From the drawing board

I can’t believe how quickly my front garden is taking shape and by tomorrow the hard landscaping should be finished ready for planting.  So far I have shown you the progress over the first three days so this will bring you up to date with what it looked like when the guys left site on Friday evening.

On Thursday they put the beading on the walls ready for rendering and the sub-base also arrived…

The white membrane you can see was laid out before the sub-base was laid to prevent it from mixing with the soil – it’s easier to see in the picture below…

Ben and Robbie worked a long day on Thursday to get the base laid and compacted – they said it would be horrible to arrive on Friday morning with a huge pile of stuff to move with a shovel!  So when they left at almost 7pm it looked like this…

Things really started to move forward on Friday – with all garden projects, while the preparation work is being carried out it doesn’t really feel as though the garden is moving anywhere, it gets worse before it looks better.

One of the first jobs of the day was to finish the beading on the walls on which the scratch coat was applied to most of them in the afternoon. They also started to lay the setts and, other than the threshold to the driveway, these are almost finished.

It still looks a bit like a building site, but by the end of today the setts should be finished and the 2nd coat of render will be applied to the walls near the tree.

The setts detail for the pathway off the driveway looks gorgeous already – Once they’ve been pointed and the gravel and plants are in this will look amazing.

I’m looking forward to seeing the driveway finished too – it will be so much more useable than it was before and most certainly much more attractive – look forward to sharing the pictures on Wednesday when, other than the planting, it should be finished!

Whilst I have been out and about at various meetings this week, progress has continued in my front garden.  So far we have around 20 mins of time-lapsed video so I think it will need some serious editing before I post it here for you to see!  Days 2 and 3 were predominantly focussed on the walls and excavation of soil to prepare for the sub-base which is being installed as I write. Read more

The construction phase of my own front garden started yesterday and as I don’t often get to see the daily progress on a project, I thought it would be a nice idea to share each stage with you.  It’s only a small space really, but there was quite a bit of clearance to do and already we have filled one skip and we have arranged for a replacement tomorrow. Read more

I had a couple of emails from the clients I worked with in Leeds last week with the first pictures of their new garden in its creation.  It’s been a little while since I went up to visit them for one of my Designer In Your Home sessions, but work has finally started and the landscaper and digger moved in last Monday to get cracking.  What I love about this project is that I was able to help my client to see the potential of their garden and they have taken everything on board and are really excited about working with their landscaper to bring the garden to life. Read more

It’s been a couple months since the hard landscaping elements have been finished for my project in Sutton but with spring now upon us, I have been thinking about the planting phase of the project which is likely to happen in early April. Read more

February was a really exciting month for me mostly because I finally got to visit my client in France.  As well as the trip down to La Rochelle we decided to visit our family house in Brittany which we share with my partner’s brother and sister.  Of course we chose the coldest week to be there – the temperature in La Rochelle was -10, even the sea in the harbour was frozen, something I’ve never seen before! Read more

I have been chipping away at “my client” over the past couple of years and I am so excited that finally we are going to do something with our very uninspiring front garden.  It’s really quite small, but we have space for one small car and there is scope to introduce a more attractive area outside the lounge window.  As work will commence at some point in March, I thought you might like to see the plans.  This is how it looks now… Read more

So what is it that we garden designers do all day?  There are many schools of thought about what we do and often they include something about being outside a lot.  The reality of my life as a garden designer is that I am only “outside” when I am either on site making a planned visit during the construction phase of the project or when I am planting up a garden after the hard landscaping has been finished. Read more

I’m not sure if I’ve told you already, but I am currently working with a client near La Rochelle in France.  As you can imagine I am VERY excited about this project, not only because it’s in France and I get to spend some time there, but also because my client’s plans are big enough to be featured on Grand Designs! Read more

On Friday I met with a local Interior Designer, who I work with quite regularly, to present the concept design idea for the new garage area at their home.  You may remember that I redesigned the couryard area outside their new office a while back.  The hard landscaped elements for the courtyard are finished and we will be ready to plant in the Spring.  Due to the expansion of their business, they will now be moving the office away from their home and this has created an opportunity to create a new garage area. Read more