Landscaping Garden Design Services, Landscaper Dublin, Wicklow Landscaping Garden Design Services
This landscape contractors garden design/build was situated in Kimmage, Co Dublin. The back garden had a Westerly aspect, was surrounded by uneven concrete post and panel fencing which afforded little privacy as was only 1.8M in height. The lawn was uneven and in need of replacement. There was a small patio/seating area finished with grey paving slabs connected to a concrete path leading around the house. The greyness of the concrete/paving making the area dull and lifeless. Like the fence the existing 8×6 shed was in need of repair or replacement if the buidget allowed. The shed was painted in a teak colour which would’nt be my favourite and I would be recommending an alternative colour from the Ronseal of Cuprinol range of timber paints. The garden had few plants and lacked any definition. The lawn was very damp and bouncy which pointed to a drainage problem due to compaction of soil underneath which is often the case with these recent builds.
After surveying the garden, taking photos and forming a few ideas in my head, I sat down with the client to discuss his ideas and expectations. The following is the brief we came up with.
- Limited budget, any overruns to be discussed with the client
- Preparation of adequate cableing for future garden lighting
- Low maintenance
- New fencing to tidy space and add privacy
- Removal of existing paving/concrete path
- Creation of seating/entertainment area
- Planting to provide all year round interest
- Repair shed and re-paint
- Replace existing lawn with instant roll out lawn
- Include mulch in beds to help reduce maintenance
- Create utility area along side of house with side gate
Concrete post & panel fence 
New fence clad to existing structure
Armed with the above information I created a simple scaled garden design which would take into account all the clients ideas and work within this small space. To save moni we did’nt remove existing patio/path, instead paving directly on top as DPC was high enough. The new Patio was twice the size as the existing and finished in Kota brown limestone, we did the same with the path, including a 600mm wide path to the shed.. We used two different sizes of limestone 600x600mm & 600x300mm slabs to add interest to the paving design. Limestone is a very durable stone, non-slip, very hard to stain, easy to clean and comes in many different colours.
The most important factor to any garden is the surrounds and the privacy afforded. To this end we clad the existing concrete post and panel configuration with 150x22mm pressure treated Scandinavian Spruce boards leaving a 2.5mm gap to give definition and increased the height to 2M. 2M is the Max height allowed by Council guidelines. A custom built side gate was included to create a utility area along the side of the house. The client chose the colour ‘Sage’ from the Ronseal range of timber paints which looked really well. The shed was repaired and given the same colour.
Beds were created using 200x100x50mm silver Portugeuse cobble. The cobble had the double effect of creating definition and acting as a mowing edge to reduce maintenance going forward. A raised bed was installed at the back of the garden using 1000x200x100mm silver granite kerbs. The kerbs created a raised bed and added height and interest to the space.
The plants for this garden were chosen for their resilience in giving little trouble and putting up with the conditions present carrying on the low maintenance theme. The plants chosen included Myrtus ‘, Rosmarinus prostratus, Skimmia japonica, Acer palmatum ‘Morning Glow’, Diosma ‘Sunset’, Phyllostachys aurea, Erica darlyiuensis, Acer ‘Sango-kaku’ and Busus sempervirens balls. The beds were then mulched to further reduce maintenance. Interest was achieved with mulching by using two types Greenking soil conditioner and Ballylusk gravel again adding interest to the small space.
This garden turned out very well, and the client was very happy with the results. We went slightly over budget but not without the go ahead from the client.
If you require an expert landscaping professional, contact, Kevin Baumann on 086-8198444.
