Garden blank canvas what to do?

6 years ago

Hi there,
owning a 1960s House with a generous garden, and having renovated almost all the interior, it's time to think about the garden and a summer house /office with a hot tub /mini pool right at the far end. We did build a pergola last summer ourselves and decking as a project, which is a delight for family and friends, but have not many ideas for the garden now. Any help would be much appreciated :) thank you

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Peter Reader Landscapes

6 years ago

Hi Tiago Silva

I would think of ways of breaking the space looking down the garden with planting -
currently you look straight down it with nothing of interest and to
break up what you are seeing. It would be great when you have the hot tub etc at the bottom for it to be partly hidden by planting and foliage. Create what I call 'transparent height' - planting that blocks your view quite a bit, but still has gaps through it where you can see exciting and tantalizing hints of things further down the garden. Stories, journeys and a bit of mystery all
make for a great garden and it would also create the 'two' garden areas/rooms feel that Emily suggests. Don't be afraid of wide (0.5 - 1.0m+) curving beds - most people run small thin beds down the side which look boring and don't have enough space for the plants to grow properly. Having larger beds also means there are loads of low maintenance shrubs you can plant that you can leave just to grow, instead of having to cut them back all the time to keep them to their space.

Take a look at this Houzz story - it really demonstrates what I mean as regards the design, although you would use more low maintenance shrubs.

https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/garden-tour-clever-curves-bring-beauty-to-a-modest-outdoor-space-stsetivw-vs~84375480

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Comments (9)

Emily
6 years ago
My first thought was to build another pergola across the width of the garden with would break up the length and make it two gardens with the one closest to house feel a bit more protected and like a “room”. No need for decking under second pergola grass would be fine.
Like you living roof storage. And was your pergola a kit? Or did you cut it yourself?
Tiago Silva thanked Emily
Tiago Silva
Original Author
6 years ago
Yeah thank you very much, the second one I want to build by the ens of the garden I would like it more like a living space, my summer office ans also eventually an indoor hot tub or small pool. That's where the sun is all year, specially in summer. The pergola close to home was beskope, planned and built by myselg with friend. There is another cover above the door and window that was not ready when I took the photo. We built all the garden bicycle and bin protections. Will think about the garden in between the two spaces, I wonder how I am gonna design something fantastic that we can do ourselves.... Thank you
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Tiago Silva
Original Author
6 years ago
Hi Peter and Emily, indeed the garden on this URL is lovely! I definitely need to think about something like that one, perhaps not so complex as the garden area we have seem bigger (it's a 30m long garden). The two areas seem a very good idea, and we were actually thinking about creating raised rectangular flower (and veg) beds, to create some sort of "wall", not allowing a straight down view as we have.

We need to think about something that can be done by ourselves and at the same time cost-effective & beautiful. I will sketch out something and post here to hear your opinion ok? thank you very much. If anyone else has ideas, please share. Thank you all!
PRO
Peter Reader Landscapes
6 years ago
Hi Tiago

If you are thinking of having veg beds then I would suggest putting them at the bottom and maybe having 3 rooms in your garden - 30m is definitely long enough for that. Unless you were very clever in making the veg area feel like a parterre garden it might look a bit odd if it was more like a divider across the garden,
Tiago Silva
Original Author
6 years ago
Hi again, thank you very much for your comments. I did a small sketch of the garden, and i will post later some drafts. I was thinking of using rectangular raised flower beds and eventually also using some bamboo, not sure about a path... in the end of the garden, the area is a bit lowered and there is no grass, perfect for a raised decking and a summer house... behind i will keep the trees as they help in maintaining the garden a bit private, as well as protected. Any ideas from anyone would be much appreciated. Thank you

http://www.houzz.co.uk/sketches/114147091
Tiago Silva
Original Author
6 years ago
This space is in the end of the garden... Where I want the summer house, and possibly indoor hot tub :)
PRO
Peter Reader Landscapes
6 years ago
Be wary of bamboo - it is very vigorous and spreads like mad, destroying paths etc in its way. Very hard to dig out once you have it.
E D
6 years ago
Yes. Perhaps you could consider to have bamboo in containers/pots.

That indeed 'contains' their growth.

Large pots can also have a decorative function.

They will need regular watering/feeding though.

Garden blank canvas what to do?

Peter Reader Landscapes

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Emily

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Garden blank canvas what to do?

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Emily

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