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Designing yourself - new gardens |
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Given the large scale house building programme being instigated in & around Sussex during the next few years, the commonly faced problem of what to do with a small square garden surrounded by 6ft larch lap fencing is going to rear its ugly head more than once or twice. A good designer takes many factors into account when formulating a design (a bad one sells the same design to every client & calls it a ‘style’) one of the most important being the genius loci or ‘spirit of place’. In existing gardens there is almost always a feature or character that can inspire or enhance a design, but in the world of small green plots of grass & cheap textured slabs genius loci is not in evidence very often. Some new developments are built on old sites providing a history or atmosphere that can be utilised but if your new house is one of sixty built in a field then character & inspiration fly straight out of the window.
So, where do you start? Of course my considered advice is that you should call a professional garden designer who is not only qualified but has twenty years experience in building gardens, but then I would, wouldn’t I? If you want to tackle the project yourself, then there are a few things that you should do before reaching for the DIY weekend garden project books. First off, decide what you want to do in your garden, what is its’ function? Odd question that can phase clients who are used to the ‘How far do you want the slabs to go before the turf starts?’ type of landscaper. A garden for entertaining can be very different from the kids’ garden & different again from the horticultural spectacular. So decide what is most important to you & the basis of your garden is set. Most gardens fail because they have no clear objective when conceived, mostly because they evolve as your life evolves & your objectives change. The garden you wanted when barbecues & Fat Boy Slim soundtracks where your outdoor priority is much different from the one in which your children grow up. Secondly, use the aspect of your garden properly. Developers invariably ring the new house with ‘riven’ slabs, with three rows across the back. This is the patio, regardless of where the sun is, & who wants a seating area that is never in the sun. Two points to consider here, watch your garden to see where the light & warmth are during the afternoon & evenings (this is when you will use your patio most, honest) & be prepared to move what you have been generously given with your new house. A patio next to a wall in full sun will remain warm during the evening due to heat retention & in a north-facing garden, the patio is often best at the bottom of the garden, looking back up at the house. The second point is related to the next area requiring careful consideration, materials. Be prepared to throw away your free patio & buy in something better. This also makes you re-examine the shape of the patio. A straight line across the back of the house is rarely the most inspired choice. A sympathetic choice of materials is vital. Walling should either reflect the house material (same make of brick etc) or have an intrinsic relationship with the rest of the garden (using the same stone as a gravel or rockery stone maybe). Paving is a matter of choice but it should be of good quality & suitable for the aim of your garden. In my experience York Stone & children don’t mix (slippery when wet – good for concussion), & shingle doesn’t belong next to the back door where it can give a fine gravel finish to your kitchen floor (To be honest, pea shingle should be outlawed from gardens along with Leylandii trees, but don’t get me started on that subject). Plants are a matter of choice, but don’t bother looking up relevant soil conditions & testing pH as many (most) developers show little consideration for horticultural ambition. They remove the fine topsoil from a site, compact the hell out of the subsoil by running large machinery over it, then replace it with poor quality soil from a cheap source, which is then spread using the same large machinery that has just compacted the sub soil. Is it any wonder that gardens on these estates are often withering soon after planting? Rotovating conditioning, & rotovating again is the best policy adding as much organic matter as possible. Buying in good topsoil is also a thought, but bear in mind that a small garden can only contain so much soil. Good luck with your new garden. |
