Garden Design & Planting Advice desperately required!
HANNAH BEE
5 years ago
Hello there...having bought a house which needed a lot of work internally, we are now looking at the garden. The garden is 2-tier, per the pics attached. The garage will be going as we would like a patio and integrated seating area on the top tier.
We would like to create steps going centrally from the top to the lower tier, taking away current side steps and cutting into the retaining wall.
As you can see from the pics, the previous occupants cut into conifers at the bottom, leaving brown exposed.
Questions I suppose are, would anyone have any design ideas as Im struggling on the external space, including whether a seating area would work with next doors high conifer hedge to the left and what we could do with the bottom tier. Also what plants would work esp when we would like to cover bottom dead conifers and have colour around the garden year-round. NB we have a 3 year old so would like to keep the swing and have shed for storage.
Thanks so much!
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HANNAH BEE
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Garden advice - design and trees
Comments (7)I like the idea of adding more fruit trees. A sort of mini orchard can definitely be achievable. Looking at the trees you have now they seem to be creating a natural archway. I would accentuate this by adding a willow arch and training the cherry into it. Speaking of training fruit trees have a look at espalier or fan trained trees which can work really well in smaller spaces. Not sure how keen a gardener you are as this technique requires a lot of pruning and attention. I also would lose the straight path. Instead all I would do is have a semi circle of paving at the top of the steps and grassed paths for the rest of the garden in organic flowing shapes so it looks natural. A border at front near the patio with a mix of small evergreens and summer perennials would give interest all year round. Had some free time this morning so I did a little sketch/plan how I think it could look. Will add some inspiration pics in next comment....See Moregarden design advice for my edible/wildlife friendly front yard
Comments (14)Rachel and Carolina, thank you both so much for taking some of your time to think and design those sketches, it has really helped me in a stage I was blocked in my project. I now can keep on moving forward, that's so great. Carolina, I like your designs and they are actually similar to the sketches I was doing before I imported the soil in the garden but I think at this stage, following the natural curves of the garden will be much easier for me. I really like a lot of ideas you emitted. I will indeed add a birdbath somewhere and possibly a mini pond :-D Rachel, you just put into words and sketch a vague idea that I had but that I didn't know how to formulate! you basically read my mind. yes, I noticed there was some natural lines, and I wanted something more in curves but I didn't know how. your design makes it all look possible and realistic. to answer your questions, the round things are wine bottles. I was thinking of adding more wine bottles for edging but they might be a bit too short for high enough raised beds. I'll have to think about it... yes, the silver planter is a dolly tub. I was thinking of planting a clematis in it and some colourful flowers at the base of the clematis. I thought it would look nice somewhere against the white wall... thank you both so much about your ideas. I'll send you an update when it's more advanced. (it might take a long time though, but I'll get there!)...See MoreGarden Design/Plant Advice
Comments (6)I like the plants Sonia suggested. We can't see the rest of the garden, but I have a feeling it would benefit from some clear shapes. I mean, if you for example give the lawn a clear shape, maybe a circle, and plant around it, it will often make a huge change and look so much better. And it's such a simple thing to do. But I'm only speculating based on the part where the grass meets the path. Also, add loads of organic matter to the soil if you plant your new plants. Lots and lots of compost works wonders....See MoreAdvice on design for an area of garden
Comments (2)Hi there Sarah, It looks like a nice blank canvas in there! It looks like it is in a slope. Is this area levelled? If it isnt, you should factor in the cost of levelling it out if you are thinking about using it as a seating area as moving soil out can be a bit of a dent in the budget. There are some options to hard paving such as gravel etc. You could also use some of the area for plant beds, which would add interest to your seating area. It is also important to keep the rest of the garden in mind when designing this area so that they are tied together! I offer a range of online based garden design services to fit different budgets. From cost effective simple sketches to full on garden plans with planting schedules. Please have a look at my website for details and portfolio and get in touch if interested. www.therootedconceptgardendesign.co.uk deborahbiasoli@gmail.com All the best, Deborah...See Moreashleyizz
4 years ago
rachelmidlands
4 years agoHANNAH BEE
4 years agorachelmidlands
4 years agoHi Hannah. Couple of sketches for you. Didn’t put anything on the top half as thought you could have lots of options where to place outdoor furniture and so on. With the steps, assuming that you could cut into the retaining wall, I might do as half and half or personally I’d go for 1 third on top and 2thirds into bottom garden (if that makes sense). I made the steps really wide in one sketch as I think this gives a broader view from the patio doors looking down to the end of the garden. Thing to remember having the steps this way is that it will eat into the lawn space and like I said a big building job. Other than that borders will be good and there are plenty of plants for both sun and shade plus a couple of tall flowering shrubs might be nice for extra height. When making a border fork up the soil and add extra mulch and compost to give plants a better start. Since you’re facing south the bare cut conifers at the back will be mostly in shade so I think a large leaf ivy should do well. It grows quite vigorously tho so be aware that it needs trimming every now and then. One more thing, although I’m sure you’re aware of it, is that the garage looks like it has an asbestos roof and will need specialist removal. Anyway, hope this helps. Here’s sketch. (Click to enlarge).
HANNAH BEE
4 years agorachelmidlands
4 years ago
rachelmidlands