Canterbury – Garden Refurbishment

The client’s house, detached with a front garden approximately eight metres square and a two by twelve metre strip at the side of the house, was in need of a front garden refurbishment.

There was a choice to repair broken items and recover the existing planting, or to re-design and find alternative replacements. Budget constraints and certain practicalities however, dictated we remain within the general garden layout.

The re-design gave the opportunity to provide two reasonably sized borders for plants. We chose an attractive curve-weave fence as a backdrop for the planting, which was to be similar to a ‘cottage’ style. A Pieris was transplanted from the back garden, with an Acer which works well with it, introduced in the opposite border as a focal point. Other plants chosen where : Philadelphus ‘innocence’ and Choisya sudance at the back of the border, Geraniums and Skimmia japonica at the front.

The idea was to provide colour and interest throughout the year, when viewed from both inside and outside the garden and to have a contrast between this and the cost effective ground cover of grass and gravel driveway.

There were certain practical problems to overcome – shade and damp down the side of the house made it important to use a grass seed suitable to the conditions rather than turf. Existing drainage presented a challenge to achieving additional steps to the house and a good base to the driveway.

At the end of the project the client’s expectations had been exceeded, we had achieved all their desires and within time and cost.