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What to do with yard space?

Matt Billington

4 years ago

Hi everyone

we have a yard space at the back of our garden, which previous owners created as an option to park a car. We don’t have any current use for it, so looking to bring it more into the rest of the garden. the yard space is divided by a trellis from the rest of the garden. We have a shed we need to keep for storage.

I’m keen to integrate this yard space with the rest if the garden, but keep the block paving. The garden is south facing, so gets a decent amount of light.

thanks

Comments (5)

Jonathan
4 years ago
At the moment the trellis and shed divide the garden and the brick paved area is utilitarian being originally planned as parking.
If it were my garden I would move the shed and trellis so that the brick paved area better connects with the garden seen from the house. I would use the trellis to hide the bins, do a bit if maintenance such as refreshing the peeling paint and pressure washing the brick- then I would buy a seating set to give the area purpose and either big pot or remove some of the bricks so that you can have some tall planting on the border of the paving in order to soften the area
rachelmidlands
4 years ago
As Jonathan says removing the trellis and moving the shed will help to open up the barrier between the grass and block paving. Looks like you have a large climbing plant on the trellis, do you know what it is? Are you happy for it to go? Personally I’d remove a small section of the block paving to create a planting area and further connect both areas of the garden. Move the shed back towards the rear but leave enough room around it for maintenance or painting if you wish to. Did a little sketch (see photo), not to scale or anything so feel free to jig things around. I thought a small section of a dark slate coloured paving between the planting would be nice and give a clearer sight line to the rear paving/patio area. If you can share some more photos showing different angles of the garden I’m sure myself and others can give more ideas.
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Neil Jones Design
4 years ago
I think having a subdivide part way down the length of the garden, as the trellis provides, is no bad thing as it adds to the illusion of space by not showing the entire length of the garden from the house and provides glimpsed views to something beyond, thus encouraging intrgue!

I would as the others have suggested, relocate the shed to a less prominent area, perhaps at the very end of the garden so this paved area can become a more useable/ social space.

If you want to work with the existing block paving then perhaps jet wash them and resand if necessary. Then bring in large planters, perhaps linear ones which you can plant up to help screen the blank wall, there are lots of choices in materials but metals or hardwoods are the best for durability and strength. Metal ones have the advantage of being less bulky and available in a range of colours. You could always add trellis to the wall or even a 'living wall' to help soften it. Think about subtle lighting too and the wall is a good platform for down lights to create an attractive ambience. I could see the area being used for casual seating, dining perhaps even a fire pit for evening use? Its lots of potential and benefits from south facing so certainly make the most of this under utilised area.
Carolina
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I agree with Neil Jones that the trellis isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you want to make more use of the garden, but don't want too much upheaval, you could consider creating a vegetable garden using raised beds. There's loads of information available on the web. It's really easy and fun, for kids too. You can place the raised beds on top of the paving. Depending on the depth of the raised bed, you can grow a large variation of vegetables. Found some info here, but you can also search for square foot gardening https://www.quickcrop.co.uk/blog/vegetable-garden-plans-for-beginners/
Sonia
4 years ago
How about creating a secret garden area? Move the shed to the end of the garden, put the bins in a bin store, take up some of the paving to create planting pockets. Many plants are much happier in the ground rather than in a pot, but you could still add pots for interest, the bigger the better. Maybe a water feature in the middle. That area would also make another seating area. Here’s a few ideas:

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