Front Garden. From old concrete slab parking to 'traditional'

3 years ago

Hi all, Im planning to change the front 'garden' from a concrete slab for parking to a normal front garden;

Victorian tiles, Large tiles, wall/fence, hedge etc.

Link to document: [Link to my plans and photos]

Covers Before photos, What I want, Approach etc.

I would welcome some feedback... I like to design stuff and what to select, but not a handy man. So someone else will have to do it. Might be some mistakes included.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (11)

donut99
3 years ago
Great idea and the plan looks great, you could pull it off, however i have no knowledge of the practicalities to offer any advice! My only tip would be not to rush it and make sure those path tiles are perfectly flat/
Sarah U-S
3 years ago
I think it will look great! My only concern is the ease of keeping the tiles looking good - I live in a Victorian house and have been very tempted to file my path too, but after having my porch retiled, I have realised that if you have white tiles, they need a lot of cleaning - and I’m loathed to start mopping my path 😂. I’d love to hear from anyone living with a similar path to hear the realities...
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Personally I think the grass, yellow bricks and the fence are a bit too uninspiring. How about trying to break it up a bit - thin beds with climbers against fence and extra beds / pots / paths to add different levels. Think of cakes on a cake stand, the more levels, the better it looks. Red cedar slatted fence to replace the existing, trailing plants over the walls. Talk to a good gardener to talk about the right plants for their position and also consider doing a watering system to make it super low maintenance (they don't cost the earth). Good luck with it - post some photos of the project!
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As someone else has already suggested, i'd opt for a nice gravel laid within a plastic honeycomb grid system to stablise it and keep it uniform. The whole construction should be subbase to avoid the need for planning permission and you can add a stone threshold detail across the width of the entrance from the road to provide an attractive approach and demark the driveway. I think your house is too rustic in appearance to suit tarmac and needs a softer more rural choice of materials to compliment the house, plus you have a large area so planting is crucial to maintain the balance between hard and soft landscaping.
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Love the frontage of your cottage. That wall is adorable! You have a couple of shrubs there already. Do you know what they are? There are some great low growing plants that need very little work once they are established. As well as T Gray‘s suggestions, you could also add Aubretia which is a low growing plant that has gorgeous purple flowers in spring. It’s very common and available everywhere. Campanula is a blue flower that cascades in summer (some are tall so read the labels). Another flower is Erigeron, again it spreads and is low growing with quite large purple daisy like flowers in the summer. My favourite is Geranium - they come in a huge array of colours and various heights so check those before buying. They flower in the summer. Don’t forget daffodils, such a ray of sunshine in the spring. They can be planted in the autumn. A lawn is a great idea - relatively cheap to lay too. I think the best way to have a low maintenance garden is to stick with trees and shrubs which dont need too much fussing with. Trees can be pricey, but so many places sell shrubs, not just garden centres, such as nurseries,, supermarkets and even car boot sales! AUBRETIA CAMPANULA ERIGERON GERANIUM ROZANNE
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Thanks Rachel and Ribena, I’d never heard of Heuchera before but the colours look stunning so will definitely look into those some more. I thought a pic oft back garden might be helpful to give an idea of the type of look I’d like to introduce in this front area. Since this pic was taken I have 6 bays planted in the L section on the left with dwarf box hedge establish in that full section also. So really quite minimalist.
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Sonia
3 years ago
I know what you mean Sarah, my sister had porcelain patterned tiles in her hall in a taupe and white pattern. She says they are a nightmare to keep clean, and they are indoors!
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3 years ago
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HU-543906636
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the feedback! My main worry is if I need to replace the whole concrete slab first (become a longer and bigger project).

Cleaning tiles - a big chunk of the tiles are dark (antislip), so should hopefully be ok. The black and white pattern ones, yep, I might need to clean them maybe twice a year. I asked a friend who got similar ones and she rightly or wrongly said it wasn't too bad. I plan to use the pressure cleaner that my sons like to use. So I hope it is not too bad...
Sarah U-S
3 years ago
The tiler who did our porch looked at my path - he said that we would need to replace the concrete slab. It would be worth asking a professional. Are you intending to do the filing yourself?
HU-543906636
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Thanks. That is the biggest question... To replace or not replace the slab. That would be the first question I ask when I try to get hold of someone to do it.

I would need experienced people to do it all. I don't have the skills, not really 'handy', and I think we would struggle to have the time to do it.
Jonathan
3 years ago
I think that look you are after is lovely. If it were me I would tweak the plan a little as there are a couple of things that I think won’t work as you have planned them.

Firstly I think it’s a mistake to get rid of planting in front of the bay window as this hides some ugly pipework.

