Garden Design

This was a DIY garden project for my mother. She had a garden that was getting too much for her. The plants were large and difficult to maintain. It took a lot of reassuring her that it would be possible as she was very nervous that any change could not work. The project took a long time for the plants had taken a deep hold. I cannot count the number of trips we had to make to get rid of plants, roots, and soil.

There are around eight tonnes of gravel, and the grass bordered by brickwork. The lattice behind the tree was custom-built, as were a few other items. The panels, posts, and trellises tops are stock items. The two bushes and the Cherry tree were the only three plants to remain, although the bushes were replanted but had to be stored while the work was undertaken. My mother helped as much as she could, but I did the majority of the work. I did get a good tan for a while, but it was painful work for both of us.

This picture shows how it was Originally. As you can see, the plants took root wherever they wanted. My mother used every available inch of soil, and that in itself was part of the problem. Slightly in the shot, to the left was a collection of bushes that grew to around eight feet in height and six feet in depth. Trimming was an annual thing and was dangerous at best. Mum liked it because of the privacy, but I referred to them as monster plants as they were just gargantuan and grew out of control very easily.

Today my mother has more plant pots than plants, but she is of that ilk, and I am not. The fencing and swing have since been replaced professionally but follows the same lines. The garden seems to be in the shade a lot, and wood does tend to rot in such conditions when the weather is damp.

This picture shows the left part of the garden after completion. The swing sits in an area that was before occupied by a large bush. I built a short curved fence behind the swing, which covers the three-bin storage and compost area. My cousin laid the stones to that area as he is a professional landscaper and knew how to do it.

This picture also shows the brickwork which my mother had always wanted. We decided that this would be best as a lawn border solution. In general, grass borders were a little flimsy, cheap, or impracticable. The width of the brick allows mowing of the lawn to the edge and also looks reasonably good.

There is another piece of custom latticework as there was a gap in the measurements. Most of the fences I put up had never been there. I liked the lattice as they visually broke up what otherwise would be a bland fence.

This picture shows a planter I built as my mother wanted an area to grow food and her soil is very good for planting. I designed it in an angular fashion to follow the lines of the fence.

The cat loved the gravel as the sun would make it warm, and she could sunbathe in private.

Also shown is a close up of the brickwork as we had decided to follow the natural curve of the lawn's shape. We accented it slightly to look visually interesting and it was relatively easy as we didn't need to cut any bricks, just using a slight arch adding less cement at the bottom of the brick rather than the top. They have survived well and was definitely worth the effort.