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Garden ideas required please

8 years ago

I have a garden that is fairly large in size, in order to keep costs down I gravelled it whilst I decorated the house. The time has come to bring it in line with the rest of the house but I would like some suggestions.

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Comments (4)

PRO
User
8 years ago
The first thing is to tell us how you would like to use the space. Is it something to look at, a space to relax in on your own or with family, friends, entertaining, dining al fresco?

The concrete or breeze blocks supporting the fence in the lower shot indicate the garden next door or whatever is on the other side is higher, indicating a retaining wall?

So in line with designing how to create your side for how you wish to use it, it would be as well to disguise that. Perhaps a raised bed, or to incorporate some terracing idea so that end is higher? It looks to be too far away from the door for the dining area unless you incorporate a cooking facility. But if that area is the garden's sunspot then at least some hard standing for seating, whether patio or deck.

I'm deliberately ignoring the manhole in the middle for now as that can be dealt with when we know what it is to fit in with.
PRO
Architectural Plants Ltd
8 years ago
Spaces before and after the Architectural Plants treatment · More Info

If you are keeping the gravel, then work with what you have a create a gravel garden. Look at Beth Chatto's garden near Colchester for inspiration. I'm sending you a photo or two of recent jobs we have completed. It may help?
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Well you could definitely save money by leaving the grass as it is and not astroturfing it. The grass looks great, & other than not wanting to cut it regularly, I’m not sure why you’d want to replace it, plus real grass is beneficial to wildlife / birds for getting worms, etc. Keep the grass & spend the money saved on getting someone in to cut it regularly - I’m sure a local teenager would happily do it for a tenner a time. The plants where you’ve mentioned you’d like seating areas look like box plants which are fairly pricey as they get bigger so if you remove them, consider selling them to get some money back. However they would also be good planted as structural plants elsewhere in the garden. Although you’re not green fingered, maybe your children might like a small area to dig in / plant some seeds, when they’re not busy bouncing! Good luck, I’m sure you’ll get other ideas on here too.
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Comments (4)
I would start by mapping out areas of your garden that get morning sun, evening sun, shade in the daytime etc. Then you can decide what you want to use those areas for. I presume the shot taken is evening sun, so the top area with a table gets the last sun of the day and you'd want to keep that for a seating area. I do really like the lower patio area, great job on that. You'll need to terrace or add a set of steps to the upper area of the garden to get it flat and without a slippery bank. What is the height difference between the top of your patio stairs and table and chair area on the top grass? Depending on what is behind that hedge, and how much your budget is, one idea would be to add a retaining wall along the back perimeter of your garden so you could drop the level of the garden a metre or so on the top tier, slope what is left. Add a small set of steps to make easier access the lowered top area, or perhaps a whole new set of steps that goes all the way from lower to upper level. Good luck with the project!
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Hi there, Eventhough you have lost a chunk of the garden to the extension, you still have a very good space in there. It is just not laid out in the best way possible. I think that using the concrete base of the area where you are going to remove part of your shed will result in a patio area that is too small and not fit for purpose. If you can reduce the shed size that is great, but I would creat a patio/seating area where the swing currently is. I will ensure it is nice and surrounded by planting and would pottentially add in a pergola to add some height. In this area, you will get a bit of the afternoon sun. I would do a small patio right outside of your patio doors with a small table or maybe just a bench in case you want to enjoy the late morning sun. I would also aim to bring the planting a bit more to the centre of the garden to create interest. Also, when choosing the planting,be mindful to match it to your garden environmental co ditio s so they thrive. If you are interested, I offer a range of garden design services that can be done onlineand would love to help you with this project! Now is the perfect time to plan it so you can enjoy it in the summer time. Please have a look a t my website and get in touch if interested! www.therootedconceptgardendesign.co.uk All the best, Deborah deborahbiasoli@gmail.com 07548105456
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Comments (17)
Assuming anything coming out of your back garden has to go through the utility and garage now is a great time to remove anything that has got too big in the back garden such as the conifer. And labourers are the right choice to tackle the path through the centre of the lawn and the slabs around the edge. If you decide to buy extra topsoil, any large plants or new turf -now is the time to do it. If you do decide to plant big plants and trees this is best done Oct- April. Given you are going to do lots of work to the house and the sun room you may have to clean your patio again later which may influence if you choose to do it now. As far as stripping the house you can order a skip and labourers will have soon filled it with unwanted carpets, the wood panelling from the hall and the kitchen. Don’t rip out the utility just yet as the builders will need somewhere to make tea and it’s in your interest to have happy well hydrated builders. If you don’t want the curtains then a charity will have them- you can also sell things on Facebook Marketplace, EBay or give them away on Freecycle. Given you haven’t sorted a builder yet I might be careful not to dispose of everything from the house just yet. With an eye on budget you might decide to keep a couple of the bedroom carpets - after all the vintage floral Axminster was probably very very expensive and when cleaned will probably look like new.
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PRO
Shopisfy Ltd
7 years ago

Pallet Seating · More Info
Try our pallet seats they can add a nice seating area to your Garden also with nice bright colours.
PRO
Garden Design Guru
7 years ago
Subject to your needs for using the space as Freshscaped Ltd. pointed out there 2 major pointers which are important in such as small space.

Firstly a small space tends to be dominated by the boundaries so improving or hiding them is essential to a really good result. Climbing plants on trellis are a fairly quick way of covering them but the faster plants grow the more chance there is that they will get out of control. That's why I very often create bespoke trelliswork as an attractive feature whilst more controllable plants get established.

Secondly you really need to have some vertical features, such as sculpture, obelisks, multi-stem trees or quite open (or transparent as designers will say) planting. Without vertical accents your eye will always be drawn straight to the boundaries without registering depth and so the space continues to feel small. The more can include verticals which allow you to look on, through and past them, the more you will perceive depth.

There are many ways to make a small space feel bigger but these two are probably the strongest and most universally applicable to a typical size of garden.

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