Ings Hall
Our client was looking to transform a small, wet garden into a tranquil space that she could enjoy spending time in with her two dogs. A busy schedule precluded much time for maintenance, so the garden needed to be easy to manage.
A high water table meant that the garden was often waterlogged, and without a slope to the ground there was nowhere for water to drain. This issue needed to be addressed.
The original garden consisted mainly of lawn, with a few large shrubs around the edge of the plot. The client asked us to create a low maintenance, contemporary, but gentle design that would break up the space and give interest throughout the year.
The lawn was proving a problem area, owing to the water logging and to the overzealous attentions of the two large resident dogs who are enthusiastic diggers.
The small garden gives onto a wild, wetland area with woodland beyond. The client was not keen on this outlook and requested that a screen be created.
The client also requested a garden room where she could relax and enjoy the garden space in any weather.
The Solution
The first and most important phase of the work was to raise the level of the garden in order that the garden was slightly higher than the water table. This ground was then filled with hard core and grit sand to aid drainage throughout the site. Steel edging surrounds the lawn, beds and pathways, helping to hold in the raised levels as well as giving the garden a contemporary feel.
In answer to the issues of the difficult lawn, it was decided that artificial grass would be the best option on this occasion. Whilst we would not ordinarily recommend the use of artificial grass, in this case it was going to be the ideal solution to the water logging and dog issues. Underneath the artificial lawn we have laid a sub-base of hardcore, which is then topped with a screeding layer, and a surround of concrete to which the lawn is affixed.
A laurel hedge surrounds the garden, offering privacy and screening. Tall frames of Trachelospurmum jasminoides adorn one side of the site offering up a heavenly scent during the summer months. Three tall cherry trees line up at the bottom end of the garden and form an eye-catching part of the screen, producing a delicate display of white blossom throughout the months of spring.
In phase two of the project, which will be carried out in 2023, the garden room will be built, and a wooden arbour will be positioned over the pathway that leads down to the new building.
Herbaceous planting will also form part of the second phase of the project, and will be modern, low maintenance, and suitable for a slightly wetter environment. Pennisetum, Salvia, Agapanthus, Jasmine and Miscanthus will bring variety of texture and height as well as year round interest. A couple of the existing shrubs have been moved and used within the new design, their height and maturity adding scale and continuity to the garden.
Stay tuned for updates on progress in the coming year….
The Outcome
The small space has been transformed from a difficult patch of muddy lawn, into a tidy, tranquil hideaway. Pathways and borders break up the regularity of the garden, bringing interest and variety to the site. The gently waving grasses and subtle colour palette will bring relaxation and calm to the garden.
The once scruffy lawn is now consistently smart, and takes much less time to care for than previously. Neatly trimmed by the steel edging, the lawn, paths and planting are separated tidily. The untidy scrubland beyond the garden is hidden by hedging, trees and, in due course, a billowing border of herbaceous planting.
Despite the scale of the garden, the positioning of paths, shrubs and structures alludes to further delights hidden behind and beyond; not all glimpsed at once.
“Thank you Lakeland Gardens for my beautiful new garden. I can't wait for the next stage of the project next year!”
Alison C.
