Time to start planning a garden design! Help and ideas please? ☺️
Gabby Wong
3 years ago
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Gabby Wong
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Garden design help please - greenhouse and children's play area
Comments (2)@lisamarie1000 it looks like you've got quite a blank canvas to work with there but as well as giving lots of opportunities it can also be quite daunting if you don't know where to start. As a starting point I would look at where the sun falls in the garden as this can be important for growing vegetables and the greenhouse which need to be in as much sun as possible. Draw a plan to scale of the garden and use cut out shapes to represent the different areas (growing area, play area, sitting area etc.). You can place these on the plan and move them around until you get a layout that you are happy with. The size of the shapes needs to be big enough to represent what their use is. You can also base this on the dimensions of the house such as location of windows and doors. Try to avoid pushing everything to the edges as this can just draw attention to the boundaries and make the space feel small. Think about how you would move through the garden to get to the different areas. If you are going to have a path through, it will be more interesting if this isn't just a straight line down the middle. By making the route through have changes in direction you can add focal points (such as the apple tree) and make the garden seem bigger. If space is tight consider growing vegetables mixed in with ornamental plants so that the garden doesn't look like an allotment. Finally think about using screening with tall plants or trellis at various points so that you don't see the whole garden at once. This can also make the garden seem more interesting and enticing....See MoreGarden and design help please!
Comments (18)There is no such thing as a no maintenance garden, but choosing trees and shrubs only will be less maintenance. Obviously grass will need cutting throughout the summer. I noticed through the broken fence that your neighbour has several trees and shrubs so that’s the sort of thing I mean. Some trees do become huge (50-100 ft) so make sure there are no buildings or paths nearby. Shrubs vary in size from small ones such as Hebe (about 2 ft high) to tall ones such as Viburnums which grow to about 10 ft high. Hedges such as box or privet are quite labour intensive as they do need trimming. Shrubs that are small and stay small would be a better idea - things like Euonymous, Hebe, Cistus and Lavender. The saying “Right Plant in the Right Spot” is so true. If the planting area is sunny, don’t put shade lovers there as they will shrivel up. Soil type is also important, a Rhododendron needs an acid soil and will never thrive is alkaline (chalky) soil. You can get cheap soil testers at any garden centre. I do think you can mix planting styles - I have all sorts in my garden! It looks a lovely big garden so I am rather jealous!...See MoreHelp with Floor Plan ideas please!
Comments (11)I agree yet disagree about the "living in the house first".. If you already know you want to open up areas, do it! Bigger structural changes are messy. And 'Policies delayed are policies denied'. Especially with kids, jobs, etc. Plus you want to paint and do floors, it feels a lot more satisfying knowing it can stay that way for years to come. But do make a proper layout, planning is one of if not the most important part of a build/makeover. Sidenote: I'm so very very glad we did the bigger part of the structural work (removing walls, insulation the entire home, new wiring, new plumbing, moving doorways, taking out a chimney breast, changing windows, bathroom from scratch, etc) before moving in. This would not have been realistic afterwards (home is 72 m2 plus scullery). Still far from finished, just about everything that needs to be done are finishes/paintjobs/smaller projects....See MoreKitchen plan for better garden flow? Help please!
Comments (13)Keiblum's suggestion saves an extension and could be built on. if the play space is no longer needed then that means the room uses can return to living, kitchen and dining. my thoughts run to keeping the doors to the patio bbq area, run the kitchen down that wall (and honestly I don't know how long or how many cabinets that could be), use your Ikea island and see if any you could make use of the under stair area for utility area (something like a European laundry) or maybe the fridge ? The fridge might be better in the cabinet run though. Add another set of doors where the kitchen sink once overlooked the garden and use this area as your dining. You might even find yiu have space for more informal seating. In doing this you will be able to connect your bbq area to the kitchen and find yourself using this area as an outdoor dining room, giving rise to possibilities of further development of this space to use rather than it be a walk through. Another thought is if the layout was swapped as described you might be able to explore gaining more outlook by adding a full length window into the wall between the two sets of doors, or even removing the wall completely and glazing it to become full glass right across the rear wall, but without changing the footprint? Putting in another set of french doors might be the more reasonable option if the kitchen is swapped, but Kieblem's suggestion makes great use of the available materials ....See MoreGabby Wong
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