Garden design part 3

So, last month we made a basic plan, dividing the garden into 4 zones.

This month, we’ll add more detail to the entrance and entertaining zones.

I’m looking at these two areas together, because they flow into one another, and due to the relative locations of the gate and the house, you naturally move through both these areas every day.

My first job is to design a better pathway to connect the house and the garden gate. This image taken from halfway between the gate and the cottage, looking downhill, gives you an idea of the slope I’m working with. The stone slabs you can see are incredibly slippery when it’s wet, so I’m going to make some changes to this path. However, because the site slopes so much, it will either need to include steps, or a gradual level change, or a bit of both.

I’m going to design a path which zig-zags across the slope to allow for a shallower gradient with fewer steps. This will also draw your eye to different parts of the garden as you go around each bend.

Here are some images which inspired me. I want to make sure that I don’t impeded the natural drainage of the site, so I will use porous materials for my path – slate chips, small stones and bark chippings.

I like to draw my ideas on paper first, then go out with my hosepipe. I use a hosepipe because it’s flexible, naturally forms curves, and it’s easy to see! However, once I’ve made a rough outline with my hosepipe, I will mark the ground with string and pegs, then try using the “path” for a few days to see if it’s practical. It might have several tweaks before I’m sure it’s exactly how I want it to be.

Here is my simple overhead plan and a second plan which tries to show the change in levels. As you can see, I’m not much of an artist!

My entertaining space is going to be a level patio area, just outside the door, with space for seating and a view down the garden to the woodland below. I will create a stone wall to hold the terrace in place, which will also double up as the limit of a flower border.

As I have a drainpipe running down the corner of the house, I can divert some water from it into a water butt which will be useful for watering the garden. Putting some plants in pots adds height to a display and also allows me to move them around to easily change the display whenever I feel like it.

I made the seating from reclaimed wood and used gravel on the patio area as it allows water to seep through it into the ground.

So, this month we’ve looked at the hard landscaping, next time we will look at the plants!