A 'new-build' garden near Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Moving in to a brand new home is exciting. There’s an opportunity to put our own stamp on the decoration and layout of all of the rooms and, if we are involved at an early enough stage, it is often possible to work with the house builder to choose the fixtures and fittings for the kitchen and bathrooms. When it comes to the garden, however, most new home buyers are left to their own devices. Yes, if we are lucky, the developer might install a modest area of paving or possibly even some lawn, but these are often bland, unimaginative and certainly not tailored to our own specific requirements.
Listening to our customers and understanding their specific requirements
Our customers for this project found themselves in this very situation. Downsizing from an established family home, they knew that their new garden needed to be designed to suit their own tastes and needs. The house developer had already provided an area of natural stone paving, but the rest of the garden was a blank canvas.
Connecting indoors and outdoors, somewhere to relax, and keep it low-maintenance
We began by asking the customer how they planned to use their outdoor space, and about which elements of a garden were important to them. They were clear that they wanted their indoor and outdoor space to feel connected, with attractive views from the key rooms of the house. A spacious outdoor seating and entertaining area was essential, as was a water feature and effective garden lighting, but they didn’t need a lawn and the planting had to be easy to maintain. Making the most of the field views to the side of the garden was also important, as was a sense of symmetry. Finally, they also wanted to find a space for two large benches they had brought from their previous garden.
Reutilising the existing paving
Our design solution focuses on paths and views. The existing sandstone paving was lifted and reutilised to create to a generous seating area and two paths which run through the garden from east to west. Intersecting paths connect the property’s two sets of bi-fold doors to the garden, leading out to a pair of focal point water bowls and on to our customer’s favourite benches. Three large raised beds (expertly clad in pewter-coloured porcelain paving) provide height and structure, as does the beautiful cedar ‘privacy’ screen which wraps around the main seating area.
Restrained planting and fully programmable lighting
Spacious planting areas take ‘centre stage’ in this new garden and are purposely designed to provide extended periods of colour, texture and fragrance whilst also attracting lots of bees and butterflies. Lavender and Verbena dominate the two beds closest to the seating area, but the third planting area boasts a more varied palette. Additional low-maintenance planting, including a few carefully-selected trees, is provided next to the seating area and along the rear boundary.
The garden lighting design is fully programmable and features separate zones (or channels) to enable our customer to select just the right amount of lighting for each occasion. Discreet spotlights provide uplighting for the trees and some of the planting, whilst flexible LED strips mounted within the raised beds create a lovely effect.
A beautiful garden quickly becomes established
The garden was constructed shortly after our customers moved in to their new home, and it instantly became a much-loved space for relaxing and entertaining. The generous planting areas provided almost immediate impact and the garden quickly became a haven for bees, butterflies and a huge variety of other beneficial insects and pollinators. We’ve loved our return visits to see the planting develop and to hear about how much our lovely customers are enjoying their new garden. They also kindly posted a wonderful Google review of their experience of commissioning Tythorne Garden Design:
“Ian is a great guy - very interested in his clients and their specific needs. He has a winning formula that steps you through a discovery process and lands exactly the design to suit your tastes and desired lifestyle. Ian goes above and beyond to facilitate solutions, whilst leaving the client wide open to making choices in the execute phase. Very professional, great high quality designs - exactly what we wanted. Worth every penny - would strongly recommend. Thank you Ian!!!!”
