What is your idea of a big garden?
I have heard this description applied to gardens from
60ft x20 ft to gardens of 8 acres.
The term "Big garden" is relative, and one persons Big garden is no more
than a glorified window box to another.
Also what part of UK are you looking??

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

What is your idea of a big garden?
David Hill

I know what you mean about "Big Garden". Our current property is on a 1/10
acre plot and in estate agent speak that is a "Spacious garden". Some other
properties estate agents have brought to our attention as "possibles" have
gardens half the size of ours or less. They don't seem to understand the
concept of 1/4 acre minimum. One even sent us details of a flat with no
garden at all!

Anyway, we are looking for 1/4 Acre minimum garden (veg and flowers), but a
smallholding would be very nice. I was brought up on a smallholding, and
quite fancy keeping a small amount of livestock. Tricky bit is finding
somewhere with a limited budget. There are a few such properties in Wales
and they aren't on the market very long, but that is where we are
considering now. Most of England is out of our price reach for what we want.
I've been put off Spain as I understand a new law has been created
"Ruralisation Scheme" or something similar, allowing developers to
effectively seize the gardens of people to put more houses on! Hope that
never happens here!

--
Drakanthus.


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Drakanthus wrote:
: What is your idea of a big garden?
: David Hill

: I know what you mean about "Big Garden". Our current property is on a 1/10
: acre plot and in estate agent speak that is a "Spacious garden". Some other
: properties estate agents have brought to our attention as "possibles" have
: gardens half the size of ours or less. They don't seem to understand the
: concept of 1/4 acre minimum. One even sent us details of a flat with no
: garden at all!

Been there got the tee shirt. 15 years ago we decided to move for a big
garden, but hardly any estate agents had enough brain cells to understand.
We ended up looking for 3 months, virutally every w/e, within about a
25/30 mile radius of Leeds. Ended up with my wife seeing a property
almost on our doorstep as she cycled to work! I suspect serendipity is
almost your only option.

Good luck. We actually did find the odd est. agent that did understand,
but had nothing on their books.

Jim

Good luck. We actually did find the odd est. agent that did understand,
but had nothing on their books.

Jim

Thanks. On the plus side nowadays, at least the Internet lets me browse all
over the country looking at possible properties. Looks like we may have to
move to Wales though to find somewhere suitable and within our price range.
Just hope the natives are friendly!

--
Drakanthus.


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Thanks. On the plus side nowadays, at least the Internet lets me browse all
over the country looking at possible properties. Looks like we may have to
move to Wales though to find somewhere suitable and within our price range.
Just hope the natives are friendly!

have a look at the Chepstow area, very friendly little town and a handy
area for most things.
kate

In article , J Jackson
writes

Been there got the tee shirt. 15 years ago we decided to move for a big
garden, but hardly any estate agents had enough brain cells to understand.
We ended up looking for 3 months, virutally every w/e, within about a
25/30 mile radius of Leeds. Ended up with my wife seeing a property
almost on our doorstep as she cycled to work! I suspect serendipity is
almost your only option.

Good luck. We actually did find the odd est. agent that did understand,
but had nothing on their books.

Jim



Same here, we gave up looking for a bungalow with half an acre or more,
just about anywhere in the middle of England. I told one Estate Agent
that we wanted a large garden and he asked how big, when I told him at
least a third to half an acre he said
"You don't want a garden madam, you want LAND"

Seems a lot of bungalows we saw had either been built on someone else
land or the builders assumed bungalows meant you didn't like gardening!
However if you are in your home all day, either because you are retired
or from some other reason then you NEED a bit of space around
you........
I feel like going into estate agents and just asking for the garden,
never mind the house that comes with it

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article ,
Drakanthus writes
Good luck. We actually did find the odd est. agent that did understand,
but had nothing on their books.

Jim

Thanks. On the plus side nowadays, at least the Internet lets me browse all
over the country looking at possible properties. Looks like we may have to
move to Wales though to find somewhere suitable and within our price range.
Just hope the natives are friendly!



The Malvern's are quite good but that's as long as you don't mind it
being VERY difficult to get anywhere from there
Other areas that have biggish gardens are Norfolk (of course) and
sometimes around Evesham.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

I feel like going into estate agents and just asking for the garden,
never mind the house that comes with it

Janet

I know what you mean. Number and sizes of rooms is almost irrelevant to me.
The first specification I look at for potential properties is the garden. It
is irritating that estate agents give the sizes of room down to the inch but
describe gardens without size or just a vague 'small', or 'large'. And their
idea of 'large' is usually my idea of 'small'.
Anyway, after much searching, we have found a couple of potential properties
in South Wales, just waiting until we accept a reasonable offer on our
property in Nottingham, then we're off!

--
Drakanthus.


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Anyway, after much searching, we have found a couple of potential properties
in South Wales, just waiting until we accept a reasonable offer on our
property in Nottingham, then we're off!

