Christine Barve Garden Design
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Gallery
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Blog

Small but beautiful....

20/10/2014

0 Comments

 
Courtyard design, small city garden

I recently spent an enjoyable morning visiting one of my clients who had finished implementing my design for their small enclosed garden.


Although enthusiastic gardeners, they were struggling with how to make the best of their new outside space, having always had larger gardens before recently downsizing.  Their priority was a design which would give them somewhere  to sit and entertain and a planting scheme which was pretty, colourful and scented.  As the garden is the main view from their lovely conservatory they wanted year round interest which was also low maintenance.

The first step was to create a sense of privacy and enclosure achieved by adding trellis to the existing boundaries and painting all the woodwork to match in a fresh modern colour. After discussion my clients decided to leave the walls unpainted and although I feel this would have helped unify the boundaries, once the climbers mature the walls will become less dominant.  Using light colours for the hard landscaping  has increased the sense of space whilst a mix of gravel and paving provides changes in texture and interest. With gravel mulching the planting areas the boundaries between hard and soft landscaping are blurred and the area feels larger.

A pretty bench sits on paving surrounded by planting with a simple water feature providing a focal point and gentle background noise.  Evergreen planting is combined with a few choice perennials to help add seasonal interest. Herbs including lavender and rosemary provide texture and scent and creeping thyme will release a lovely scent as you walk through the garden. An informal layout softens the hard landscaping and as the planting matures will feel generous whilst still enabling easy movement around the garden.

My clients decided they would like to source the plants themselves and enjoyed visiting some of the smaller local nurseries in the process. Ideally the conifers flanking the gate would be taller and my clients laughed that these provided a lesson in the dangers of ordering plants over the internet when they arrived much smaller than expected.

Removing the old paving, relaying hardcore for the new landscaping and creating dedicated planting pockets was hard work but I am so pleased that my clients followed my advice and didn’t take any shortcuts. This should ensure that their plants grow well and reduce weed growth.

It was lovely to hear how much more they now enjoy being in their new garden. They have done a wonderful job implementing the design and we were all very pleased with the results.
The raspberry muffins were lovely too…




 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014



    ​Author:
    Christine Barve

    Latest projects, seasonal musings and gardening tales..

    Categories

    All
    Beautiful Bark
    Chelsea Flower Show
    Courtyard Garden
    Daffodils
    Design Ideas
    Easter Treats
    Encouraging Wildlife
    Environmental Matters
    Gardens To Visit
    Jewellery Quarter
    Low Maintenance And Stress Free
    My Garden
    New Year Resolutions
    Open Studios
    Plant Ideas
    Pop-up Garden
    Reclamation
    Recycling And Upcycling
    Revisiting A Clients Garden
    Spring
    Stress And Relaxation
    Trees
    Winter Colour
    Winter Flowering Cherry

 Telephone  07976 243 250                                                                                                                    Christine@barvegardendesign.co.uk


  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Gallery
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Blog