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  After: Pergola at the end of the garden

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  Before: view to the end

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  After: small patio under pergola, table and chairs

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  Before: uneven surfaces

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  After: Large patio, on the diagonal, table and chairs

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  Before: small patio, table on lawn

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  After: diagonal stepping stone path to small patio

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  Before: concrete raised wall, uneven surfaces, unattractive chippings

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  After: Perennial planting, small patio and pergola

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  After: Towards the house, diagonal lawn

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  Before: half step outside patio doors

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  After: hot colours perennial planting, achilea, geums, in oranges, reds and yellows,

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  Before: large shrubs, unruly planting

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  After: view down the garden, open and even

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  Before: view down the garden, divided by shrubs

A easy to use space for a family garden

My clients were a family with young children, but no where that was easy to use for their children to play. The existing garden had been broken up into 4 parts, a small patio wasn’t big enough for the family garden table. The lawn was broken up by a sunken area and a retaining wall, at the bottom third of the garden made the garden feel shorter than it was. There were a lot of mature shrubs which were becoming hard to maintain and encroaching over the lawn. An island bed made the garden feel smaller.

The family were looking for a larger open family garden where the children can play all day. Play equipment can be moved around the garden easily, the garden needed to be easier to maintain, be simple and stylish, whilst also being practical and functional with a new shed replacing the two older one. The existing patio was York stone, so we could re use that in the new garden. The house was built in the 1970’s and some thing funky and 70’s inspired was requested.

When designing the garden I didn’t want to lose too many mature shrubs, but a few were removed to allow flow and the beds were enlarged to allow perennial planting and colour. Initially we needed to remove the raised wall and fill in the large sunken area, to create a lovely even space for our Family garden. As the garden was rectangular I was keen avoid making it look narrow, so eventually decided to work with some diagonals. Creating a large patio for easy entertaining, borders zigzagging their way up the garden to a second smaller patio with a bespoke Pergola at the end of the garden for a quieter space with morning sun. As the budget did not extend to using York stone throughout, we used a buff sandstone for the new patio by the house, and cleaned the original York stone and used it for the smaller patio and stepping stones, the colours matched well and saved on budget.

The post A user friendly family garden appeared first on Karen Holley | Professional Garden Design and Creation.

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  After: summer house, raised beds, curved lawn with surrounding path, perennial planting in pinks and purples, orange and yellows.

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  Before: lawn, shrubs, old fence

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  After: corner bench, raised bed with rendered walls, perennial planting

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  After: corner patio, wood bench, against raised bed

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  After: snaking sett path, two limestone patios, raised beds, perennial planting

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  Before: lawn, shed, narrow borders

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  After: rendered walls pretty planting, stone patio, stone step,

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  Before: gravel patio, wood step

A social garden space for family and friends to enjoy

The owners of this small suburban garden were desperate for a contemporary social space in their garden that reflected the inside of their home, and would be a fun space to entertain family and friends.

The existing garden was very uninspiring, with no patio, very narrow beds, a dilapidated shed and very few plants that the client wanted to keep. With young teenage children, the couple wanted to have a garden they could enjoy as a family and where they could entertain friends. They wanted to replace the shed with a summerhouse with a shed attached for storage, a shady seating area at the end of the garden to enjoy on the hottest of days. During the brief, the clients showed me images they had collected of bold contemporary outdoor spaces, lawn was essential to play boule, badminton and swing ball, as was a feeling of warmth and ambience.

Because the garden was relatively small, I decided to use curves to convey a feeling of space, this also means that some beds are much larger than others bringing planting into the centre of the garden, softening the edges and bringing colour into focus. Raised beds are used to lift the focus higher and are filled with bright perennials, they are painted in a soft cream to compliment the paving, and they create small social spaces within the garden. We designed simple bench seating along the raised beds where space was limited, but also allowing space for the family table and and barbecue. Limestone paving compliments the colours of the house and windows and ties in nicely with the sandstone set path that snakes its way across the garden linking the two patios.

The curved lawn is just big enough for some ball games, allowing the family to let their hair down.

Budget £15,000

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  Before 1

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  Brick retaining walls, sandstone path, artificial lawn.

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  Before 2

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  Brick retaining walls, artificial lawn.

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  Before 3

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  Porcelaine tiles, teak furniture, log store

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  Before 4

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  Sandstone and brick steps, circular seating,

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  Before 5

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  Slate gravel, planters

A stylish low maintenance garden for entertaining

My clients had a lot of big plans to change their garden, the main purpose being a garden for entertaining.

The patio immediately adjacent to the house was too small for a large table, so needed enlarging and the client wanted a number of social spaces around the garden, connected by paths. Key inclusions were to be a seating area with a fire pit, a deck with a large garden room with a small outdoor kitchen and a pizza oven. Most importantly of all, the garden needed to be very low maintenance, for a busy pair of entrepreneurs who love to travel.

As the project gained momentum it was clear that this was a larger project and would need to be completed in a number phases. The deck and the garden/kitchen room would be phase two after the underground garage had been completed.

I designed 4 distinct areas: a patio that wrapped around the house giving easy access from the barbecue and wine store, to the entertaining spaces. A circular seating space with a central fire pit, surrounded by planted raised beds. A Central garden area, with some simple beds, and an artificial lawn. Lastly the deck area that will house the garden room.

After some discussion regarding materials the clients agreed on Indian sandstone paving, and red bricks to match the house for the raised beds and retaining walls, some slate chippings were also used to create softer walkways between areas. Some remaining porcelain tiles from the conservatory were used to pave the area to the side of the conservatory.

To make the garden complete lighting and speakers has been installed to highlight the gardens features and to create ambience.

Budget £120,000

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