ᐅ Weedy Garden Before New Construction – What Should I Do?

Hello everyone,

We plan to demolish an old house and build a new one on the same site by the end of the year (around December).
Currently, the backyard (photo attached) is overgrown, which is due not only to it being summer but also because no one has maintained the garden for the past two years. Besides a lot of weeds, many wild plants and some smaller (!) trees are growing there (pear, apple, cherry, etc.). There are also some 30x30 cm (12x12 inch) stone slabs used as garden bed borders.
The garden covers an area of about 150 m² (roughly 12x12 m (39x39 ft) plus a few irregular spots).

Now we are wondering what to do with it. Ideally, we would like to save a few healthy, young trees by relocating them to the edges, then completely clear or till the rest and cover it with a weed membrane until the house construction is finished and we can finally start caring for the garden.
This week, we had a small landscaping company give us a cost estimate → about €4,600 (including 19% tax).

Now to two questions:
1) Is what we are planning a common approach, and does it actually work this way (clearing + weed membrane until the house is finished)?
2) What do you think of this cost estimate? Unfortunately, I have no experience to compare it with.

Thanks a lot and best regards

I haven’t done anything yet this year. Maybe just trim everything briefly and dispose of it immediately so nothing goes to seed. Keep what is still in good condition. Also check if there are any peonies, as they are often not cheap. Bleeding hearts have already died back.

Everything else will be left to the soil organisms.

Transplanting can work well but doesn’t have to.

Whether to hire a landscaper depends on what is included in the price. Having the garden installed is not cheap.

As long as there is no house yet, try to do as little as possible and allow animals and insects to keep their natural habitat.

Does it absolutely have to be done by a landscape gardener? As someone from a village, it looks like a job that can be handled in a few days with some hardworking helpers and a few crates of beer, and then the area is tamed.

Either have the excavation contractor remove 5cm (2 inches) when digging the foundation pit, or go over it a few times with a garden tiller...
What does the DIY builder @Nordlys say about this?

If it gets too high, use the sickle to cut through. Anything you do more than that now will have grown wild again in a year.