Building a patio

[Grahamm]

and another thing. You will need an angle grinder to cut some slabs.

We're going for the  type of paving that has sections of different sizes (eg https://www.pavingsuperstore.co.uk/garde...slabs.html ) and my gf is an absolute whizz at jigsaws, so we shouldn't have any problems with needing to cut slabs

Have you thought about astro turf for a section of the area.

There is a house nearby that has astroturf [insert Throwing Up emoticon here...!]

One concern that did come to mind this evening is that, as mentioned, there's going to be a narrow strip of earth alongside the wall which is where the water from the patio will drain off.

We were going to use it as a sort of flower bed to grow some sort of climbing plant as we're going to put a trellis on the (waist high) wall to give a little more shade/ privacy.

I was just wondering if that will be enough if it absolutely buckets down or whether it would get totally water logged because there won't be enough drainage.

Do you have any idea about this?