Heeeeelllp for garden novices.
Barb
9 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
We've just bought our very first house (YAY I'm 29 years young) and although it looks small from the front, it's actually a large house out the back, where we've just completed a huge deck and great outdoor living. We really need help with the front now, which leaves a great deal to be desired. The windows are bedrooms, the door, our front door, which no-one really uses, as there is no presence at all. Out of shot directly in front of the house, we have a large stone wall with a pedestrian gate right opposite the front door and a driveway with electric gate to the left (see pics). We'd really appreciate some ideas with either soft/hard landscaping and/or actual house embellishment. Thanks so very much.
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Garden makeover advice
Comments (5)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)....See MoreTree/plant ideas for privacy in small garden
Comments (3)Most trees will grow too tall and will encroach through a brick wall easily. I had to remove a beautiful Silver Birch as it grew to 50 feet and was breaking up my neighbours concrete path. I had little garden knowledge then but I’ve learnt a lot since then! How about a fruit tree like an apple? You get nice white/pale pink blossom followed by delicious apples in the autumn. Apples are grown on different root stocks to limit their size. A true Apple tree can become huge but one grown on Rootstock M9 grows no higher than 10 ft. I bought one online from Blackmoor Fruit Growers www.blackmoor.co.uk and it is a beautiful tidy tree. Shrubs would also be good, many of them grow 6-8 feet and are good for screening. Shrubs like Viburnum tinus, Photinia red robin and Ceanothus are all evergreen. They do flower but flowers are small and not too messy. Two shrubs I love as they have purple leaves is Cotinus and Sambucus nigra but they do lose their leaves in winter. A lot of people use bamboo as screening but I’ve never grown it so can’t comment. I’m sure you will get more ideas from the gardening Houzzers! VIBURNUM SAMBUCUS NIGRA CEANOTHUS PHOTINIA RED ROBIN...See Morenorth facing front garden advice
Comments (2)Hi. To be honest I’d remove the grass altogether so you’d have lots more room for plants. However does your home have a covenant restricting what can be done to the front? Some housing estates have a rule where front gardens need to keep open sight lines, might be worth checking deeds or local council. If you can remove some or all of the grass I think 2 or 3 Hydrangea Annabelle would look lovely. Under planted with a hardy geranium like geranium Rozanne and maybe a few lime coloured evergreen ornamental grasses. All easy to look after with a trim/prune once a year. If you do decide to plant any thing new then don’t plant too close to the wall. Hydrangeas and other shrubs will appreciate more space for their roots. I like the ivy and I think you’ve got it well in check 😊. Pics of hydrangea Annabelle and geranium Rozanne...See Moreopen plan design novice in need of help
Comments (14)thanks folks, very sensible advices.. Sally: in an ideal world we would have lived in first before getting the work done but with a young child, work involving crazy hours etc it will be just a bit onerous to move out again or manage to live with all the construction work going on. I agree with all of you that perhaps utilising the existing space and concentrating on the flow is a better idea rather than throwing ridiculous money at it especially if this isn't going to be our forever house. We have for now put the idea of a study on top of utility on hold. one of the plans we have been thinking is the below floor plan, this would involve very minimal work so quite cost effective. the utility room has a skylight (its in a recess so not too much sunlight but still not too bad) as well as a window into the passageway so light shouldn't be too much of a problem. the flip side is that kitchen area will be only 11ft wide and we will take some space from the garage (original size is 18'x14' ). the benefits are better sitting area, entrance to sitting area without going through the messy kitchen parts and separate entrance to kitchen from hallway so not having to walk the whole way around to dining room for those formal dinners.. What are your thoughts would this work? thanks Abhi...See MoreBarb
9 years agoBarb
9 years ago
mandylou33