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Gardens Design Dilemma landscape design

Urgent Garden Help

3 years ago

We are looking at houses. One issue we have is that we currently have a small garden and my wife was hoping for a bigger garden. The trouble is we have seen a nice house, small awkward garden.

We have a 7 yr old, so how could we make the most of this type of garden in order to fit a swing/trampoline, and yet have a nice garden for my wife who likes to have nice plants and a pretty garden.

Knocking the conservatory down would free up space, but would love ideas and/or photos to try and help us write this purchase off or on.

The building that you can see cutting into the garden is a double garage.

Thank you so much in advance

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Comments (4)

rachelmidlands
3 years ago
Hi Chris. Main issue for me would be privacy which is quite a common dilemma for gardens. So by the wall where the houses are overlooking I’d be looking to put either some standard trees/shrubs (single bare stems, lollipop shape) which will eventually merge together or some climbing plants, a climbing rose might be nice. You could turn the area by the house into a courtyard style dining area with lots of pot plants and beyond the garage could be reserved for grass/ play area. Without the conservatory and holding pen??? 😆 you’d gain a lot more space.
I personally spend a large amount of time in the garden so for me I’d buy a house for its garden rather than the house but that depends upon circumstances.
tamp75
3 years ago
We bought our house for the garden when our children were 6 & 8. We put in the trampoline, play house, football goals, tyre swing, treehouse & gymnastic hoops. Now, 6 years have passed in the blink of an eye, our children are 12 & 14 & rarely use the garden. Most of the children’s things are gone & we’ve redeveloped our back garden to suit us. So what I’m trying to say is that children’s things won’t need to be there forever - before you know it, they’ll have grown up & moved on from garden toys so don’t let what you see as a small garden now stop you from getting the house you like. There’s also plenty that can be done in the space you have for children. Willow tunnels / hideouts can look lovely & blend in with other garden areas but can still be great fun to play in. A basketball hoop on the garage wall could be fun. A small raised bed / garden patch to encourage children to grow their own won’t take up much space.
In terms of an actual garden with ‘proper’ plants for your wife, it’s amazing what can be created in a small space, plus you have the advantage of what looks like a sunny wall to grow climbers or fruit trees against. A well-planned small garden full of plants can look much nicer than a large open space without a lot there. Good luck with your decisions!
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Sonia
3 years ago
I’ve never seen such an enormous garage encroaching into a garden before, however I think creating a courtyard garden would be very interesting. If the garage is not going to be used it could be converted into a work space office, or further living space etc. It has a lot of potential. However, if the Mrs wants a bigger garden it may be a compromise too far? Here’s a few courtyard garden ideas, including a play area
Chris Blowers
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you

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