Before

ANNIE'S MASTER PLAN

ANNIE'S GARDEN

Annie’s brief was ‘a green garden’.

She wanted something simple, contemporary and low maintenance, with clipped green hedges. It needed to be a family space for children to play in, incorporating the existing concrete shed, existing tree house and large trampoline, plus extra storage for bikes.

The Challenge

The garden was due some love and care. Much of it was unkempt and dated, including an ugly concrete block shed; dirty concrete pavers on the patio; tired, brown-painted fences and two old unloved apple trees with weeds growing in their shade. As well as these challenges, there was a tree house and trampoline to consider!

The Solution

Firstly the old brown fences were replaced with new hand-built feather edge fences. Lateral trellis was added to the top to raise the total boundary height to 2.4m.

Inside the fence I added green layers and textures using a double hedge, with taller yew bushes at the back and a lower box plants in front. This supplied a soft green cushion around the lower space. I also placed Silver Birch trees at intervals along the boundary. Their lovely white stems to stand out amidst the green hedges and their canopies to blur the view of the street beyond, enclosing the garden in soft greenness above the fence line.

Next to be tackled were the existing apple trees. One was removed and the other pruned to improve it's shape and size. Under the canopy of the tree, I laid fake grass to suppress the weeds and to look good all year round. 

Lateral trellis was used to screen this end of the garden, hiding the unsightly concrete shed and a second smaller shed added (to provide the extra bike storage). A swing seat was enticingly visible through the wide central opening in the screen. 

The patio was extended to allow a more comfortable dining area and re-paved with black slate to match Annie’s interior flooring. Large, black cube planters were placed either side of the new patio and planted with bamboo to create privacy and a lush green back drop. More cube pots were dotted along the edge of the patio and planted with Box balls

Finally a new lawn was laid providing that final green icing to the cake.

Irrigation drip feeds were installed to the planters and soaker hoses along the hedges to keep all the plants well watered.

Up-lighters were installed to highlight the apple tree, bamboos and silver birches at night - and a sensor security light added to the shed area.

Several years later, with the addition of a family dog and the trampoline no longer in use, the trampoline area was dismantled and fake grass installed to replace the main lawn.

Annie and her family still love their garden. My team and I visit 3-4 times a year to carry out routine maintenance and keep it looking good.