I was asked to re-do a rather out of control and ad-hock built garden in Turnpike lane. In a 5 x 5m space there was a shed, a seating area, a huge fibreglass pond and several collapsing brick and wood beds. The fences are in poor shape, and the back cement wall ( council) had to be covered up. The paving of cement slabs and other random bits was completely degraded, cracked and at all different angles, creating drainage issues. It was crying out for some attention! On a positive note, the garden backed onto a park, so it did feel larger than it actually was.
The remit was for the entire space to be cleared and rebuilt. An area for a round table and chairs, a storage bench for lounging and garden sundries, raised beds planted with the clients existing plants, and a water feature for fish were on the wish list.
The process started with a consultation, and initial planes being drawn up. The client chose, after reviewing my suggestions their materials. It was decided the pond would be built of brick, with a double skin at a higher level so it could be used as an extra seat, and for ease of access to the pond. The back right bed would match but at a lower level for secondary use as a side table for the bench.
We got to work! The entire patio was inclined away from the house to improve the drainage issues, and new drains and covers were set in. A new step was built to access the garden from the house, and the beds and initial work on the pond started. We chose not to use a tank due to the smallish (120 x 120cm) size of the pond and instead used waterproofed render. We then filled the pond up, planted water iris, 2 types of water-lily, added feather weed, snails and a bucked of pond water from my pond to ‘seed’ the pod with new life, and added a couple of fish.
All the flower beds had drainage built-in, and the fence posts were cemented in. The fence boards follow the contours of the raised beds for a tight and clean finish, which is a lovely detail, and the fence perfectly covers the horrific back cement wall.
After the beds were filled, as a final job, we planted the clients existing plants back into the garden, added a few tulips for the spring, and popped in a few lavender and perennial wall flowers for scent and colour…and left her to enjoy it!
