New Garden Needed - Please Help!
Steven Long
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (17)
1shanson
6 years agoSteven Long
6 years agoRelated Discussions
New Garden Design Help Needed
Comments (8)Hi Eve, It looks like you have a very nice blank canvas to work with! The trees are far enough away from the house, and as you said, they don't cast too much shade so they shouldn't be a problem at all. I agree with what was said previously. You should observe the garden space in different times of the day and decide where is it that you would like to sit (Maybe it is the case that you would like to sit with your morning coffee in a spot, and have a barbecue at lunch time at another spot). Once you choose where the seating areas will be, you can determine the planting places. There are plants for every situation from deep shade to hot sun, so this is not a limitation, you will just have to match the right plants with the right places. The only thing with planting that you should consider is if you do want to grow vegetables. Then a place in the sun is advised. I offer a garden sketch that can be done online- a drawing not to scale that gives you an idea of how best to divide your garden to cater for your needs and tastes. This is very cost effective way to have an initial idea when you are stuck. Please do let me know if you are interested and good luck with your new garden!...See MoreGarden new design with a new garden office
Comments (5)Hi Stacy, yes thats where my comment came from. I will look back at that again to see about the planting. I wasn't keen on the horizontal pavement. What I really need is a designer to look at the whole space. I'm not sure how to best build up the raised area and I'm worried it's going to be put together quickly and I will miss a key moment to get this right!...See Moregarden design ... confused! help needed please :)
Comments (4)Hi Emma Yes - I see what you mean. I think one of the main reasons the garden doesn't work is that it is very open and empty. This means that you see all of it in one go. There is no story, or journeys, focal points or mystery within it. When you sit on your new patio you see an ugly trampoline and fence and a large (if magnificent) Wendy House. The plain area of lawn also shows up how the patio takes up half the depth of the garden - again making the scale feel wrong and the 'green garden area' look small. I think what you need to do is break up the space somewhat and put planting going across into the middle - runninig along the edge of the patio. People often worry that this will make the space feel smaller, but in fact because it means you can't see everything at once the space feels larger and more interesting. The planting coming across into the more central areas of the garden then also acts as screening for the ugly features. Other suggestions would be to turn the Wendy house through 90 degrees, so it is less directly looking at you, deep planting beds around the edges and coming into the more central garden space and lots of climbers on the fences. As regards being over looked - conifers are really horrible screening trees. They get very big and are very solid dark green, so feel very oppressive. A more open canopy deciduous tree with say spring blossom and good autumn foliage colour would be much better. Flowering cherry Prunus Okame is a good example. Your neighbours would likely love it. Finally can I suggest that you watch 'Your Garden Made Perfect' on BBC I-player. It is different to the normal garden programmes in that is discusses the design concepts behind the garden improvements. All of them are great, but you may find the 1st and 2nd ones particularly useful on views, focal points and structure. Good luck!...See MoreHelp please! Steps to garden from new extension
Comments (7)Hello, HU, how interesting. The pictures really help. May I ask why the floor is so high? Do you have a cellar? or are you on a hill ? Is the garden flat or on a slope? You can ask you neighbours what is underneath? If it is that high you may loose a bit of garden.... Looking at your photo is your kitchen floor lower than the room next door ? If yes lower the floor for sure. It will lessen the gradient of possible steps. But it might be piping underneath just looking at the two pipes on the back ??? But if the wall is going to disappear it will not be an issue as the builders can divert them. But seeing what the neighbours have done I would say if you can afford it a glass box type extension. So that will allow a lot of light into the house and would not feel imposing. Garden storage, bikes etc could be underneath. If you choose to put your patio first then that is slightly lower than the extension. Or the same height then the steps or a slow sloping path will take away the idea of the steps. Have a look at terraced garden pictures, as you can plant to give the look of flattening the height so it looks like you are to create a garden journey. Your patio does not have to cover the whole width of the extension, it could be a semi-circle or an arc with the rest of the ares at that same height with plants and steps that gradually go down and around to flow into the garden. Any steps can be softened by using wood, sleepers... add plant pots to them to create the garden. Soften you garden with curves. If you have kids or not what an amazing height to make a built in slide ! I hope this helps at least start to conversation. But have fun designing....See Moreembzop
6 years agorachelmidlands
6 years agoSteven Long
6 years agoSteven Long
6 years agoMirasur Proyectos SL
6 years agoEliza Gray Gardens
6 years agoEmily
6 years agoSteven Long
6 years agoSecure a Field Ltd
6 years agoSteven Long
6 years agoJuliet Docherty
6 years agoSteven Long
6 years ago
Lithic CIC