Garden design, garden planning, garden layout, planting plants and planting schemes

Garden Fencing

Posted on July 15th, 2010

Starting Point: tired, overgrown planting and an unappealling blockwall

After clearing area, secure Timber posts to Wall

Secure Shiplap Boards to Posts

Landscaping works completed

New Fencing incorporated a practical but discreet Bin Storage area

Garden Fencing – more privacy please

Posted on April 11th, 2010

More and more people are unhappy with their garden boundaries. Most rely on planting to provide screening and privacy, however dependent on which plants are used, many demand regular maintenance and therein is a core problem. Unless you have endless time and energy, controlling vigorous plants (trees, shrubs and climbers) is an endless chore. A smart alternative is to install a custom built fence to provide a clean and very effective screen. Now that the boundary is neatly defined, this allows you to continue to focus on less onerous tasks of re-modelling the ornamental plantings, which is next stage in this particular garden. 

Note this type of finish is practically seamless and as the boards used are pressure treated ensuring a virtual maintenance free long term solution.

Building a new Garden

Posted on September 25th, 2009

The current fine weather is an ideal time to achieve good progress with site works, and this is evident with a number of project aspects, ie, fencing including painting is now completed and the ground is being slowly cleared of any residual debris from earlier excavations and trenching.  

Meanwhile the Retaining Sandstone wall for the Raised Vegetable garden area is progressing well and begining to take shape, whilst the main patio area which will be extend over a number of levels and featuring Indian Sandstone (Ravena) is begining to evolve and to take shape.

Landscape Gardening

Posted on September 23rd, 2009

As the photos will hopefully illustrate, the garden fencing is all but completed and the fence painting is advancing very well, helped in no small way by the kind weather.

Meanwhile we also commenced excavating for the patio and pathway areas as well trenching for the new water main supply (black pipe- heavy duty hydrodare) to the house. Once pipe has been secured in position two additional supplies (one to Vegetable Garden area and one also to Front Garden) will also be installed.  

The commencement of paving (natural stone) works will represent a significant step and as the project progresses from this point, significant visual clues will become apparent and glimpses of the new garden layout will begin to emerge.

Garden Fencing – bounded by definition

Posted on September 16th, 2009

Installation of the Garden Fencing is at an advanced stage and work on final side is now well underway whilst painting of other sides has commenced. Although it was possible to retain a uniform level on each of two sides, we had to introduce some stepping of levels of the final side largely influenced by the level changes on a neighbouring fence. The stepping is very discreet and is only noticeable in a limited area. By the time planting is completed and after some maturing of the plants, I would be confident that the stepping will be virtually unnoticeable.

The painting and the colour choice adds some drama to the new fencing and at this early stage of the project, the prospects of a ‘new’ garden is begining to emerge.

Garden Fencing Tips

Posted on September 10th, 2009

Well work is proceeding with the installation of the perimeter fencing and here is a short guide with some tips and photos to getting it right first time: 

1. set the alignment along the horizontal
2. calculate the spacings between posts, ie center to centre (in this instance 1.5m, but this will depend on fencing style etc and can range from 1.2m-1.8m)
3. mark ground for post pits and excavate. In this instance because of the height dimensions (2.0m – 2.5m) the posts are quite substantial 3600 x 150×75mm and the pits are a minimum of 1000mm deep and 400×400mm
4. posts are set in concrete and secured in situ for at least 48 hours before screw fixing of boards can commence (any earlier attempts to fix boards could undermine the stability of the concrete post footings, which may crack or worse if post is not 100% secure could become weak and undermine the overall stability of the completed fence)
5. plan all works well in advance and avoid any attempts to take shortcuts and the results will be a secure, pleasing and long lasting garden fencing that will play a key role within the overall garden layout and enhance the garden design.

Garden Fencing – custom built

Posted on September 5th, 2009

Well a short reprieve from recent wet spells allowed us to commence a new phase (Stage 4), i.e.,  the installation of the Garden Fencing. After several weeks of Site clearance and initial Groundworks, which was often dogged by and made much more challenging by prolonged periods of rain, it was a welcomed development to experience firsthand what is perhaps the early signs of the emerging new landscaping plan. Sometimes garden fencing is overlooked, which is a pity really, but understandable because how often do we see poorly installed garden fencing? More often it is considered an eyesore and great efforts are made to conceal unwanted sights in a garden.

However if designed and installed with care and attention to the overall garden scheme, garden fencing fulfills very important roles in a garden, first and foremost, it must secure and clearly define the site boundaries. Perhaps an important but frequently overlooked role is the important contribution which garden fencing can offer to the overall garden aesthetics. Garden fencing has an instant impact on layout and site security.

In my opinion when it come sto Garden Fencing, the premium choice is a custom built solution, in which the functional and aesthetic requirements can be addressed from the outset of the project. Perhaps one if not the best solution is  Timber cladding or Shiplap Board (sometimes referred to as ‘Weathersheet boarding’), not only because of its hardwearing, long lasting and hugely impressive qualities as a finish, but its clean defined lines offer a very impressive and discreet backdrop to compliment the planting and overall site aesthetics.

