It is sometimes easy to forget the importance of a front garden. It’s the first impression a visitor might get of what lies beyond, and its where you will, more than likely, have to store your bikes and bins… and even a car!
This front garden in Richmond was just a large parking space before its new owners carried out a major house renovation project. The façade was transformed, leaving this classic contemporary look.
The image above gives a good indication as to how we chose to interoperate the classic contemporary vibe into the design. When it came to the choice of the landscaping materials, we used modern porcelain pavers for the path and steps, but for the car parking area we used the more traditional gravel. The gravel was laid using a retaining grid system to stop any spillage onto the street. It also is totally porous, allowing for all rainfall to go directly into the ground.
For the planting, we created several beds to soften the space, all of which were edged with traditional low evergreen hedging to add year-round structure. The front boundary and side were planted with a high evergreen hedge, which created instant privacy, and a large feature pot planted with a cloud-pruned Beech tree provides an architectural focal point as you approach the front door.
Both the images above show how the use of small trees in a front garden can make a real impact. The view from the client’s home office window through the cloud-pruned Beech leads the eye to the front bed, where a multi-stemmed Silver Birch gives further height and structure. This bed is planted with a variety of perennials and evergreen grasses.
This substantial bin store blends more into the background, partly due to the mellow wood finish that was chosen. This unit contains both bin and bike storage, as well as space for recycling materials.
To enhance still further the impressive contemporary front door, we created two wide steps with bullnose detail and extended the top step to the left to allow easy access to the parcel box.
Are you thinking of transforming your front garden? Why not get in touch?
Kommentare