One homeowner had their work cut out for them when they moved into a home with an overgrown garden; but in the space of only two months, they completed an unbelievable transformation.
Their post on r/GardeningUK documents the incredible journey with over a dozen photos — starting with a picture of a trash-filled jungle. "The state of the garden when I bought the house," the original poster explained.
According to the Redditor, the yard had once been beautiful, but it had been neglected for an extended period. "I could barely move in and I could not understand the overall structure of it," they said. "The old lady who used to live here was in poor health in her last years, could not keep up with a garden that once provided vegetables for the whole street, and her good-for-nothing son used the space as a dumping ground."
Before the original poster could start their own garden, they had to remove an incredible amount of trash and contaminated soil. "I counted three barbecues, all the pieces to build a bike, [and] enough tent poles to supply Glastonbury," they said. "I started removing the topsoil which was full of micro plastic … In total I removed nearly 50 bags totalling [2.2 tons] of rubbish and soil."
Even then, there were still messes to clean up. "Several bushes/trees were left in their plastic pots with roots bursting out of them, making them impossible to move," the original poster said.
But thankfully, they had help. "My parents visited from France and took over!" they said. "They did the impossible of removing the cherry tree's plastic pot and relocating it to a prime spot!"
After that, the original poster and their family built a terrace from leftover rubble, added drainage to address flooding issues, and planted new plants. "My mother seeded white and red clovers and planted new resilient herbs, bushes, and flowers," the original poster said.
Hardy plants like native species and clover are great for a low-maintenance garden. They also need much less water than grass, making them cheap and eco-friendly to keep, and they provide pollinators with food — all good reasons to rewild your yard.
Commenters were excited about the new landscaping. "I love the reclaimed paving," said one user. "To clear and finish your garden in two months is fantastic."
"Oh wow," said another commenter. "What a fabulous transformation."
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