The clients were fed up with mud, the garden was a space they could not enjoy and it wasn’t practical for day to day activities. Albeit a small garden, as rooms to the house it had great potential and the client wanted to make the most of these to create space to relax, to entertain, for their pets to play, to hang the washing without mud spattering, and to be able to tend the plants and see them grow.
While the garden was not massive, it did have two good sized triangular areas, one getting the sun in the morning and the other later in the afternoon. Finding a way to connect these two rooms to make the garden bigger was key. In order to keep the project affordable, there was the possibility to lift the existing slabs and use these in the new scheme. Although they began quite plain, adding some detail would be key to making the new paving interesting.
While some gardens need a lot of effort to survey and draw out, this was one where we could move quickly to 3D sketches to demonstrate the idea. The main concept of the garden is two connected rooms, the long path emphasising the longest dimension making it feel like a much bigger garden. The area immediately behind the house offers different areas to sit to catch the sun at different times, and the area to the side of the house is paved to provide that entertaining area, and also a practical space for the washing!
Here we are laying the paving and adding in just a bit of interest by incorporating a border which contrasts nicely with the paving slabs that have been lifted and reused. You will see below how we cleared the area, lifted the existing plants, completed the paths and patio, installed the water feature, put in the pergola and gateway, laid the artificial turf, prepared the planting beds, put in the plants, and finally arranged the furniture for a well earned sit down!