In our current project the emergence of the new fencing was an exciting moment as one might imagine from the photos. Later in the project we will return to Garden fencing when we can demonstrate how colour can also be used to great effect to further enhance the impressive qualities of custom built garden fencing, making it an ideal solution to meet security as well aesthetic requirements.

Landscaping the garden (Stage 3)

Posted on September 4th, 2009

Well over the last week and more the weather has been very wet and unkind to us which has caused some disruption and delay in making progress and on occasions forcing a complete cessation to all site works and activities.

Heavy rain showers have created large areas with surface water

At times Site conditions are simply WET, WET, WET!!

In between showery conditions, every opportunity to make progress is exploited: excavate pits (1000mm deep) for fencing posts, completion of foundation for retaining wall for Raised Vegetable garden, construction of new front wall at side of garage and installation of fencing posts (set at 1500mm centres and 2000mm high) commences:

Excavating Pits for Fencing Posts

Foundation for Retaining Wall of Raised Vegetable Garden.

Progress on construction of Front Wall at Garage is advancing

Installation of Fencing Posts in concrete pits commences

Timber supports are used to retain Posts in position until concrete bases set

As Fencing Posts set, the Weather Sheeting/Cladding is stacked and ready

The poor weather has made it very difficult to commence any significant work on tackling the underlining problems of a lot of water in certain areas of the garden. At least two sources have been identified but a big improvement in weather will be required before remedial works commence.

Preliminary excavations have identified the problem areas, and resolution will involve a significant installation of land drains as well as replacement of old ceramic/clay underground pipework. Exarcebated by the major rain showers over the past week, there has been a significant build up of water in certain areas:

Water at entrance to Garage

Water trickles out near side of Garage

..but after heavy showers can quickly become a pond!

Positioned as it is, at the lower end of a generally elevated area, one would expect to find areas of dampness due to underground seepage, surface run-off etc, however we were surprised to see how conditions can quickly change (after rain showers). To resolve areas of dampness, we will install a comprehensive series of land drains.  Preliminary works included excavating test trenches typically 2 000mm deep and 10 000mm long and 900mm wide:

Test Trench # 1 clearly showing low levels of water seeping in

Heavy rains causes water levels in Test Trench # 1 to increase

On the Fence about Garden Fencing?

Posted on August 18th, 2009

Many Homeowners are increasingly more aware of the importance of the background look and are looking much more critically at the garden fencing. For a much more clean, consistent and sophisticated look, many are choosing to install timber cladding to conceal unsightly and uneven flaws in existing garden walls/boundary fencing. Although some prefer a natural wood finish, more are taking the opportunity to introduce colour (light and dark tones) the latter is particularly effective for a touch of drama as well displaying plant forms and colour to great effect:

Soft look but durable finish

For deeper drama, keep it dark

For a brighter more delightful look, keep it bright

For a neutral but useful look, try rich green

Either way, timber wall cladding is beautiful and versatile solution and being pressure treated is an ideal long term finish to add traditional or contemporary atmosphere in a more unified way to your garden. 

Landscaping with Ravena Sandstone paving

Posted on August 6th, 2009

A recent garden landscaping project completed in Blackrock, Dublin incorporated an interesting combination of features including Extended Patio areas, sweeping Sandstone Garden pathway, Sandstone Raised Bed which amongst other items included a Mill Wheel water feature, some very attractive Olive Standards, a new  fence constructed from pressure treated Timber cladding and discreet lighting using the latest high output low energy LED lighting.

The photos were taken during wet conditions which perhaps is useful to see how beautifully vivid and varied the colours of natural Sandstone can be. In this project the Sandstone paving (and wall capping) is Ravena, an increasingly popular alternative choice to the more widely used Sandstone Mint. Ravena appeals to those who prefer to have a more muted tones in dry conditions to the ubiquitous yellow tones typical of Sandstone Mint. Another feature of Ravena is the pink/wine colourways which are much more evident during wet conditions. On closer examination some hints of the yellow tones are also visible.

The Raised Planted Bed was constructed using White Sandstone and the wall capping is of course Ravena sandstone. The layout was designed to be essentially one level thus maximising the use of the various areas and also  providing some additional flexibility to the use of the recessed paved area. This approach also influenced the layout of the Raised bed which was essentially linear but incorporated a full circle to circumvent the Mill Wheel water feature which the clients were keen to incorporate in the new scheme. Looking at the photos the colour of the Mill Wheel is remarkably similar to the Ravena Sandstone.

I would also like to point out the results of the skill and workmanship in several aspects of the paved areas including the linear and curve cutting and installation. Grass margins were re-defined to conform with the new levels set by the paving hence the extended soil areas adjoining the old lawn and new paved sections.

Frequently we receive feedback on how useful and informative our SUNBLOG is to readers seeking design and layout ideas.  I also receive requests from readers to show more ‘Before’ as well as ‘After’ photos from our project portfolio. So here are a few ‘Before’ photos from this particular project.