Need To Plan How To Plant/design A 2 Acre Site

[shivvy]

I live in a bit of a run down bungalow in the country which has a manageable lawn to the front and the side but a 2 acre space at the back of the house. Over the next couple of years we plan to renovate the house so that the front becomes the back to maximise views over our land and the rolling hills behind it.

We would like to have the 2 acres landscaped and designed however we cant decide whether to do that now or wait until the building work has been done.
If we design and landscape now then the garden might get destroyed by future building work on the house. However if we do nothing it will turn into an unusable space full of weeds. We have thought that it might make sense to get it levelled and planted out with grass seed or as a wildflower meadow as an interim measure however it appears that neither of those are cheap options esp if we plan to dig it all up in a matter of months/years.

I would be really keen to hear anyones advice on this cos we feel as if we are going round in circles in discussing how we should deal with it!

Thanks.

[welshlibranr]

why spend money on it when you're going to dig it all up again!......I would just wait till after all the building work is done, and then landscape it!....

[shivvy]

I know that makes sense welsh but the building work could be 2 years away and we have lived with it being a bombsite since we moved here 8 years ago! We also have 2 dogs and would love to have the area as a useable place to walk them. It hasnt been up until now because it was so uneven it was a guaranteed ankle breaker for me and the dogs! But we have recently had the boundary fenced in so the ground is the closest it has ever been to being compatable to having work done to it.

[craft1948]

I'd go for a wildflower meadow, 2 acres would be a hell of a lawn......

[welshlibranr]

see what your saying shivvy!....then I would have it levelled, at least then you can walk safely on it, and maybe have a wildlife meadow, I plant wild flowers every year and they are so pretty, and when Summer's over you can just mow the area and they'll probably come back the next year, you may just want to add a little more seeds to fill in, and would look lovely till you start and finish the build.......

[welshlibranr]

forgot to say shivvy, wildflower mix seeds are so cheap to buy, I get mine from B&M Bargains, they cost 99p a pack, and the mixture of flowers are stunning, you don't need to plant them closely, they spread and look lovely throughout the Summer.................

[shivvy]

It is a pricey job to prep and plant wildflower for a 2 acre site mind you so do we pay out fairly big money now to have it sprayed, raked and stones gathered and sown with wildflower seed etc for us to dig it up in a couple of years?

[ummmm]

And rubber flooring...lol

It's such a big plot that you could do 3/4 of it. Any renovation work will only effect the part nearest the house.

[shivvy]

rubber flooring ummm?!!

Thanks welsh - How many months of the year do you get flowers and what does the area look like 'off season'? Also, what sort of area does the 99p pack cover?