A Town Garden Packed with Design Ideas
Finished in time for Christmas – a town garden in Newbury where the design works on many levels and quite literally around the landscaping of a series of terraces. These terraces help make the most of what is a narrow space, by giving depth and interest to our client’s garden.
Before, During & After
The before garden – has overgrown vegetation and feels cluttered and is not making the most of its potential space:
Work in progress – the team have made a good start clearing the site and excavating the ground and installing concrete footings for the new brick wall and retaining beds. The planting beds have been built using concrete blocks which will be rendered and painted in the Spring when the weather is warmer. Timber posts have been set into the retaining bed on one of the terraces ready for the built-in bench. The silver porcelain paving is starting to go down and the brick boundary wall is finished.
The transformation – the garden now has a new layout, a series of rooms with different functions and appears much larger than in the before photos. The timber decking laid on the top patio softens the grey of the porcelain paving and introduces a different surface texture into the garden. The lower terrace at the bottom of the garden now has a substantial patio area which can easily accommodate our client’s new fire pit and stone bench.
Key Design Elements
As with any design, there are a number of elements which helped to make this garden work:
The landscaping of defined terraces works well with the garden’s natural slope and create separate spaces for our client to make use of and enjoy.
The enclosed shape of the retaining wall on the top terrace makes for a more intimate and sheltered area for entertaining. As with all the concrete block retaining walls these will be rendered and painted a light grey in the Spring.
The grey porcelain paving on the upper terraces, timber decking area and steps have been built on a 45° turning what is a narrow garden into one that appears much larger.
Attractive bin storage solutions where before they had been in full view on the top patio. Now our client has 2 bespoke timber bin sheds, one for the wheelie bins which can also be accessed from the top for daily rubbish disposal as well as from the front when needed to be moved, and another shed for the recycling bins which can double up as a table when our client is preparing food for the BBQ.
More finishing touches
The construction of the beautiful new brick boundary wall with a layer of Staffordshire blue brick tops
The softwood treated timber built-in bench providing extra seating and a different view down on to the garden
The detail in the step surface tops when one is built using the silver limestone slabs while the next step down has a topping of blue limestone setts
A triangular shaped area with a topping of pebbles provides the perfect spot for the bird bath.
Do you have a small town garden that you’re looking to revamp in 2021? Get in touch.