For years there was a strip of grass at the side of our house that wasn’t ours. It sat there on the corner, doing nothing, while we squeezed the boys, the bikes and everything else into the garden we had. So we bought it. This is how a grass verge turned into a drive, a bigger garden and a play area.
Buying the land
Step one was the boring bit: getting the land. Once it was ours, the plan was simple. A proper drive at the front, a wall around the new plot, and then join it all up with the back garden.
A drive and a wall
This part was for the professionals. In October 2024 a digger turned up, a grab lorry took the muck away, and the corner was dug out right down to the footings. A drainage channel went in at the front, the brick wall went up around the plot, a close-board fence went on top, and the drive was block paved. The whole lot took about a week.
Knocking down the wall
Then it was my turn. In March 2025 the old garden wall came down, so the new land and the back garden became one space. A concrete path went in along the side of the house, so getting from front to back no longer means wading through mud.
The climbing frame
The big one for the boys. Legs up, platform on, then the roof, the swings and the slide, with bark down underneath so the landings are soft. They were on it before I had finished tidying up the tools.
Decking to finish
The last job was a bit of decking between the play area and the drive: a frame on the grass, boards on top and the garden furniture moved on. It is the best seat in the house for watching the boys on the frame, ideally with a brew.
Was it worth it?
Completely. We have a drive, a much bigger garden, somewhere for the boys to burn off energy and somewhere for us to sit while they do. Not bad for a strip of grass we used to walk past.
