Carla Jones, one of the Garden Designers in our talented Design & Landscaping team at Clifton Nurseries, shares some design tips for a contemporary town garden based on one of her current projects .........
The Client's Brief
The client absolutely loves her new contemporary house that she built a few years ago, but the outdoor space is in desperate need of an uplift to reflect and complement the house. The client contacted us at Clifton Nurseries asking us to design and transform the garden into a fantastic open space for entertaining, a space to add interest and complement the contemporary house design. As the client is a very busy person working in the city without time to maintain the garden on a regular basis, the requirement was for the garden to be as low maintenance as possible with minimal planting, composite decking and artificial lawn.
The Design
The final design has hit the brief in all the right places. The use of squares and rectangles overlapping each other enhances the use of space in a contemporary fashion using straight lines and high end materials to divide the garden into different useable zones. The new trending wave in Garden Design views outdoor space as almost another home outdoors, with a living room, dining room and a snug. With this in mind we have created the perfect entertaining space that can also be a place that works for every day and any time.
The garden is divided into three zones, all linked together with decking walkways within the design, so creating a journey and a sense of unity throughout the garden.
The first zone is high quality artificial lawn where the client can bathe in a sun lounger on a warm summer’s day, enjoying her green lawn without the need for watering, feeding and mowing!
Helpful tip: Building the decking off the existing paving can reduce the cost of building the garden significantly
- Wayne Trundle, Contract Manager
The second zone is defined by the existing patio with a cosy outdoor sofa where the client can sit back and relax with friends. This lounge zone is refined by the use of composite decking to create interest and a design flare.
The third zone becomes the main dining area for socialising, including a large stainless steel dining table and sleek GRP planters surrounded by pleached Carpinus trees.
3D visuals are a useful garden design tool for understanding the shapes and spaces within the design, both for the garden designer working on the project and particularly for illustrating ideas to the client.
The Planting
The planting will become a key element in this design to further accentuate the contemporary theme by using a muted colour pallete, limited plant range, and an array of texture. The key plants within the design for this contemporary space are Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’, Euphorbia mellifera, Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’ and Olive trees. These will then be under planted with Ferns, Alchemilla mollis, and Ophiopogon nigrescens. As part of Clifton Nurseries, we are lucky enough to have our very own nursery supplying us with all our plants, meaning that we are able to guarantee the highest quality plants for our clients and their new gardens.
Now that the Garden Design phase is nearly complete - we're looking forward to the next phase. As an integrated Design & Landscaping team we are excited to be building this garden early next year so look out for photos of the completed project in our case studies in the near year!
If you would like to discuss any aspect of designing and / or building your own garden or outdoor space, contact us now.