Garden Design Dublin

New Years Resolutions for the Garden

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Starting off a New Year, let’s not forget the garden. Here are a few New Year’s Resolutions you will want to keep:

Use a watering can not a hose

1) Water Conservation – It has been in the news so much that we should not forget about water use in the garden. There are many actions we can take which can be divided into ‘collecting water’ and ‘using water’ in the garden. All of us should invest in a water butt or collection system of some sort then we won’t feel so guilty about using it in the garden when we are eventually charged for it. Secondly, we should ensure that our gardens do not need to be watered regularly by planting plants which are not overly thirsty and can withstand dry conditions once established. We can also lock moisture into the ground by adding a layer of organic material to the surface of the soil such as a manure or bark mulch.

Add a Bird Feeding House to your Garden

2) Welcome Wildlife into the Garden – We can encourage wildlife into the garden by providing food, water and shleter for birds, attracting bees and butterflies by planting plants with flowers and berries which they like and by using chemicals judicioulsy.

3) Grow Your Own – You don’t need a big garden to grow a few herbs or vegtables. You can even grow some in pots just outside your back door. Herbs grow great in pots as do some cut and come again salad leaves. Choose those vegtables that you eat most and which are easy to grow and give it a go!

Lettuce are easy to grow

4) Composting– It is amazing how much organic waste is created in our kitchens and which ends up in

Collect your Kitchen Waste for Composting

landfill. This is valuable material and if composted right can be added to the soil in your garden instead of shop brought fertilisers. There are a number of commercial models on the market to make this easier for you. Do a bit of research and choose one which suits you. The plants will love you for it!

5) Enjoy your Garden – Probably the most important resolution. Sit back in your garden and enjoy the fruits of your labour with family and friends. There is no point putting all that work in if you don’t enjoy it afterwards.

Enjoy Your Garden

Lets hope for a good summer!

Contemporary Garden Design for a Family

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Built In BBQ

When you think of Contemporary Garden Design you don’t tend to think of family gardens. The two don’t seem to go hand in hand in ones mind, as the word Contemporary conjures up clean images without the clutter that comes with a family. The dictionary definition of the word Contemporary is ‘belonging to or occuring in the present’ but with respect to garden design it has come to mean something slightly more than that….modern, minimilistic, clean lines, lack of clutter, focus on hard landscaping etc.

When thinking of a family garden design we need to consider both the needs of the parents and the children. The children need space to play and muck about. It is also good to provide places where they can become involved in gardening itself including growing some vegtables and fruit,

New Raised Patio with Built In BBQ

places which they can make there own. The parents want an attractive garden with areas for socialising including BBQing and eating outside, however, they also want to be able to see and supervise the children at the same time.

We completed a Garden Design recently for a garden in Naas just outside Dublin. The existing garden design needed an upgrage as it

BBQ deck before new Garden Design

was worn and tired and used a lot of decking and sleepers for edging. The clients wanted a more contemporary garden for their family to enjoy. We designed a contemporary garden which used modern clean materials incoporating a raised patio including an integrated BBQ plus a sunken garden with built in seating for that cup of coffee or glass of wine while enjoying the evening sun. We also

Sunken Patio with Built in Seating

upgraded the rear boundary of the garden by finishing it with cedar laths which provides a wonderful backdrop to the built in BBQ and the garden in general.

Border edged with Granite with Bright Flowers near Children’s Vegtable and Fruit Garden

A large lawn was maintained for the children to play on, with an area set aside especially for them to grow fruit and vegtables. We also lowered the trampoline which was previously very visible within the garden, so that it was flush with the grass.

Corner of Garden before new Garden Design

The planting on the side of the garden near the children’s area was also very upbeat with lots of brightly coloured flowers which children enjoy. The children of this family were primary school age so changes in level were not an issue in this case.

Planting in a family garden has to be considered carefully if there are young children as some plants can have poisinous berries or other plant parts and others have thorns.

Childrens’ Vegtable and Fruit Garden

Autumn arrived by the time we got an opportunity to take some photo’s with the leaves blowing about which were impossible to keep out of the photo’s. This garden will come into its own next spring and summer when the new planting will grow to compliment the hard landscaping and the family will come outside to enjoy the garden as it should be.

