A blank canvas
I was asked to redesign this small sloping front garden in Bradford. The customer wanted an easily maintained accessible space ideally on two levels with some raised beds and colourful low maintenance planting. Initially the garden was full of self seeded foxgloves, a few overgrown shrubs and a very well established large lavender plant. It had some old bark chippings laid on top of landscape fabric that needed replacing.
The concept
The customer had already decided that she wanted a two-tiered garden separated by a retaining wall with some raised beds. After some discussion I persuaded her to have curved beds instead of the conventional square or rectangular ones. This would give her garden true individuality. We opted for a sleeper retaining wall instead of stone to match the beds that would need to be built, and a stepping stone path from back to front.
The detail
As I needed to engage a contractor to build the retaining sleeper wall and curved beds additional drawings were completed to set out the details required – the gradient of the garden, the specification for the two levels and the size and dimensions of the four sleeper beds.
Clearing the site
The heavy work of hand clearing the site began. All the shrubs and plants were removed along with the old bark and landscape fabric. The position and shape of the raised beds was then marked out to aid the local builder who had agreed to construct them.
Construction of the raised beds
Our local builder Ian did a fantastic job in making the raised beds by painstakingly setting the wood lengths vertically into concrete to create the shape. He also laid sleepers to create the two levels and constructed a small step from the sleeper also to make it easier to access both levels.
Completing the rest of the garden
Once completed I was able to line the beds with a membrane to protect the wood and fill with topsoil, compost and conditioner. I was also able to lay a weed membrane throughout the rest of the garden and lay fresh bark chippings and the stepping stone path. Additional stepping stones were placed to enable the customer to access the beds to tend the planting when necessary.
The finished product
Finally the beds were planted up with a mixture of evergreen shrubs and spring flowering bulbs. As the site is in partial shade throughout the day specimens were chosen to give year round interest but also to suit the aspect and conditions of the garden. Some of the planting choices were Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ (Daphne), Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ (Japanese skimmia), Fatsia japonica (Japanese aralia), Viburnum davidii (Viburnum), Vinca minor (Lesser periwinkle), Carex grasses & Hebes. Each bed also had a new Lavandula augustifolia ‘Hidcote’(Lavender) and a mixture of Narcissus (Daffodils), Galanthus nivalis (Snowdrops) & Hyacinthoides non-scripta (English bluebells) to welcome the spring. The shrubs will grow and spread year on year to fill the beds and provide a wonderful year round show.
