Party Garden, Horkstow, The Low Wolds Villages, North Lincolnshire

This large-sized family garden in Horkstow, North Lincolnshire was designed during the Winter of 2013.

Upon my initial visit, the garden was mainly laid to lawn with pea-gravel terraces/paths and had extensive existing brick built raised-beds, steps and retaining walls.

The Design Brief was very interesting and quite unusual. A busy professional gentleman wanted a garden to entertain friends which had the "wow" factor, looked  good all-year-round and was relatively low-maintenance despite it's large size.

The main design-feature was to be an green-oak framed veranda which was partly covered to provide protection from the elements. Under this veranda was to be a large paved terrace. This patio is to  constructed from either dark coloured slate or granite and included bands lighter slate or granite to visually break the area up and match the floor tiling pattern in the adjacent kitchen. At the intersection of these bands, ipad controlled multi-coloured feature paving lights are to be installed.

The existing brick structures are to be retained, paved with matching stone an include a computer controlled water-feature with illuminated jets of water. Black-stained timber retaining piles are to be installed on the sloping backs and planted up with sun-loving Mediterranean style planting.

Throughout the garden, faux lead planters are to be installed with evergreen topiary planting.

An existing rough area of land at the front of the site is to be set-aside for an orchard, "home-grown" produce and wild-flower growing. This is to feature several raised timber planters and slatted timber "privacy screening" to screen this area from the rest of the garden/road.

The front elevation landscaping is currently pretty un-inspiring and this area is to be improved by installing tasteful, Marshalls "Coach House" paving, faux lead planters and evergreen planting. Also, a low retaining wall is to be constructed with stone capping and feature pier caps.

This design has just recently been completed and has been passed on for pricing by suitable local contractors. It is envisioned that implementation of this design will be "phased" starting on-site in 2014.

Location: Horkstow, North Lincolnshire, UK.

Client: Private.

Garden Designer: David Beasley.

Low-maintenance Contemporary Garden, Wolfreton Garth, Kirkella, East Yorkshire.

This medium-sized garden in Kirkella, East Yorkshire was designed and constructed during the Summer of 2013.

Upon my initial visit, the garden was mainly laid to lawn with an existing large Indian Sandstone whose colour did not compliment the property and the owner didn't like.

The Design Brief was fairly straight-forward. A busy, retired professional lady wanted a garden that was, on the whole, relatively low-maintenance. However, she also wanted some bare earth planting areas where she "could do her own thing" and "potter about" rather than having all the planting areas "membraned" and "mulched".

The main design-feature was to be a large terrace. This patio was constructed from grey/black granite pavers (to harmonize with the property's buff brick colour) and included bands of Silver/Grey granite planks to visually break the area up.

The terrace was large enough to accommodate a large dining area whilst allowing people to stand/circulate.

The majority of the garden's area was laid to fine Nordic granite chippings over a weed-supressing membrane.

To visually break up the vast expanses of paving/gravel, rectangular-shaped planting beds were created. Also 3 no. 18" high, black-stained timber planters were created to add a little height and create focal-points/somewhere to leisurely sit.

The new planting was a mixture of ever-green shrubs and "see-through", wiry herbaceous perennials to provide all-year-round interest. Several white-stemmed Birch Trees were also planted to add height. These also will stand out fantastically against the existing back-drop of mature trees and shrubs in this and neighboring gardens.

The Garden Design work for this scheme took around 1 weeks from start-to-finish. The Garden Construction work for this scheme took around 3 weeks to complete (including planting) and cost circa. £10K in total (Summer 2013 prices).

Location: Kirkella, East Yorkshire, UK.

Client: Private.

Garden Designer: David Beasley.

Landscape Contractor: Ashwood Services https://www.facebook.com/AshwoodServices?fref=ts

Planting: David Beasley and Ashwood Services