This young family are looking for a simple design that can be installed really quickly. Their new home has been painstakingly renovated to fit the needs of the whole family and the garden is the last piece of the puzzle. The town centre terraced home has a small north facing garden which has been previously terraced but is looking tired and is dangerous for the two mini humans that live there. The build needs to be achievable by a competent DIY-er and deliverable on a limited budget.
The garden is North facing and receives afternoon sun along only one side. There is an attractive stone wall along the rear of the garden, The existing close-boarded fences are in reasonable condition and can be retained. The retaining wall and hard landscaping is in poor repair with loose slabs and unfinished edges.
Existing Garden
The concept proposal for this family garden on a budget keeps and adapts the split level, facing up the retaining wall with timber filled gabions. The narrow steps are removed and replaced with generous sleeper steps more suitable for tiny legs. Features have been included for all the family with the result being a low maintenance space that can be enlivened with plants yet retains the openness that ensures easy supervision of young explorers. Designing this garden has been so much fun. There are lots of ways you can make a garden fun for a growing family. This design has elements such as the blackboard, play kitchen, woodchip pit and slide that are prescriptively for children. It also has structures like the pergola and swing frame that can become adopted for den making, hanging home made installations, found treasures and magical lights. Multiple planters and beds protected with timber edging protect plants from stray footballs but also mean that many more plants can be bought into the garden. This softens what is a very hard space currently lacking in texture and interest.
Concept Design
