Rear wide and narrow garden design advise. Approx. 23m width
Hi,
Recovering from an house renovation/extension we are now focusing on the rear garden. We are looking for some initial guidance on our back garden design which is approximately 23m wide. Depth varies from 8m to the narrowest of 5m to the large conifers which provide excellent privacy but without its negative points such as blocking of light in afternoon sun. These conifers depth vary from 2.5 to 3.5m!.
I have attached a plan with measurements of the garden and range of photos to hopefully give you an idea what we are dealing with.
Our criteria for the back garden is as follows:
1. Regain some depth or the illusion of depth when looking out.
2. Patio area for dining out with an area for both BBQ charcoal and gas.
3. A pagoda where we can have a fire pit and be seated regardless of the weather.
4. Easy maintenance
5. Water feature which can be seen from the corner window of the extension.
6. Everygreens but raised beds also to incorporate plants etc.
7. Afternoon - Early evening Sun area where we can dine.
Based on the pictures and dimensions what would the recommendations be to incorporate into our design.
Dimensions of garden (excluded the shed and hedge next to it as its pending removal).
Link to PDF or BMP plan for dimensions:
Garden dimensions - PDF
The rotting shed and the hedge which is to right of it will be removed as it hides the corner of the garden which is full of rubbish!..Maybe a patio area?
Corner window, we want to have a "feature" that can be seen from here.
View from inside the house
Thanks in advance.
Comments (11)
PROUser
4 years agoThe easiest way to get back some perspective when looking out is to cut down the huge evergreen hedge at the back. It's very high and blocking your light. Does it belong to you? As a rule of thumb evergreen hedges should only be a max of 2m in height.
parmsuk
4 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (3)Option one looks achievable and won’t impact other areas adversely. Option two will make you garage obsolete, and only gain you a room approx 2mx8m . Unless you bring garage into front line of house and the use the rear of garage as garden room /gym ( no plumbing on that side so not much other use ) but I don’t think this will add value. Option three needs exploring. Yes would make the space more 2021 but will that add value ? Might make it more saleable if you stuck with neutral colours and style . Think who you are selling too. Parents with stay at home teenagers/young adults … ergo bedroom space and car parking are premium bits - so my vote is option one - with option three if needed to sell . Assuming this is what you want -to sell at a higher price ....See Moreparmsuk
4 years agoWow, thanks for the input. Initially we discussed the idea cutting back the conifers with the our tree maintenance company when they come around twice a year. However, they showed us that just behind the conifers outer green layer is just sparse brown aged stems, cutting back the growing tips would just expose this and it would not recover unfortunately. We could cut from the top a reasonable amount (like your first image shows) but sufficient so that it provides enough privacy from line of sight when looking from the garden. I've attached some aerial views..(I think the hedges are trees have been automatically "ENHANCED" to look more fuller than they actually are!). We did consider biting the bullet, taking it all down and then starting again with new fencing and then some form of fast growing plantation (trees, bamboo etc), something that would at least give us a minimum 1 floor in height privacy reasonably quick.
Jonathan
4 years agoWow by my reckoning those conifers take up a third of your garden, will put the garden in shade until lunchtime and I bet the grass doesn’t grow well near them either.
So personally I would have them out to make your garden bigger and then find other ways of giving privacy to the garden. Personally I would be looking for some standard trees, perhaps Portuguese Laurel for a little evergreen screening above the fence without it being space hogging thick barrier between you and the neighbours. And given it is such a wide garden I would probably add some other trees to break it up- perhaps a couple of silver birches acers etc.
Jonathan
4 years ago
Juliet Docherty
4 years ago- PRO
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4 years ago parmsuk
4 years ago- PRO
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4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoKind of a bit like this, but the beds would actually go further back in your case i'm sure, and you would just adjust the height of the conifers to suit. It's a rough idea!
Mary Mary
3 years ago
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