilliant ❤️it’s looking beautiful xx I absolutely love garden makeovers, thanks for sharing xx

It’s looking great ❤