before

Diana's garden

Di lives in a small basement flat and wanted to extend her living space by making more use of her back garden. It needed to become a contemporary, practical space, yet also incorporate a pretty garden, in which she could relax, unwind and entertain friends.

The Challenge

Di’s garden and budget were small, however, she not only wanted a place in which to relax and entertain, but also needed storage for bikes and garden tools, a veg patch and privacy from overlooking neighbours. The garden is also shared with the ground floor flat, so she needed to allow them access to their (rear) section, as well allowing herself access to a back gate.  The way to out the the garden from Di's basement was via a set of hazardously steep steps. In one corner of the garden was an enormous Eucalyptus tree trunk, recently pruned almost to a stump. Di was not sure if she wanted this monster in her garden.

The Solution

The first thing to sort out was the big difference in levels between the flat and garden. To reduce this would allow the space between indoors and outdoors to become more connected, allowing a view out into he garden from inside the flat.  After some exploratory work with a landscaper, I was able to re-design the top three steps to be shallower and wider, and the whole garden was lowered. Now the route from the flat into the garden is inviting.

To create more privacy, a small deck area with a minimal pergola and side screen was built. The deck conceals a slab of concrete that would otherwise have needed to be removed. Bamboo and climbers are planted in pots on the deck to create an attractive screen of natural foliage.

Indian sandstone was used to pave the garden. The planting spaces also act as run off areas for rain as there is only a small ground drain at the bottom of the steps.

Di’s Eucalyptus tree was retained as a feature and the base of it’s trunk was turned into a seating area to hide any roots exposed from the lowered ground level.

A raised bed, constructed of oak sleepers provides Di with her veg patch and serves to conceal the base of the wall, also exposed by the ground level reduction; the sleepers provide nifty additional seating.

“The garden is such a good space now" - Di