design ideas for my outside space!
charlie_bill
6 years ago
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rachelmidlands
6 years agoHi there, you're project got me interested and I had a bit of spare time this morning so I've done a little design sketch. Had a look at the thread on the gardeners world forum and I can see that you'd like something quite modern.
First things first I agree with painting the garage a dark grey and black, think it will create a dramatic backdrop for planting etc. I've put a pergola by the side of the garage which extends slightly in front to obscure it a bit. Since this area is likely to have a fair bit of shade I thought it would be best to keep it as such so you'll have a cool place to sit on hot days. On the left I've put in raised beds which could be rendered in white (see inspo pics), the one at the back could be raised a little higher and used for shade loving plants, the one by the patio could be lower down and possibly have a built in seat. Where the patio curves round at the moment I think would be much better squared off and either another raised bed or possibly a pond with small water fountain. I wouldn't extend the back raised bed the full length of the wall since the tree is well established and raising the soil level around it will most likely kill it. Where I've marked feature, this could be anything, water feature, sculpture, anything interesting really. The driveway is the difficult part as I wouldn't want to make anything too permanent. The only suggestion I can think of is to have some large plants like palms, ferns, grasses or cordyline (lots of options) which will thrive in a pot and possibly have them on wheel bases so you can move them easily if you needed to drive a car to the garage. Or you could just invest in a barrow for moving heavy pots:)
Throughout I've tried to maintain something of interest to look at from each window of the house. Anyway hope this helps and I'll post a comment on gardeners world as well but I find Houzz much better for showing images. You have some great suggestions for planting so couldn't really top that;)... here's the plan:
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6 years agorachelmidlands
6 years ago
PROJacksons Fencing
6 years agorachelmidlands
6 years agoI think the key is for a minimalist look is to keep any raised beds at fairly low level but vary the heights slightly to keep them interesting, I'll see if I can find some more images. To see what they might look like you could use some old bricks just stacked loose and stick some painted cardboard or paper over the top. Obviously not the permanent solution but think of it as a tester. I'm sure once you start, the ideas will start flowing. Your project sounds great and I would love to see how it progresses.
Hmm, just had another thought for raised bed. With you saying a dark colour, instead of a smooth render I was thinking of some split face tiles for some added texture. This has site has some:
http://www.marble-mosaics.com/black-slate-mini-split-face-mosaic--z--stacked-tile-cladding--2299-per-m2-774-p.asp
charlie_billOriginal Author