It’s all about perspective
You may have heard the saying “you can always tell a cobbler by his shoes”, meaning that Cobblers spend so much time repairing other people’s shoes they never get to do their own.
The same is true about my garden at home, being a garden designer is very much the same, when it is your passion to create wonderful gardens for others you seldom think about your own outdoor space. We have an overall design for our garden and whenever there is space time available we are slowly but surely constructing the garden. By first creating a design of the overall garden means that we have a plan to work to, and whether it takes 3 months or several years we know that the overall garden will work when we reach the end.
However recently we had some visitors stay with us and it was lovely to hear them say “Wow your garden is amazing”, “It’s got a lake and everything”. (Now to put the lake comment into perspective we have a small pond with a waterfall.)
We were lucky to have purchased our home over twenty-five years ago when there were still properties with good sized back gardens, ours is approximately 45metres x 12 metres so long and narrow. When we walk out into the garden in an evening we feel that we have still a lot left to do, however from this other person’s perspective we had done so much and had already created a garden. It’s all about perspective.
Despite what people say size really doesn’t matter
Our friends were from London were space is a premium therefore for them any outdoor space, even a small yard is a luxury and something that they would love to have.
With new properties, today in the East Midlands more attention is spent on the house by developers that little thought is given to the importance of having a garden. We hear many a time from customers who have purchased a new house that they have a postage stamp of a garden which they believe not much can be done with.
Again, it’s all about perspective, for a small garden it’s all about making the maximum use of the space available to meet your lifestyle. There are various tricks that us garden designers have up our sleeves to make the area feel more spacious, inviting and interesting.
Who says small gardens can’t be amazing spaces?
In the example below this was a small garden in Nottingham which the customer wanted to use as an outdoor entertaining area and a place to relax, using a contemporary design. Additionally, the customer required a place to store his bikes and other such items but did not want an ugly shed eating up the valuable space he had.
As you can see from the initial photo the garden there was limited space available, and there was a drop in the garden. The previous owners had just turned the area into one large stepped patio with a single raised planting bed.
A rendered wall was created to make a feature of the step down in the garden and also helped to create a division to the top area.
Paving, hardwood decking and artificial grass helped to create distinctive areas and add interest to the garden. But what about the shed… well this is where the magic touch of the garden designer comes into play. Can you see it?
The same materials that were used to construct the screen along the boundary were also used to build the shed, therefore making appear to blend in.
So, the next time you step out into your outdoor space and are unhappy with the sight that greets you think about employing a professional garden designer who will bring a fresh perspective to garden.
