The main reason why the cottage was cheap was because it had no proper garden, due to a vehicular right of way running through it, enabling the neighbours to access their parking space. This made the garden unsafe for children, as well as making it difficult to enjoy the garden. In addition, the existing grass was very uneven, neglected and overrun with weeds and coarse grasses, the soil under the parking area was very compacted and the existing panel fence was dilapidated and inappropriate for the surroundings. There were no existing plants on the site, apart from one rhubarb plant. The neighbouring gardens did, however, have mature shrubs and trees on the boundary.

The neighbours were also unhappy with the parking arrangements, as they had to park right behind their house, between the back door and the patio, so negotiations about diverting the right of way were begun. It was decided the best solution was for us to give a small strip of land along the edge of the property to the neighbours as a drive and parking space, in exchange for relinquishing the existing right of way. We had an additional dogleg of land that could be used for our own parking area.

We moved into the cottage in the September, complete with numerous pots containing cuttings of my favourite plants. However, we had to wait until legal formalities were completed the following spring before we could start work on the back garden. This was very frustrating for me, so I started work on the front garden, while I was waiting.

When work on the back garden finally started the first task was to excavate the surface of the trackway and create the new drive, so a JCB was hired to reshape the whole site. This took about 3 days, and the opportunity was taken to lay electricity cables and water pipes for future projects. To help screen the neighbours' new parking space, the site was contoured so that the parking area was a couple of feet lower than the garden. This meant the area could be screened with low planting, whilst still revealing the view of the surrounding countryside.

Once site contouring was finished it was time to fence the site. As both neighbouring plots had mature planting along the boundary, privacy was not a great problem. Bearing this in mind, as well as local materials and fence styles, a cleft chestnut post and rail fence was erected. Sheep netting was added to the base of the fence to make it child proof.

We then constructed the paved areas and paths and all the planned lawn and border areas were dug over with a rotovator, incorporating plenty of rotted horse manure. The lawn area was then dug over again by hand and raked and levelled before sowing 'Green Hardy' lawn seed. We were worried that late spring was not the best time to sow but luckily two days after sowing the heavens opened and we had several weeks of rain. Within three weeks the lawn looked pleasant and green if a little thin. By summer it was a serviceable and attractive lawn.

Wondering how to start planning your own garden - I found John Brookes' book Garden Planning very useful.