A busy (& wet!) October
It’s been a busy few weeks for ALDA in a month which saw record beating rainfall – the team pulled out all the stops to complete two garden design build projects – a front garden in Bracknell and a back garden in Chieveley.
A front garden in Bracknell
Clever use of design and materials create a distinctive look to our clients’ front garden. Katie’s angular design involves a stepping stone effect with a series of raised planter beds running in parallel from the pavement up to the front of the house, decreasing in size as they go. These beds constructed using softwood treated sleepers will provide plenty of space for our clients’ plants and shrubs with the extra addition of two square ground level beds to the left of the planters.
The resin bond in ‘Farmhouse Gold’ laid around the beds provides an attractive and practical solution for a ground surface covering with its excellent durability and drainage properties.
A small landing of limestone paving has been laid across the bay window frontage of the house and as a pathway running along the side of the house joining up with the matching paving in the back garden.
A back garden in Chieveley
This construction project involved implementing many landscaping features: – new limestone paving areas, shutter screen fences, a series of raised beds, a newly turfed lawn and a pond in the right corner of the garden. Use the sliders below to see the transformation.
New limestone paving areas
The main patio has been laid using ’Antique Yellow’ limestone pavers which contrast beautifully with our clients’ old brick wall and the green of the new lawn. The curved edges of the patio in this part of the garden add interest and complement the circular line of the pond (far left corner – more photos below) where the two edges meet.
Raised bed courtyard
The enclosed area of raised sleeper beds has a courtyard feel and provides an attractive focal feature in the garden. Katie’s design of two circles of brick pavers one inside the other is simple but effective, and a surface topping of South Oxfordshire stone finishes the look here.
Continuing the circular theme…
The added detail of a circle of brick pavers within the side limestone pathway again adds interest and helps create an unusual shaped bed along the fence.
Shutter screens to hide the unsightly!
A shutter screen fence has been used in two areas of this garden as an attractive way to conceal an old shed moved from elsewhere in the garden (shown directly above) and also an oil tank (shown further up) – a good idea to steal for any garden as a quick fix to a problem area.
Circular patio and wildlife pond
Wildlife ponds are becoming something of a speciality for ALDA! This new pond sits snugly in to the curved line of the existing brick wall. It has been built using large flat surfaced stones and has areas of shingle beach to allow easy access for wildlife. A wide flat stone along the back edge of the pond provides the perfect surface for a gentle waterfall.
This is now a garden that works not only on a practical level – with newly defined spaces – but also from a visual perspective. Katie’s design has resulted in a garden with more depth and interest, making the plot appear much larger than before.