garden inspiration

7 years ago

Help!! I've been trying to redesign my wide but shallow garden but need some inspiration. it's 15m wide by 10m long. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

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Patrina

7 years ago

My garden is wide and shallow as well and this is what I did with it. How about a structure to add interest, planter beds and an integrated seating area

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Comments (11)

A B
7 years ago
We had a garden like this- most difficult shape to work with IMO. I think diagonal lines can trick the eye, and getting a garden designer to help you would be money well spent.
Laura Newcombe
Original Author
7 years ago
thanks for the picture jen p. I agree trying to give the garden the appearance of more length has been really difficult!!
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Sometimes it’s easier to consider what you don’t want or need rather than what you do want. So ideas to consider (& possibly cross off the list!). A summer house, a larger playhouse as the children grow, veg plot, play area for the children - e.g swing / slide combo, a trampoline, a sand pit, a built in bbq / outdoor kitchen, more grass, a deep flower bed. In time, you could do quite a lot with your lovely space but I’d completely redesign it. It’s all very much squared off with the beds along the back & patio areas. However, it looks safe and practical for young children so I wouldn’t do too much just yet.
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Hi, are the three shrubs you have box? I can also see a couple of phormium and a few daffodils. Apart from the lack of plants, everything seems to be the same height. Adding some shrubs of different heights will help. Things like Viburnum tinus, Photinia, Ceanothus assuming the bed gets a lot of sun. Cistus is a lovely smallish shrub for a sunny spot, then there’s lavender and roses. Geranium Rozanne is a lovely blue low growing flower for the front of the border. Geraniums are a big family of flowers usually blue or pink flowers. Other shrubs I like are Hibiscus and Cotinus, but there are hundreds to choose from. As garden centres are closed you could try online nurseries like Crocus. Their site is a great place to see pictures of plants to give you more ideas. Their plants are excellent quality and packaged well for delivery.
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Val Williams
7 years ago
I also have a shallow wide garden, a bungalow plot, TOTALLY overgrown up to 3 metres every way. We have spent 2 year clearing back, persuading neighbours to cut back overgrown trees. We replaced darkest brown fencing with light golden which now bounces sun round. We extended lawns as deep as we could with a tapestry of really textured shrubs but airy, leafy, billowy. We set attractive seating areas at both ends, following sun, also in a corner for diagonal view. We landscaped each end passageway to front gates so that as we sit at each end of garden we can !ook down these shady planted corridors with climbers on supports, to feel more is luring us, not just the shallow rectangle. However, whilst we went for lots of space, my friend with similar proportions is going for divided rooms to walk through. Diagonal plan, from scratch, the way to go.
PRO
Fig Garden Design ltd
7 years ago
HI Laura,

Thats a really great blank canvas! Although it is narrow there are lots of shapes and flow that would work in the space. Really the style that you like has to be the starting point, the key will be defining what you want to achieve, and then designing the space around that. A diagonal design could work, I would suggest 60 - 30 degree angles if you wanted to work with diagonal lines. However if you prefer straight edges or a more curvaceous plan these could work just as well. It may well be worth getting a garden designer in to advise you on how to make the most of the space, but that obviously depends on your budget. However most designers would draw up a master plan design and then hand it over for you to execute in your own time.

I look forward to seeing how you get on.
Laura Newcombe
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for all the comments, it's certainly given me some ideas. I definitely like the idea of doing things on a diagonal and having seating areas either end to capture the sun. I love the corner seating area above, I'd love to recreate that in my garden.
Joanna Biddolph
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I'd also give it some height. Not only trees but maybe a pergola over which you could grow a creeper of some sort, or an arch - something that raises the eye but also has a feeling of enclosure. It doesn't all have to be open. Houzz posted a lovely article above yours today; it's about chill out areas but looking beyond that, there are some lovely aspects to all the gardens that you could get inspriation from. I love the idea, above, of doing things on the diagonal but you still have space to fill: [https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/10-ways-to-make-your-garden-a-chill-out-haven-stsetivw-vs~82795231?utm_source=Houzz[(https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/10-ways-to-make-your-garden-a-chill-out-haven-stsetivw-vs~82795231?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u5094&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery1&newsletterId=5094)
Val Williams
7 years ago
Adding to my previous comment, if anyone goes for the simplicity idea with seating at both ends to let you view the length of the garden, make sure the seating areas are offset to each other or it will look like goal posts. I notice though that you have quite a slope downwards. In my last modern house, this was a real problem but my husband built up a platform about a metre and then we created the summer house, pavilion, bistro area. Opposite corner was a large raised blocks of wood vegetable plot. We planted fruit trees along the bottom which meant we were looking across the tree canopy and had an abundance of fruit.

Visiting my friends professionally landscaped modern Mediterranean square yesterday, designed on the 45 degree angle with some raised planter areas and bistro seating, there were two elements which held it together beautifully. Bright blue glazed containers everywhere, no exceptions. And reddish planting eg red robins and other shrubs. It is enviable !!
Scarlet Lines
7 years ago
A wide but shallow garden can be a challenge but try breaking up the rectangular shape. I often use circles to soften and add interest to a plot but the circles can also be turned into rectangle or squares but put them at right angles to the boundary. Enthusiastic planting can make all the difference using lots of different shapes and textures and don't forget climbers. Hope you like the plan! Good luck. Alix.
Laura Newcombe
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you Alix.
sloegin
7 years ago
I had a similar garden and went with the diagonals. To deal with slope, we built a patio in the "evening sun" part of the garden, rectangular, with steps up to it on two sides (one long side - adjacent to the lawn, one short side - with the path leading to it). Other two sides (behind and to the other short side) had lots of fragrant planting - short near the patio itself, lifting in height, towards the climbers and big shrubs at the boundary. That raised patio was diagonal.

For patio next to house - went with a large triangle (sounds odd, looked brilliant), which had one diamond shaped and one diagonally-placed rectangular flower bed edging it, so that it wasn't a straight step onto the lawn. Gave us lots of immediacy with the planting from indoors, at was close to the house.

But....I don't have children, so I just had to worry about it looking lovely, not being practical for games, running round (other than by my Cocker Spaniel!).

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Patrina

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garden inspiration

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Laura NewcombeOriginal Author

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