New Build Garden in Driffield

A blank canvas!

I was contacted by a customer who had moved into a newly built home on the outskirts of Driffield. The rear garden space was quite large but basically just a patch of earth with a downwards slope to the rear. The customer wanted to have a contemporary style garden with patios, a lawned area a feature raised planter and other planting spaces. The space was surrounded on three sides with basic fencing which would also be replaced with a modern horizontal slatted finish.

The Design

The customers had a ‘wish list’ of features that needed to be in the garden including a pergola, a shed and a water feature. I worked together with the customers on the layout and content of the garden and the plans were created. The plans called for the garden to be levelled to the rear requiring a small retaining wall to be built to retain the earth. New fencing would be installed and a shaped lawn with planting areas surrounding it along with a feature raised planted that would be covered in bespoke cladding making it unique. The initial small patio was removed and replaced by a larger patio and path area in a sleek large porcelain tile, leading from in front of the house to a corner patio with an arc-shaped pergola. The customers wanted to have a large shed installed so space was created for this and a plan for lighting in the garden was also added.

As always I modelled the plans using SketchUp Pro and Layout software giving accurate construction plans for the landscaping team to work from.

Work Gets Underway

A great local landscaper Jon Richardson (J. Richardson Building & Landscapes) agreed to give a quote for the design which was accepted and work began on site. Jon and his team set to work clearing and levelling the site. The rear retaining wall was constructed and the new fencing installed to start the modern transformation of the space. Paving and path areas were completed along with the arc-shaped pergola construction. A concrete base was laid for the shed with a gravel path approach.

The Feature Planter

I decided to create some separation between the paved porcelain patio area in front of the house and the lush lawn by using a physical boundary in the shape of a raised block planter. This large structure runs all the way along the patio and around the edge leading to the corner patio. As the construction pictures show, the planter was a block construct but instead of render we decided to go with a bespoke cladding design which made the planter truly unique and a real focal point in the garden.

The Completed Garden

Once all the hard landscaping was complete, the garden was turfed and the installation of the water feature and the planting was completed by the customer according to the plan we agreed during the design process. What a transformation from that muddy patch of earth a few months previous!