From this....

[conny]

to this,

and this,

to the end result today.

Just need to remove the old runner beans enclosure, dig out a few bricks and broken paving stones then level it off.
Ultimate aim is to create a 'kitchen garden', so my wife can grow her own fruit & veg.
Need to cost how much a 'builder/landscaper' would charge to level it out, or if it would be cheaper to hire a small JCB type of digger and do it myself in the spring.

 

[Odds]

When you say 'level it off', do you mean to cover the ground and build upon or level it off in order to plant out?
That's a good sized area to muck about in: are you going to leave the stumps and rot them down, or rip 'em out with Keitai's grinder?
Don't get the builders in though, i'd say. No finesse. A landscaper's tender touch is what a garden needs.

 

[conny]

The left side is reasonably level, but needs turning over/rotovating. The central strip is very hilly/bumpy/up and down, and also higher than the left and then it dips down to the right where a length of hedging was removed. Plan is, once we have moved in and I have some free time, to go round picking/digging out broken paving slabs/bricks etc that were buried in the undergrowth. Then get a few quotes from landscapers to scrape it level(ish). 4"-6" inches of topsoil to level it properly and then seed a lawn for the first year or two. During this time we will sit down and plan how we want to lay the plots out. The idea of grass seeding for a year or two is so regular mowing will weaken/destroy and weeds that may start trying to push through. Had a recommendation from one of the neighbours for a landscaper and he is coming next week, hopefully with a reasonable price.

 

[Odds]

A rotavator is the thing to churn up the soil over such a large area - 30'w by 100' L.? My back creaks at the thought of digging it! Apart from the kitchen garden, do you have a theme or plan to make a big central lawn with a border around the edges?
It won't be cheap.

 

[Mottie]

Ultimate aim is to create a 'kitchen garden', so my wife can grow her own fruit & veg.

Look into the ‘no dig' method of veg growing. It’s making a comeback in allotment circles.

 

[scbk]

You need to plant a load of trees to hide the new build houses......

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I''m gonna go out there and suggest the new build homes don't much like their new view either ......

 

[conny]

New build homes probably like the new view to be honest. One or two people that live further back from the new build, were friends with FIL, and they have stopped and admired what we are doing. It still looks a bit of a mess but much better than it was before. Things can only get better, as the song goes.
Besides the kitchen garden I will be building/having built, a new big workshop behind the garage and on the right-hand side a gardening shed.
At first, as I said earlier, the plan is to seed the whole lot so we can control the weeds with regular mowing. Once we start on the kitchen bit we plan to have espalier type fruit trees. Can't be doing with big trees where you can't reach the fruit without a set of ladders. It will also be easier to protect them from insects with netting.
@Mottie what's this 'no-dig' gardening method?

 

[conny]

A rotavator is the thing to churn up the soil over such a large area - 30'w by 100' L.? My back creaks at the thought of digging it! Apart from the kitchen garden, do you have a theme or plan to make a big central lawn with a border around the edges?
It won't be cheap.

Rough measurement, (be measuring a fence pane, which is 8'wide), gives us about 65' x 45'.
Certainly isn't a hand dig job at my age! My son in law has a rotovator so will be borrowing that. Might even be able to persuade him to, 'help his old dad'.

 

[elisa123]

Have you considered having raised beds?