If when you draw up your plan for your garden you are still a little doubtful as to how some of these main features will look, it is a good idea to take photographs of the site from several angles. You can then sketch the major features you are proposing–like any garden decorations, specimen trees, raised beds, or walls and screens–onto the photos. This will help you to see what your plan will look like in a third dimension. Next you can try out your plan on the actual site, using buckets as containers and pieces of wood and any other props you can find.
As a general rule, when it comes to patio and garden decor, you should always keep the center of a newly designed patio open, otherwise the immediate outlook from the house will seem cluttered. Bear in mind too, if you are planning raised flowerbeds or putting plants against a house wall where there has never been a bed before, that you must not go above the damp course line or you may be plagued with moisture problems on the inside of the house. You will find the damp course if you look for a layer of felt or other material inserted between courses of bricks near the ground on newer houses or, on older properties, such features as a series of holes bored into the wall.
Where no damp course is evident, follow the general guide that the soil level should be a good 6 inches below the floor level inside the house. If you do have a dampness problem you must move the flowerbed away from the wall, put your plants in free-standing containers, or install some sort of permanent waterproof sheeting between the soil and brickwork.
Another simple idea is to use growing bags. You can disguise these useful but unattractive plastic containers in various ways; for example, with the use of garden mirrors or a row of pot grown herbs.
Related posts:
No comments yet.