From the drawing board: Concept sketches for a front garden in Reading

I have recently been working with a client in Reading to help them plan their new front garden.  They plan to build the garden themselves and had lots of ideas, but just wanted some help to bring them together into a coherent plan that they can work with.

They want to create a striking garden with a contemporary edge, one that makes them smile when they come home and stands out, in a good way of course!

They liked the idea of using gravel as this is reasonably inexpensive and also permeable which means that they don’t need to apply for planning permission before the work is done.

As their neighbour has right of access down the side of the house to his back garden, we wanted to make a clear route at the same time as clearly marking the boundaries of their property.

The front of the house faces south and this means it gets full sun throughout most of the day.  There are plans in place to convert the garage into utility and office space so the garage door will go and be replaced with a window.

The existing bench will therefore be positioned under the window so it was important to retain some privacy, as they like to sit there when it’s warm.

Part of the planning agreement for the garage conversion requires them to provide an additional parking space so that the new driveway will easily accommodate 2 cars.

The contemporary style trellis will lift the space and make it more uniformed and the planters will provide a physical barrier without blocking out the light.  Planting will be simple and quite minimalist using tall calamagrostis to provide a screen without the dense feeling a hedge gives.

My clients are now in the process of choosing materials, but they’re keen to use a sawn stone and Horcott aggregate because it’s so stable and looks attractive.  I’m looking forward to seeing it come to life over the next few months.