Transforming a small garden

Every garden is unique and works best of all when it’s tailor-made for the owners.

This garden belongs to a delightful, retired couple who wanted to use their garden to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs, to have a shady spot to sit and enjoy lunch and are keen bird watchers, so wanted to attract birds into the garden.

They’d made unsuccessful attempts to change the garden, but just didn’t know how to include all the things they wanted and make it into a beautiful composition.

One of them is a wheelchair user, but because there weren’t any paths , she wasn’t able to get into the garden to enjoy it.

so a list of their requirements was made and we discussed what sort of gardens they liked
the garden was measured up and surveyed
the soil checked and a list of appropriate plants that would thrive in the light soil was drawn up
concept plans were produced and tweaked so that they were completely happy ( much easier to make changes on paper than half-way through the build),
a master-plan was produced, including a detailed planting plan, clear instructions and detailed drawings for the builder

and finally the garden was built.

view down the garden

one year after planting

As you can see it’s quite a transformation, the paths are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair with a turning circle, and somewhere to sit, near the end of the garden. There’s a small pond for wildlife in front of the shady pergola, the plants are a mix of shrubs, perennials, grasses and herbs; all very bird-friendly. The vegetable area at the end of the garden has raised beds, a shed, potting bench and compost bins. It’s separated from the main garden by a post and rail fence that has compact cordon apple trees, and tall, airy grasses (Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) and Verbena bonariensis in front, providing a tall see-through screen.

front garden before work began

Front gardens need to be attractive, after all we see them every day, but we don’t want to spend too much time working in them to keep them looking nice. The small lawn in the front garden has been replaced by two overlapping circles of gravel, surrounded by structural shrubs, spring bulbs and colourful annuals, so there’s something nice to look at all year round. The wheelchair ramp has been rebuilt and re-aligned in a different position to make it easier to use.

The plants have been selected to suit the soil and sunny position, so they’ll thrive and be really easy to look after. If you use plants that don’t suit the conditions they’ll struggle, produce weak growth and be more susceptible to pests and disease. Tall grasses ( Stipa gigantea) have been planted along the front boundary providing a soft see-through screen.