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Garden makeover advice

6 years ago

Hi all!
I am an absolute novice with the whole garden thing.
The garden is good size area (approx 50ft x 15 ft) to play with. BUT not a lot of budget.

I would love to have a contemporary feel, with low maintenance. Happy to do as much of the work as possible! Photo's are best I have at the moment. I've cleared a lot of the overhanging shrubs recently. And discovered more slabs at the end of the garden.

I believe the 'flower' bed on the right would extend under the shed.

Any ideas of making the most of this space would be hugely appreciated :)

(PS, i'm in the UK)

Comments (5)

Patrina
6 years ago
A few ideas to mull over
Patrina
6 years ago
A few ideas to mull over
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PRO
User
6 years ago
I do love the new paints for fences in greys and even black, which add to a contemporary feel.
PRO
Oxford Garden Design
6 years ago
Something like this could work well? I agree with blacks and greys adding to the contemporary feel.
PRO
Rory Andrews Landscape Design
6 years ago
Hi Emma

The first task in designing a garden is to decide what you want from a garden functionally. The first thing to do is work out where north, south, east and west are. This may define where you want to have your seating area/s. Most people have a terrace by the house, so that they can bring food easily from the kitchen, plus the hard surface of stone/brick/gravel can make the terrace feel like an extension of the house, as well as linking the house with the rest of the garden.

People will often have a second terrace if it picks up the morning or evening sun, so that they can have a spot to enjoy an evening drink after work, or breakfast in the summer. Then one should think about a path linking these two terraces, as well as any storage area such as a shed or garage.

Contemporary styles can be typified by linear laid paving, mass planting and geometric forms (such as a rectangular lawn/terraces, feature walls and tightly clipped hedging ).

Below is a 3D render of a small-scale design employing all of the above. Also, there is a fire pit in the centre of the garden, at the end, as a focal point. It is always important to have features that draw the eye, even in a small space. N.B. the low green boxes in the render represent soft, herbaceous planting, whilst the midsize green boxes are low hedging and the hedges on stilts are known as 'pleached' hedging - look it up if you haven't seen it before; great for obscuring neighbours' windows and creating privacy in your garden (as well as structure).
Emma Wilson thanked Rory Andrews Landscape Design

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