Well done, hope you settle soon and dont forget if you want any horse
muck give me a shout, my muck heap is rotting down beautifully and
looking for a good home :-)

kate

In article ,
Drakanthus writes
I feel like going into estate agents and just asking for the garden,
never mind the house that comes with it

Janet

I know what you mean. Number and sizes of rooms is almost irrelevant to me.
The first specification I look at for potential properties is the garden. It
is irritating that estate agents give the sizes of room down to the inch but
describe gardens without size or just a vague 'small', or 'large'. And their
idea of 'large' is usually my idea of 'small'.

No,no,no! Never 'small'! The phrase is 'easily maintained', or, if no
more than a border in a small yard 'cottage garden style'.
Slightly less small is 'deceptively spacious'.

We did look at one house with 'half acre garden' but came to the
conclusion that the leeds acre was a measure totally new to me.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , Kay Easton
writes
We did look at one house with 'half acre garden' but came to the
conclusion that the leeds acre was a measure totally new to me.

I do know that our last house had a little over half an acre, but the
plot I am working on now is approx. 130 Metres x 130 metres. Can someone
please tell me how big that is in Acre measurement. I seem to remember
from school that 640 sq. yds = 1 Acre. If that is correct, then
according to my calculator it is 30 Acres. I don't seem to think, when
looking at the site, I could get my old house and garden in 60 times;-(

Mike

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Pacific Fleet Hayling Island Sept 5th - 8th
Castle Class Corvettes Assn. Isle of Wight. Oct 3rd - 6th.
R.N. Trafalgar Weekend Leamington Spa. Oct 10th - 13th. Plus many more
National Service (RAF) Association Scarborough. Nov 7th - 10th (Nearly Full)

Well done, hope you settle soon and dont forget if you want any horse
muck give me a shout, my muck heap is rotting down beautifully and
looking for a good home :-)

kate

Thanks Kate, I might take you up on that.

--
Drakanthus.


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On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 15:23:20 +0100, Mike
wrote:

I do know that our last house had a little over half an acre, but the
plot I am working on now is approx. 130 Metres x 130 metres. Can someone
please tell me how big that is in Acre measurement. I seem to remember
from school that 640 sq. yds = 1 Acre. If that is correct, then
according to my calculator it is 30 Acres. I don't seem to think, when
looking at the site, I could get my old house and garden in 60 times;-(

A quick google found a conversion table at
http://www.globalw.com/convfact.html#Surface, which suggests that you
have around 4.2 acres. It looks like the 640 you were thinking of was
acres per square mile. This is a US site though, so I am assuming that
their acres are the same as ours!

--
Cheers, Serena

Sometimes I sits and thinks ... and sometimes I just sits. (Punch cartoon)

In article , Serena
Blanchflower writes
On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 15:23:20 +0100, Mike
wrote:

I do know that our last house had a little over half an acre, but the
plot I am working on now is approx. 130 Metres x 130 metres. Can someone
please tell me how big that is in Acre measurement. I seem to remember
from school that 640 sq. yds = 1 Acre. If that is correct, then
according to my calculator it is 30 Acres. I don't seem to think, when
looking at the site, I could get my old house and garden in 60 times;-(

A quick google found a conversion table at
http://www.globalw.com/convfact.html#Surface, which suggests that you
have around 4.2 acres. It looks like the 640 you were thinking of was
acres per square mile. This is a US site though, so I am assuming that
their acres are the same as ours!


Thank you :-))

I knew 640 came into it somewhere and I do hate to put something up on
the newsgroups which is incorrect otherwise I am plastered from here to
there by people with nothing better to do :-))

Mike
Who doesn't knowingly tell lies. Does he Mabbett?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Pacific Fleet Hayling Island Sept 5th - 8th
Castle Class Corvettes Assn. Isle of Wight. Oct 3rd - 6th.
R.N. Trafalgar Weekend Leamington Spa. Oct 10th - 13th. Plus many more
National Service (RAF) Association Scarborough. Nov 7th - 10th (Nearly Full)

In article , Kay Easton
writes

No,no,no! Never 'small'! The phrase is 'easily maintained', or, if no
more than a border in a small yard 'cottage garden style'.
Slightly less small is 'deceptively spacious'.


What I hate is terminology such as
'Views of paddocks' as if looking at someone else's land makes up for
the 80 foot you are reduced to in yours!

There may well be gardeners who are happy to have a small to medium
garden but I always look at the fact that you can change a house or
extend it but you can't do the same with a garden.

I often wonder how hills are measured, I mean id the base is say half an
acre do they measure that or count up to the top and down the other
side?

Why aren't there specialist estate agents for such things as land or
gardens, the nearest we came to was equine agents, reckoning I suppose
that if you are interested in horses you necessarily need the acreage.

Rural scene is a good web site for out of the way houses, however Tom
baulked at the one I found which had ten acres and was a snip with a 20
foot kitchen and a twenty foot bedroom and a twenty foot
lounge............ well okay, it was a one roomed undeveloped sort of
shack but it COULD have been nice if he'd had the imagination
.............. AND it was cheap

janet


--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk