Terenure Driveway, Design & Construction, Landscaping Dublin

We won this contract by the client seeing a previous driveway we had completed. The contract was situated in Terenure, Co Dublin..

On first site survey the driveway was all concrete which instantly took away from the house. The area was an interesting shape with peculiar pedestrian and car entrance layout. The house was North facing. The West side had a mature, healthy privet hedge, the West side an old steel post & rail fence. Planting in front of this was mostly a mish mash of roses etc. There was a hardwood seat beside the house. Falls fell away from the house. I surveyed the area taking measurements and photos.

 

After site survey I sat down with clients and compiled the following brief:

• Seating area to accommodate hardwood seat, within sunny area on West side
• Removal of central pedestrian pillar, removal of existing gates, widening of entrance
• Disguise old steel & post rail fence with solid timber fence/divide
• Silver granite like in other job
• Ballylusk gravel like in other job
• Soften area with planting
• Low maintenance
• All year round interest
• Enough space for two cars
• Paved path for buggy, accessing front door
• Brighten up front of house, add interest
• Come in within budget

Armed with the brief I came up with a simple design which took into account all of the clients requirements. To keep within budget the driveway apron and path would be 600x300x30mm bordered with 200x100x50mm Portuguese silver granite cobbles. The path would be laid out in a way that two cars could be parked without one obstructing the path. The raised edging and step in front of door created using 200x100x100mm tumbled silver granite cobbles. The driveway would be finished with 14mm Ballylusk gravel laid on Ballylusk dust, using existing falls to let water away. A seating area surrounded by raised rectangular beds with synthetic grass area for child friendly play and paved area for chair. The East border would get a new 1.2M high divide. The clients gave the go ahead even though I came in slightly over budget, they really liked the design.

First we removed the middle bollard and both gates. All existing plants were removed apart from the existing Privet hedge which was pruned and tidied. The 150-100mm deep concrete driveway came out without much trouble and was removed with a grab lorry. The whole area was then covered with 65mm compacted Ballylusk dust. The apron and path were then laid using 600x300x30mm brush hammered silver granite slabs. These were laid on a strong 3:1 sand and concrete mix. The apron and path were then bordered with 200x100x50mm silver Portuguese cobbles.

Next the raised cobble edge using 200x100x100mm tumbled silver cobbles used to create the beds under the hedge, bed on West side by steel post and rail fence and the two raised rectangular beds skirting the synthetic grass and seating area. The new step for the front door was created using the same giving a connected flow when looking into the space. More Ballylusk dust was added to bring the levels below the Potugeuse cobbles and paving to between 25-30mm. The 14mm Ballylusk gravel was then spread and compacted. Its important the depth of gravel dose not exceed 35mm, or gravel becomes loose underfoot, wheelie bin wheels and car wheels, leaving ridging. The fence was then installed using 150x25mm planed pressure treated Scandinavian Spruce capped with 50x25mm latt. The fence was then painted with 2 coats of Ronseal ‘Slate’.

 

 

The following is a breakdown of the work carried out

• Remove existing concrete driveway to a depth of 100mm/cart to dump
• Remove central pillar/gates/cart to dump
• Remove unwanted plants/rubbish/cart to dump
• Supply, spread and compact 75mm Ballylusk dust
• Supply and install apron, path, base for seat and step using 600x300mm brush hammered silver granite slabs
• Border path and apron with 200x100x50mm Portugeuse silver cobbles
• Create raised beds using 200x100x100 tumbled silver granite cobbles
• Supply and install synthetic grass lawn
• Supply and install fence connected to existing steel railing using planed pressure treated Scandinavian Spruce
• Paint fence with 2 coats of Ronseal ‘Slate’
• Supply and plant beds with suitable specimens
• Mulch beds with screened topsoil to bring up levels
• Supply, spread and compact 25mm of 14mm Ballylusk chippings to finish driveway
• Create extended seating area in back garden using 600×600 silver granite slabs, include ACO drain connected to existing outlet to remove water
• Remove lawn and lay Ballylusk chippings to reduce maintenance
• Create beds using 1000x200x100mm silver granite kerbs
• Remove all rubbish and cart to dump

Plants used in this project included: Euonymus microphyllus, Bay Laurel standards, Thuja ‘Smargards’, Carex spp, Magnolia stellata, Diosma spp.

The client was very happy with the result and kindly posted the following review on Google:

“Kevin and Ian did the most fantastic job on our gardens, the job is so much better than we could have imagined. The design is perfect for both spaces, and they were flexible and conscious of cost throughout. Very nice to work with also, and very hardworking. Would highly recommend”