The clients' current garden had been inherited and they felt it didn't flow well, needed updating and the initial brief for the style of this garden was low maintenance with a contemporary twist, it would be used for impromptu morning coffees, reading the weekend papers, socialising with small gatherings of friends and family or maybe having a barbeque in the summer. Hard landscaping materials the clients preferred were brick, gravel, natural timber, sleepers and slate. A bin storage area and shed at the bottom of the garden along with a small lawn and a Brabantia foldable washing line was a must. The project as always came with some problem areas - the garden sloped down from the house and the level of the garden was higher than a neighbours meaning that the land needed retaining to keep within the garden boundary it currently had a small wall that acted as a retainer but also seemed, wrongly to be a focal point too!
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The garden was divided into zones or rooms to make better use of the space especially as it is a very long and narrow garden. The patio nearest the house serves the morning coffee and sitting out reading the paper requirement whilst the planting would provide interest, height and movement to give glimpses through it of the rest of the garden - enticing you to explore. The second area has the lawn with a path down to the third zone, the original design had a timber pergola with glavanised wire through the cross beams to the end - this would lead the eye naturally down the pathway to the third section and provide great interest and height. A specimen tree at the far corner of the third area would become such an amazing focal point here especially of an evening with clever lighting. The pergola wasn't included in the final design as the clients decided this was too costly.
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The third area now has a ground level border although a raised 'L' shaped seat with specimen planting and lighting behind was included in the original design. This area is for larger social get-togethers which, with the raised seat, would have provided lots of impromptu seating perhaps with decorative cushions together with the 'L' shaped raised bed diagonally opposite. A fire-pit would be perfect right in the middle on those almost autumnal chilly nights!
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The fourth zone is screened off with a hand-made Venetian screen with clever planting little of what lies beyond will be seen! The screen is off-set to cover the whole area with enough width to allow bins and wheel barrows through. Gentle slopes through the garden have made light of the natural sloping of the land whilst still being able to wheel bins and barrows and the difference in level of the gardens height has also been dealt with.
The shed is still to be erected, cables are laid ready for the separate lighting zones and planting is all that is needed to put the finishing touches to the garden. The clients have decided to choose the plants themselves so I'm really looking forward to going back and seeing it in all it's glory! Hope they use architectural and textural planting together with those that add movement and excitement to the garden to really bring it alive.