Key stats: An Essex garden design and build to completely revamp and tired garden. Sitting at 144m2 (12x12m), this garden took 14 working days to build. Located in Clacton, Essex, this garden was built and planted in October/ November 2022.
Ideas for gardens summary: This garden is a ’no lawn’ scheme for a small garden, with a dry garden at its centre.
The design brief: Deliver a modern garden full of interest and colour with multiple places to sit. This small sized garden needed an overhaul with contemporary garden design, perfect hard landscaping and fresh planting. The key goal was to chase sunlight around the Essex garden, from morning to evening, for the family to have multiple seating spots. The existing lawn was to be removed for a ‘no lawn’ scheme with a dry garden at its centre to view from multiple angles. There needed to be a focus on wildlife - birds, pollinators and hedgehogs - and plenty of trees and shrubs around the perimeter for them to hide in. Levels needed to be varied and in a mixture of materials. There needed to be an evening patio with lounging for 6 and a pergola for the family, a morning terrace with cafe table and chairs, and a functional patio for the washing line. The fencing also needed replacing. Pathways needed to be constructed out of block edging with self-binding gravel infill.
The garden before work started: Tired and old, this landscape needed to be completely removed. There was a dilapidated garden shed and fencing that was rotten. The lawn was baked dry and brown by our increasingly dry summers. There were very few shrubs or plants in the borders as it was mainly laid to lawn. Viewpoints from the house were ugly. There was an old driveway and buried swimming pool under the lawn which needed to be worked around. Shade from a very large and mature pair of oak trees, on the other side of the road, meant half the garden had semi-shade and the other half full sun. Soil was loam with clay patches and one section of deep clay. The garden sloped towards one corner slightly.
Hard landscaping: The garden levels were built to be varied, with a simple single sleeper step up or raised bed. Pathways were lined in Bradstone rumbled blocks and curb stones with self-binding gravel inlay so landscaping planting could spill over into them. The square shaped garden design meant patio's were laid in Bradstone Indian sandstone and the largest dining patio had a hand built and painted pergola. New close board fencing was installed and painted black to compliment the whitewashed 1920's Essex property and bring other existing fence lines into cohesion. There is also a small detailed footpath area in lattice work slabs with pebble inlay.
Soft landscaping: The planting design was multi-layered with outer planted borders lined with trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials and ferns in a mixture of evergreen and deciduous. The central dry garden was planted with an arbutus, herbaceous perennials and bulbs. The planting colour theme was purple-pink with hints of lime green. Mushroom compost was dug in throughout, new topsoil added where needed, and wood chip mulch finished the planted borders. The dry garden had locally sourced pea shingle. The planting added the ‘wow’ factor to the hard landscaping and gives the client plenty to look at. The central dry garden was placed on top of the driveway and swimming pool so they did not need removing.
Features: A recycled corten water bowl added for birds, hedgehog house, wood piles for insects and a bee hotel made from existing wood on site.
Client quote: “From the initial consultation through to the final touches after completion, Zoe has provided an excellent service: reliable, prompt, efficient, professional, knowledgable and with a fantastic work ethic. She listened to our ideas and used her experience to create us exactly what we wanted - and more.We now have a beautiful space filled with textures, colours, light and shade, which we can’t wait to use.” Mark Harris, client.
Want to find more ideas for your garden? Contact Zoe to arrange your free initial garden consultation conversation on 07860283761.
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