Your plan doesn’t seem to include bins and perhaps thinking about where to put these and ways to hide them could pay dividend.

You may want to consider the height of the side fence versus what you are considering for the front to make sure they don’t look mismatched.

You might also want to consider a pillar to hold the gate hinge.

Your inspiration pic shows railings but the plan mentioned fence- I think you should make sure the gate matches whatever you choose- personally I think railings looks better and you can buy standard sizes for not much more than timber fence.

I think the border you need for hedging needs to be be deeper. A mature hedge will grow to 60/70 cm thick. Therefore if you want to stand on the pavement and have enough room to get hedge trimmers between your fence or future railings and the hedge you need to plant at least 30cm away from the wall. So the border needs to be 60/70cm so the roots get properly watered and so fallen leaves have somewhere to go and you are not forever clearing your front garden. It’s worth considering if road noise is intrusive in which case a double thickness hedge (planted zig zag) will help muffle the sound. Don’t forget you can have an instant hedge by buying big and there are companies that specialise in this:- https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/yew-hedge.html
You might also consider if there is a type of hedge that sits better in your area- some councils have guidance on this especially if you live in a conservation area.

So if you have a front hedge and border in front of the bay this means the gap between the two will be path width and for this reason you may want to apply the same finish as the path to the gate.

The front step by the porch will be difficult to replace without ruining your beautiful tiled porch floor. Personally I think it looks in great shape and doesn’t need replacing.

If you can afford to replace the steps then I think this will mean you will have to replace the handrail because it is set into the concrete.

If you do have steps with a bull nose edge consider if you can achieve the white riser with something more resilient than paint for instance porcelain or an acrylic sheet.

And good luck
Sonia
3 years ago
I would leave the steps. They look smart, and as Jonathan has pointed out, the handrail is cemented into it so I can see issues already. In your sample picture you suggest planting a hedge at the front end by the fence. My worry is that in the picture they have planted a little row of annuals which are shallow rooted and don’t grow very tall. A hedge will need a wider area to spread and grow. What hedge were you thinking of planting?
HU-543906636
Original Author
3 years ago
Blimey - lots of helpful views. Thanks for taking the time!!! I really appreciate you take the time to read my ideas.

Jonathan. Thanks! Some initial thoughts of my thinking (might be wrong);

1. planting in front of the bay window - My hope is the new hedge once grown will remove the eyesore around the pipes (unless you are standing next to it). We thought the tiny length of garden made it hard to have both.

2. Bins etc. - You are correct! We plan to have these freestanding as a 'building' on top of the tiles, some room for that that his plants on top of the structure. But nothing concluded (including where and how to keep the bikes... that need a home without getting stolen). I didn't want to ask for too many questions... but that is also a problem I haven't concluded).

3. Border size you need for hedging. Very good point. I have no clue on the size needed. In reality, I want a hedge to grow through the railing (so you cant see the railing later on) and the bottom part of the wall is only to ensure no 'garbage' from the pavement is getting under it. The reason for the railing is initially to make it look "ok" enough prior the hedge is big enough AND also to ensure the foxes dont come in and try to open up garbage bins and bags as they do today in London (not fun to clean up).

4. The front step by the porch will be difficult to replace without ruining your beautiful tiled porch floor. I know and agree!! Just thinking it may look weird if the steps in two types... and it will look weird.

5.. replace handrail. You right right, I might need to do that, but I hope to avoid that.

6. something between the steps. Good point. Just not sur ehow that would look... Would need to investigate further.

7. Gate / railing - you are correct. They must match. The thing I plan to buy is matching. I have found a small firm/ person that do these things and I like to buy it handmade from them instead of mass produced things from B&Q etc (nothing against them, I buy lots of things from them).

Sonia - thanks.

a) Not changing the steps. Im just thinking the concrete steps will look out of place when I have 'upgraded' the rest of the garden.

b) the hedge. That annual stuff is just an example. I dont know the type of hedge is called. The 'normal' type and whatever width and depth they require... Im good at cutting them... but dont know too much more than that. :-)

So, the hedge type, I need to investigate what is the normal type.

Thanks all.
Jonathan
3 years ago
I think if you are going to spend money on a bespoke railing it’s a pity to lose it in the hedge- it also means you will never again be able to paint it. Personally I think hedge maintenance is easier if kept behind the railings.

As far as the pipework in front of the bay - I think visitors will always see it as they approach your front door so I would personally cover them with planting.

And I like yew hedge as being traditional and evergreen it sits comfortably with Victorian architecture. Box and privet are also good options.
Beech is also considered to be traditional but personally I don’t like the winter die back.

Front Garden. From old concrete slab parking to 'traditional'

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Front Garden. From old concrete slab parking to 'traditional'

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