Be Bold with Colour in Garden Design

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Bold Colour in Garden Design

Colour is a very important tool in Garden Design and not just in the colour palette we use in the planting scheme. Bold colours can be used in the hard landscaping too, on walls, on fences and sheds and by adding bold garden ancillaries. It can be hard to take that leap of faith when deciding to use bold colours in Garden Design but when they work taking the chance can be worth it. And, if by chance, they don’t work, then don’t worry as they can be re-painted. Colour is very often a personal choice and what one person likes another might not. The garden shown here was obvioulsy desinged with female tastes in mind and may not suit the men. But it

Purple & Pink Walls in a Garden Design

is bold, it is bright and it is wonderful! The contrast of the two colours works brilliantly and the colours of the plants have been planted in blocks to match the design, have also been choosen to compliment the wall colours when in flower. However, if after a while one gets tired of the colour, the design would work equally well with any number of complimentary or contrasting colours including neutral shades.

The design of this garden was based on interlocking planting beds of bright pink and blue complimented by areas of sandstone paving and decorative gravel. A built in sunken seating area

Built in Seating area with outdoor gas fire pit

was created near to the house where the evening sun shines surrounding an outdoor gas fire to make the garden inviting even on cooler evenings.

This is a great design of a small rectangular garden which makes brilliant use of the available space. It is a small garden of only 5.4m wide by 11m long but the design actually makes the garden look significantly larger. Another significant feature of this garden is that there is no lawn. Hard landscaping is used through out the garden but by varying the materials and softening the design with planting and bold colours a lawn is definetly not missed. See below some photos of the garden before the re-design to see the amazing difference.

Garden Before Re-Design

Garden Design with a Touch of Colour!

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We are sometimes afraid to use colour in our garden and as a result stick with neutral shades and variations of wood stains on fences and other wooden features such as furniture. Adding a colour to a garden can be invigorating and can lift your garden design out of the ordinary. The range of paint colours available now for use outdoors on both masonary and wood is much more extensive than previously, with shades across a rainbow of colours available off the shelf. So, be bold and have a go!

This Garden Design was completed for a Garden in Charlesland, near Greystones, just outside Dublin. The fences and sheds in this garden were painted blue to brighten up the garden and provide an attractive backdrop to the new Garden Design. The planting is only just completed but once it matures the backdrop of blue will set off the plants beautifully. The photo to the right shows the garden before the implementation of the new garden design. The garden was of average size and rectangular in shape but with the exception of an existing paved area just adjacent to the house and a few narrow beds there was only a lawn and shed.

The Clients wished to keep thier existing paving and the challenge in this garden was to integrate a new garden design into this existing paving.

End corner of Garden Before new Garden Design

This was achieved by interlocking a circle of buff coloured granite cobbles with the existing paving and using the same cobbles to edge the existing paving adjacent to the lawn. For those of you who have noted the Turtle in the photo above, this semi circle has been designed to hold a Chiminee which has not been purchased yet!

New Border to right of Garden with Semi Circular Bed

A matching half circle bed, edged in cobbles was also set against the opposite fence to balance the design. The garden was then encircled by curved borders edged in the same granite cobble which pulls the whole design together. A path of cobbles hugs the border alongide the left side of the garden to provide access to the shed which was also painted blue! Bamboo’s were planted on each side of the shed to soft the colour and integrate the shed into the garden.

This garden was not overlooked which is a great advantage and there was an existing high concrete block wall to the rear of the garden. Concrete block walls can cause a problem in gardens and normally do not provide a good back drop to a new Garden Design. So, to offset the blue of the fences and shed this wall was painted slate grey, which then provided a nice backdrop to the raised sleeper bed in this corner. As this corner was shady the planting at the end of the garden incoporated a lots of Ferns, Japanese Maples, Astilbles, Heuchera’s and Hosta’s.

Nearer the house we used Lavender, Erysium, Agapanthus, Sedum, Alstromeria and Penstemon’s, to name but a few.

Border to right of Garden before New Garden Design

Watch out for my next post where we get even bolder with colour!

New Years Resolutions for the Garden

Contemporary Garden Design for a Family

Be Bold with Colour in Garden Design

Garden Design with a Touch of Colour!

Claire Hawker

Garden Design Dublin

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