I spent 10,000 yuan on labor and materials to build a small garden, and a friend said it wasn't worth it.

The house won't be moved into until January next year, and I haven't bought any furniture for the interior yet, but I want to start planting flowers next spring and don't want to miss the season, so all I can think about is--garden, garden, my little garden!

My husband says I'm putting the cart before the horse... what matters most is people, and those flowers of yours? He says that, but he's still very actively supportive of me, discussing with me how to build the garden, and patiently listening to me ramble on--need to break up the concrete, need to fill in soil, need to build a fence and a flower trellis...

I had no way to contact workers, so I had to turn to TB again. TB really is omnipotent.

The quote was: breaking up the concrete, hauling away debris, backfilling soil, building the fence and flower trellis, 10,500 yuan in total (the boss first quoted 12,500, and I almost agreed. Then someone nearby told me this price was too high and I should haggle, so I haggled off a full 2,000 yuan, and surprisingly the boss agreed too, which shows there's still a big profit margin in this. I'm a layman and know nothing about construction.)

This is what it looked like after the site was cleared.

A drain was exposed at the base of the wall. I didn't know how to deal with it, so I discussed it with the foreman, and he suggested getting a few bags of pebbles to fill it in--good-looking and no water accumulation.

The concrete slab at the entrance can't be broken up either; I'm worried it would damage the steps, because the concrete was poured together with the steps.

I plan to buy wood-plastic composite decking and DIY a walkway.

The concrete area is 2.35 x 1.9 m.

The wood-plastic composite decking is 0.31 x 0.31 m per piece, about 48 pieces needed, priced at 23.90 yuan per piece at B&Q, totaling 1,147 yuan. The big yard took a week and is basically completed.

This is what it looks like after completion.

The yard took a week and is basically completed. This is what it looks like after completion.

These six garden stepping stones were a Christmas gift from my husband, bought at Yihe Gardening.

Looking over from the left side of the yard.

I deliberately added an extra stretch of fence on top, to make it easy for climbing roses to climb.

There's no obstruction on this side, and no one lives in the neighboring house, so the light is the best here.

Now a panorama from the right side.

Here at the base of the wall, I plan to build a semicircular flower bed with red bricks, shaped like what the flower pots outline now.

On the fence I hung pansies and morning glories. This girl has been blooming nonstop from summer to winter.

There aren't many flowers yet, so I'll add them slowly!

10,500 yuan covers breaking up the concrete ground, clearing and hauling away debris, backfilling soil, and building the fence and pergola... labor and materials included... but some people still say it's not worth this price... no matter what, as long as I feel it solves the problem, that's best... as long as the price is within what I can afford, that's fine!