Garden Ideas for Pontypridd Student Lets and Rentals

With the university campus at Treforest just down the valley, a good share of the houses in and around Pontypridd are let to students, young professionals and families renting. Landlords tell us the same thing again and again: the garden looks fine at the start of the let, then comes back overgrown, full of rubbish or with a lawn worn down to mud. Tenants rarely own a mower or hedge trimmer, and there is no reason to expect them to.

The answer is not to give up on the garden but to design it so there is very little to maintain. This guide sets out what works in rented houses around Pontypridd, many of which are terraces with steep, narrow plots. For our wider work in the town, see landscaping in Pontypridd.

Think like the tenant, then like the landlord

A group of students sharing a house wants somewhere to sit out when the weather is kind, somewhere to put the bins, a place to lock bikes and a safe route to the back gate at night. That is about it. A landlord wants a garden that survives a year of that, looks decent in the listing photos and does not need a big bill to put right each summer.

Those two lists overlap more than you might expect. A simple layout with hard surfaces, a clear path and good storage satisfies both, and it also tends to appeal to the next set of tenants when they come to view.

It also helps to think about who sees the garden and when. Viewings for student houses often happen months ahead, sometimes in the depths of winter, when a muddy lawn and a pile of bags by the back door do the property no favours. A tidy, simple space that looks the same in January as it does in June is worth more to a landlord than an ambitious planting scheme that nobody will look after.

Surfaces that stand up to hard use

Grass is the first thing to struggle in a rented garden. It needs cutting every week or two through the growing season, and on a shaded valley plot it quickly turns to moss and bare patches. For most Pontypridd rentals we suggest replacing it, or most of it, with something tougher.

• Paving: a well-laid patio is easy to sweep, dries faster than grass and gives a clear place for a table. Mid-tone slabs hide marks better than very pale ones. See patio slabbing and paving.
• Gravel: cheap to top up and quick to lay, with a weed membrane beneath. It is best on the flatter parts of the garden, as it drifts on a slope.
• Artificial grass: some landlords like the green look without the mowing. It needs a proper base and good drainage, and it still needs the odd brush and a clear of leaves.
• Bark: ideal around shrubs and in awkward corners, topped up every year or two.

Bins, bikes and the back lane

In a shared house there can be a lot of recycling and general waste, and bags left on grass or soil soon become a mess. A level, paved bin area near the rear gate, ideally with a simple screen, keeps things tidy and makes collection day easier. On a sloping plot that often means cutting a small flat bay into the bank.

Bikes are the other big item. A lockable shed or a ground anchor set into concrete gives tenants somewhere secure to leave them. A solid fence and a gate that locks, with a light over the path, round off the basics. Our guide on fencing steep boundaries in Pontypridd covers the particular challenges of hillside boundaries and lane gates.

Planting that looks after itself

A rented garden does not need to be bare. A few tough, evergreen shrubs give structure all year and cope with neglect far better than perennials that need cutting back. Plant them into beds mulched with bark, and keep them well back from paths so they do not need trimming every few months.

Avoid anything that grows fast and needs regular attention. Leylandii hedges, climbing roses and fruit trees all look lovely in the right hands, but in a let they tend to become a problem within a year or two. If an old hedge or self-seeded tree is already getting out of hand, our tree surgery and hedge care service can cut it back or take it out.

Steep plots and safety

Many rented terraces in Pontypridd have gardens that climb or drop steeply behind the house. Uneven steps, loose paving and crumbling walls are a worry in any home, and more so when you are not living there to notice them. Steps with even risers, a handrail and a grippy surface are worth putting right before a new tenancy begins.

Where most of the garden is too steep to use, it may be better to create one good level area by the house and plant or gravel the rest. Patio Levels and Steps for Pontypridd Terraces explains how that is usually done, and Landscaping a Hillside Garden in Pontypridd looks at the whole slope.

The turnaround between tenancies

Student lets in particular tend to change hands over the summer, which is also when gardens grow fastest. A clearance visit in that gap puts the garden back to a clean starting point: cutting back, weeding, clearing rubbish and furniture left behind, and taking all the waste away. It is much easier to book this in advance than to find out on check-in day that the garden needs attention.

We explain what is involved in Garden Clearance for Pontypridd Houses, and our garden clearance page covers the service in general. Some landlords also like to note any rules about the garden in the tenancy agreement, such as where bins are kept.

Where to start

If you have a house that needs a garden rethink, the simplest route is a visit between tenants, when we can see the space empty. We will suggest what to keep, what to replace and what can wait, so the work fits your plans for the property. All of it is part of our usual landscaping and garden design service, and the quote is free.

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