What would you do too make this front garden more attractive
Sally Hodges
7 years ago
This is a detached house in a small close, but the garden looks tatty, what could we do with it
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Comments (9)
June Hulton
7 years ago
PROIvy Ngeow Architecture & Interior Design
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Front Garden: Would you keep the greenery or go for a modern look?
Comments (6)I like greenery in a front garden and agree that people just walk over chippings or grass so to preserve your privacy I would have planting. I also agree that the lawn seems like unnecessary maintenance and could be planting. I can't tell but I suspect your lavender is getting a little woody and less pretty than it once was. Perhaps it is time for a change. As an alternate you could have skimmia, huechera, euonymus.... the list goes on....See MoreAdvice how to make gravelled front garden more attractive?
Comments (14)Thanks everybody. Really helpful advice and links. I think I will dig and plant in rather than trying pots. I previous didn't as around the house there is a good 20cm of concrete that meets the gravel. Hopefully this won't be much of an issue as it will grow over it as such. Perhaps some shrubs and different height plants in front of the house, and some other planting in front of the porch? I haven't thought of what in front of the porch yet. I will look into putting small hedging in front of the gravel. Fingers crossed that will bring it more to life than it looks at present!...See MoreWhat would you do? Making the most of our space.
Comments (34)It really depends on what you want to achieve with your loft conversion. I've shown the stairs where I'm assuming they would work best to give you a masterbedroom suite - so with a walkthrough wardrobe and ensuite, to the back with a dormer extension, and potentially another room to the front with some rooflights. I don't really have enough information to be able to give you any definitive answers on that. This would be based on my assumptions of that kind of house, and the sort of things that most of my clients would ask for. Your house might be different and your needs and desires are unique to you, so are quite likely to vary from my assumptions. I think it's unlikely that you could do that loft conversion and the ground floor and other alterations within your £40k budget though. So that's why I would do it in stages and focus on the ground floor to begin with, because that seems to be the main area that doesn't work. I expect that increasing bedrooms will increase the value of your house a lot in London, so it might well be of interest to you from that perspective, but it might not really have that big of an impact on your life in your home for the short term. It depends on your priorities and what your long term plans are. Personally, if this was my home, then I would spend all of my £40k on the ground floor, use furniture to divide up the front bedroom for the kids, and even install a shower-room to the ground floor where I'm suggesting a loo/utility, and put the washing machine in the kitchen. Then I would get a really good sofa-bed and turn the lounge into a very flexible space that can be quickly and easily turned into a comfortable guest room, then let it on airbnb with guests using the downstairs shower room. That way I would quickly save up the money needed to do the loft conversion so I could have all the works done over a few years. That would be my approach, but airbnb is not for everyone and you may not need to do that to get together the extra money needed to do the loft in a few years time. it depends on your personal financial situation. There is a lot that depends on what you personally need and want, what your priorities are, and what your personal financial situation is. Quite rightly you've not shared all of that on here, and i wouldn't expect you to because a lot of that is private information. I hope this helps within the limitations of what I can suggest based on the information I have!...See MoreWhat would you do? Garden needs love and help!
Comments (5)Hi honeyry. I don’t think it would look weird having the lawn on the left as it would be more central to the patio. Hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of doing a quick sketch as well. It still uses the full length of the garden so should keep your footie fan happy 😊. What I do think is that you need more definition to your borders so using a lawn edger to keep grass encroaching on plants/shrubs/trees (see pics). This will keep plants healthy in the long run as they won’t be competing for nutrients. Also added a patio and shed in the top right NW corner. This might be a nice little sitting area in for a morning cuppa, the shed and the addition of some trellis would give you some privacy from the neighbours. Something like this wouldn’t need doing straight away as I’ve kept the basic layout with the path relatively unchanged. Did add a little extra in the way of a little semi circle of hard landscaping in front of the seps. This is just a transition between borders, lawn and patio and could be anything...paving, tiles, cobbles and so on. There are a plenty of plants that are suitable for your garden. The RHS website is a valuable resource when researching. Two that spring to mind which are virtually indestructible (great for stray footballs) are red valerian and buddleia. Both need hacking back to near ground level in late autumn and will grow like the clappers come spring. Be aware that red valerian (also grows well north facing) can be considered invasive in some parts as it self seeds prolifically and usually where you don’t want it like in the walls or in between paving slabs but it’s easy enough to pull out. For improving the lawn I’m sure there are plenty of tips and tutorials online. I myself have a dog that makes a right mess of the grass. I’ve recently purchased this stuff https://www.envii.co.uk/shop/neuturine/ but I’ve yet to test it so can’t vouch for it and its a little expensive for what it is. Supposed to to change the Ph of the soil so that urine doesn’t burn it (or something scientific like that 🙂). Just hope it works! Here‘s my sketch and pics. Red valerian Buddleia example of curvy border...See More- PRO
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