This was a small garden. Access was through the house. The boundaries were all concrete but only 1.6M high and of differing finishes. In the top right corner was an 8×6’ shed with utilities. There was an old patio with rusted man-hole. The step into the garden was too high at 225mm. Existing plants included: large Buxus ball, Red Japanese Mapel, some old Hybrid T roses and an Echium.
The clients requirements wre discussed, which included:
- Re-use suitable existing plants
- Creation of a room effect
- Low maintenance
- Cladding of surrounds raising height to 2M
- Privacy
- Garden lighting
- Mixed sized yellow limestone paving
- Raised beds clad top and sides in granite
- Synthetic grass
- Replace roof of existing shed
- Make shed rat proof
- Any plants left over to be potted for mothers garden
- Connect colour of shed with garden
- Painting of surrounds
The scaled Garden design I created included all of the above and was accepted by the client. The tasks to complete the garden included: Mixed sized yellow limestone patio and path with recessed man-hole, Raised beds clad with silver granite to double up as seating, Installation of 30mm synthetic grass lawn, Cladding of surrounding walls with vertical 6×1” planed pressure treated Scandinavian Spruce boards capped with 2×1” to a height of 2M creating privacy and that all important room effect, Painting of surrounds with 2 coats of Ronseal ‘Slate’, Creation of horizontal 2×1” latt panels painted in Ronseal ‘Sage’ to soften surrounds and act as foil for garden lighting, Repair roof of shed with ¾” ply and finish with un-rippable polyester felt, Filling of raised beds with topsoil and planting, Installation of low voltage garden lighting to glaze and uplight plants within raised bed. The client was delighted with the outcome and posted the following five star review:
“Kevin transformed my garden last May/June (2021) and I can honestly say that it has brought me joy every day since. Kevin worked out a beautiful and functional design and executed it to such a high degree of expertise, attention to detail and imagination. My garden now feels like an extension to my house and I have used it so much more than ever before. During this wet and long winter, the garden area is still a pleasant and clean area to be in- as he predicted, my dog absolutely loves the new artificial turf and the bonus for me is that she returns to the house with clean paws! (The garden was almost a no go area during wet and wintry weather before). On a boring but super essential point – all this stormy and rainy weather has proven to me that Kevin made sure there is good drainage.
I really loved the materials that Kevin used – beautiful limestone flagstones for the patio and granite for the raised beds and I’m really happy I went with the lighting too. He adjusted his design for the quirks of the space and the realisation of his ideas surpassed my expectations. I plan on doing most of the planting myself but Kevin’s ideas were really good and I love the planting that we did put in straight away.
I would really recommend Kevin – he was pleasant and straight forward to deal with, utterly professional and he clearly really takes pride in his work, he sets a high standard for himself. You might have to wait in line to get him but he is well worth the wait! (And the money)”
