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Gardens Design Dilemma landscape design

Garden design help !

3 years ago

The garden is a very awkward shape and my partner opted to put in a summer house ... . Please help with garden landscaping ideas 💡
Shall I continue with the shapes?
What to do with the akward gap to the right?
Flower bed shrubs?
New patio / path ideas?
Garden colours? (nothing grey please)

Thank you ☺️

Featured Answer

embzop

3 years ago

How about something like this but on a slightly smaller scale

A contemporary curved designer garden · More Info

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Comments (6)

R Mederick
Original Author
3 years ago
Before photo .
Daisy England
3 years ago
I love the summer house. Very nice. They are very popular at the moment.

I think I may have levelled the lawn off at the longest point therefore doing away with some of the paving. It does create a problem having that shape at the top.

Can‘t really advise on plants as it’s not my forte.
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@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.
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Hello Nick, What you want does depend of children and their ages. Sunlight etc And budget as excavating and making safe will cost. And style. Some ideas: 1. Create 2 levels one at the same or just higher than you walk out level. This will be you BBQ area seating area. The rest grass and raised beds. 2. Create a sunken garden area taking out the middle where you would sit, eat... 3. Add large and small, potted plants on steps. The back of the garden add a trellis and grow rambling roses or clematis, This will soften the back. In between add lights. 4. Depending on you age and how much you like gardening. Very large pots can act as your planting area. Or create theraised bed all at the back. 5. Lighting on the wall all the way around. Above it an outdoor mirror to reflect light into the garden. Can be framed or not. Or a steel, aluminium... screen, with some sort of cut out design. The light behind and or in front of them. 6. Create a living wall. The living wall can be a mixture of edibles as well as flowers. Paint the white wall a different colour. 7. Make use of the steps. Take off the top and plant inside them, or add plant pots in them. Add decking to the grass, a circle or oval of decking. From the decking create a path going down, by covering the steps in the same decking. For a modern take on decking alternate concrete with decking. eg. a border of concrete which will match your white walls then decking in the middle. 8. Take out the steps at the side and make a large deep square or circular planting area out of concrete. Then you could plant a tree. (check appropriate sizes and growth time) 9. Your back wall can just be a fusion of different coloured lights, random or structured and or can change, or can be daylight bulbs. 10. Move your seating area to the brightest side / edge. This area an have built in seating, an out door banquette with storage underneath. The flooring in tiles or decking to zone off the area. 11. If you have a particularly dark area, why not put a structure there. A modern pegola and or light structure, sculpture with lights to brighten. I hope these ideas help or a combination of them. They can be a modern or classic twist depending on what your style is. Have fun :)
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One element that may help to soften and blur the boundaries is to re think the path. As you have found a full straight path seems very 'dictatorial' - you must walk here - in a garden. So changing the style of path to a broken path - large flag stones placed seperately or dark concrete rectangles set separately - which allows lawn between the steps softens the look while still offering solid support. It could meander a little to avoid a straght line.
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Hi there, Pleached trees are a great way to add high up screening without taking too much space and so living space for a good underplanting for pops of colour and year around inteterest. When choosing the underplanting though, you should be aware that the trees tend to suck up a lot of water from the soil and so the conditions in the bed will tend to be on the dry side (potentially shady as well depending on the bed depth - cant really tell because of the snow in the picture), so you should choose the planting accordingly. I offer online garden design services (in person in and around Twickenham/Richmond area) including planting plans and would love to help you with this! Please have a look at my website and get in touch if interested. www.therootedconceptgardendesign.co.uk All the best, Deborah deborahbiasoli@gmail.com 07548105456
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keiblem
3 years ago
I would be inclined to begin by toning down the orange tinge of the summer house and fence. New paving too.

But before you do all of that it is worth sitting down with pen and paper and making a note of how you use the garden, where are the best and worse places to sit? How much time do you want or are able to spend tending the garden? Are there ugly views you want to obscure? Do you need somewhere to store tools, the dustbin, hang out a washing? Are there any manholes covers? Do you want to keep the lawn? Do you want a path? Do you want a change in level or is Is there anyone with mobility issues who might find steps difficult or would enjoy tending the garden so raised beds might be useful for easy access. Do you want a water feature, lighting, power to the summerhouse? What do you want to see or not see from the house windows? Do you have pets and or children who use the garden? What kinds of plants do you like? Do you have favourite colours? Do you like evergreens, spring bulbs, autumn colour etc? Do you need shelter from the wind? What is its aspect, north, south, east, west facing? Where is the sun at different times of the day? What is the soil like, sandy, clay, PH? There are more questions and answers which will come to you as you work through it.

It is also useful to sketch a plan (preferably to scale) of the garden and draw on it any structures, trees etc that you are going to keep or have to keep due to listing, tree preservation orders etc. Don’t forget to include the house with doors and garden gates. Then draw on the plan the answers to your questions, where you like to sit, from which direction the wind blows etc.

The science bit, the aspect, soil type etc, is important to know before you start buying plants otherwise you will soon have a roll call of plants who went to a better place! You can buy simple PH testing kits from a garden centre and picking up a handful of soil and comparing it to information online will tell you if your soil is sandy or clay or somewhere in between. Another good way to inform you about the best plants to choose is to look in your neighbours gardens. If they are growing happily there then they are bound to like your plot too. Take photos of the plants so you have something to show at the garden centre or nursery.

This seems like a heroic task but the more of a story you create the better you will be able to inform the design. If you then upload that information I am sure
there will be lots of people able and willing.
PRO
The Rooted Concept Garden Designs
3 years ago
Hi there!

From the pictures the first "design problems" that I can spot are the classic thin planting beds squashed to the sides and the vast area of bare fence (classic new fence issue!). The overall forms also don't do your thin long garden much favour. I actually have done a past design which is similar to the one that embzop proposed (please have a look at https://www.houzz.co.uk/hznb/projects/low-maintenance-coastal-mediterranean-inspired-garden-pj-vj~6453035), which make your eyes travel from side to side of the garden, making it look wider.

I think that once you bring the planting a bit more into the garden and cover the bare fences, the summerhouse won't be a problem, but you can always do some planting in front of it to make it less dominant (maybe some grasses or something with a grass-like ethereal texture would look nice). I would also be inclined to put a path from the patio to it.

I agree with everything that keiblem said. Establishing what you want to get from the garden and the natural conditions of the garden so that a final concept can be established is crucial so that you have a garden that suits your needs, is future proof and that you only do and plant once! If you need help with that, I offer a range of affordable online garden design services from sketches to concept plans with 3D visuals that you can choose from. Please, do not hesitate to get in touch if you are interested!

Good luck with your garden!

Deborah

The Rooted Concept Garden Designs
keiblem
3 years ago
The Rooted Concept Garden Designs And you managed to say it in far fewer words than I did!

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