Whether you have a large family with children or you live by yourself, I’m pretty certain that most of you want to be able to dine and entertain outside during the summer.  Now that our minds are on the sunshine and warmth, I thought it might be helpful to give you a few design tips to consider if you’re trying to create the perfect terrace.

1.  Where to position your terrace or patio is the first thing to consider as the area outside your back door might not be the most appropriate place.  A south-facing terrace is going to be in full sun at lunchtime so you need to decide whether or not you can bear to be in the sunshine when you’re eating.  Sure you can use an umbrella, but this will only take away the direct sun, it won’t stop the heat.  Dappled shade can of course be created with careful planting, but if you prefer a shady space for lunch, it might be more appropriate to locate the terrace in a different part of the garden, perhaps one that is shaded at lunchtime, but allows you to enjoy the warmth of the evening sun in the height of summer.

2.  The next consideration is the size of the terrace.  Think about how many people you want to seat around your table.  If you want to seat 6, for example, a table measuring 1.8m x 1m will require a 5m x 4m terrace to ensure that you can walk around the table when people are sitting there.  The general rule is that you allow 1.5m around each side of the table.

3.  If you are planning your terrace by the house make sure you allow provision, where possible, for planting beds against the house wall.  If hard landscaping sit directly next to a wall it’s very harsh, sending your eye up the house wall and out of the space.  Planing will not only soften the overall look, but it will also keep the eye in the space.  The same applies to areas where lawn meets terrace – a planting bed between the two will give the garden more dimension and define each area as separate spaces.

4.  Think about the materials you want to use and choose them carefully.  Get samples and bring them home so that you can look at them against the house wall.  Be aware that the colour of stone changes when it’s wet so be sure you like it come rain or shine.

5.  If you want to put pots and other things on the terrace, a BBQ for example, make sure you consider this within the design.  If they don’t have a designated space they’ll just feel like clutter!

If you’re not quite ready to wheel in the designer but would like to make some improvements to your garden, here are some tips to help you along your way… Read more

Yesterday evening I presented a concept design and sketches to a client in Sunbury.  They asked me in to look at their front garden because they couldn’t bear to look at it any more and they also wanted to be able accommodate both their cars.  This is how it looks now… Read more

Yesterday I went to visit Vann Garden near Godalming in Surrey which was open under the National Garden Scheme (NGS).  The house is just gorgeous, steeped in history and parts of it date back to the 16th Century. Read more

April is the season to start thinking about planting summer bulbs in the garden.  Most species are tender to the frost, so unless you allocate time in the autumn to protect them from the cold there’s a very high probability that they will not survive the winter. Read more

I spent the afternoon in the garden yesterday, as the weather was so gorgeous, and I decided it was time to give my bamboo a bit of a haircut!  I planted it 3 years ago and now that it has had time to properly establish and fill the hole that was left when an old fir tree came down, I wanted to expose the lower part of the stems to show off their gorgeous colour. Read more

Last weekend I went to Norfolk for my cousin’s wedding and on Sunday we decided to visit Pensthorpe Nature Reserve where the BBC programme Springwatch is filmed.  The main focus at this time of year is the lakes and the water birds that reside there, but throughout the year it is possible to get close to all forms of wildlife that frequent the riverbanks, meadows, woodland, farmland and gardens as well. Read more

Now that the planting season is emerging, the hardy perennials are miraculously poking their shoots through the soil ready for another spectacular display throughout the Summer.  Despite the winter weather, and let’s face it over the past 2 years we’ve had our fair share to deal with, it is the reliability of such perennials that really adds dimension to the garden in the summer. Read more

This is the time of year when I tell my clients and friends that they should be topping up the mulch in their garden.  One particular friend, when I told her this, said “I can’t bear the look (and smell!) of bark chips” and this got me thinking that perhaps I should enlighten you as to why you should mulch and what’s the best thing to use. Read more

I was very fortunate yesterday afternoon to be able to enjoy the fabulous sunshine whilst helping a design colleague of mine to survey a garden in Guildford.  This got me thinking about the design process and how clients are often quite unaware when I first meet them that a survey of the existing garden will be required before I can produce any design work.  The reality is that I am simply unable to do my job without one, so I thought it would be helpful to explain why. Read more