Project Overview
The brief for this garden was to make it useable. An extension had been built creating a big drop down to garden level and leaving an ugly exposed waste pipe, then it was sloped in all directions with no real useable space.
The clients wanted a tiered low maintenance garden with a patio top and bottom and a lawn. They also needed a space for a shed. They wanted a cost effective way to create privacy as the raised levels bought the garden higher on the fence.
The clients had a rough design sketch of the layout they wanted and were keen to use hardwood oak sleepers. They wanted a modern look with no little maintenance so artificial lawns and quality paving were a must. They were also keen gardeners so wanted a few beds left empty to plant up themselves once we were done.
Groundworks
The first part of the job was to get in, reshape the levels and create space to build the retaining walls, basically carve out a new garden. There was a lot of measuring and maths to work out the best layout to make the most out of each area but also make the steps even so there was a flow to the design. The laser level certainly earned its money on this one!
We designed the garden so everything was at right angles and square off the house, we then lost the difference and odd shape by creating irregular triangular beds that could be lost with planting.
Once dugout we had to create a retaining wall running in front of the fence as it would not have been strong enough to take the weight on its own. It was one of those jobs where you did two weeks hard work before you could actually start then buried it all.
Once this was done we could start putting in bases for paving and building sleeper work above ground level finally starting to making things look pretty.
Paving and Sleepers Build
On this project we used over 250 oak sleepers and 3000 structural screws. Every sleeper wall had a supporting sleeper concreted in the ground at 1.2 meter centres and you guessed it loads more structural screws.
The paving was a 22mm thick calibrated granite slab with charcoal resin pointing. There were two small lawn areas both laid with artificial lawns, as you can imagine no one wanted to lug a mower round that garden.
For the privacy we used four by one timbers nailed horizontally with small gaps to create a contemporary screen that let light through without creating too much of a sail or breaking the bank.
The screens in the flower beds will have climbers running over them in time so soften the look. Although not a huge garden this was actually one of the more complex gardens we have built with regards to so many level changes in a relatively small space.
Enjoyed the challenge very much and everyone was very happy with the final outcome.
Contact Us
If you would like to find out more about our garden design process please visit our garden design page. If you would like to contact us to discuss your next project then please contact us today.
