Lockdown Garden Plans
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Despite the layer of dirt covering the entire kitchen (and then some) reminding me on a daily basis, I still can’t quite believe that after twelve years in this house, we are actually doing what I’ve always longed to do to our garden, which is to flatten it and start again.
Harsh? Maybe, but there was literally nothing about the old garden design that I liked. So rather than making do for another twelve years, or however long we stay in this house, the decision was made to make some major changes.
It may not be the dream scenario as it was purely prompted by the arrival of Covid-19, and the realisation that we would be spending a lot of time at home and unlikely to be going on a holiday this year. But we figured it would be pretty great to redesign the garden, make the most of the space and make it somewhere we want to hang out as a family, and hopefully be able to entertain in it too. Although I will admit that last bit seems a bit weird / anxiety inducing at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll come around to the idea soon enough, and with the new design, there is certainly enough space for safe social distancing.
Neither Ed or I are gardeners - Ed has always done the minimum to keep it vaguely under control, and a whole lot more than I ever have. And honestly, despite loving the idea of having a lovely garden, I have no gardening skills whatsoever, and no particular inclination to learn. But never say never, right?
There was nothing about the old design that drew me into the garden. No where to sit except right in the middle which felt pretty exposed as we are surrounded by one neighbour on the left, five on the right, then the old school school building over the back. The bonus of that being the beautiful old brick wall that separates us. There was a huge garden bed less than two metres from the back door, with a tiny narrow path to the right which mentally and physically blocked the rest of the garden, then a big raised section at the back with a tonne of overgrown ivy, and a giant yukka that was growing rapidly and really taking over the back area. It just wasn’t a space I ever felt compelled to be in. And the kids felt the same.
Initially the plan was to just do the back section - dig out the raised bed against the back brick wall to level it and maybe put more grass in so we could use more of the garden. I’m not really sure how or when, but the plan somehow changed from that into doing the entire garden, but I am most definitely not complaining!
Digging started on the 25th of April, which frankly seems a lifetime ago at this point, and although we haven’t quite turned the corner to victory just yet, it is looking likely that the next two weeks will see some positive progress. We are at the rather unfortunate stage where the ‘before’ looks rather appealing, even though I know it wasn’t in real life, but we will end up with something much better. And yes, I actually would love to pay someone to come and just finish it all off beautifully for us but we just don’t have the funds. Landscape gardening is EXPENSIVE!
I should point out that Ed has been working full time throughout lockdown which is why this first phase has taken quite a while. He has dedicated as much time as possible outside of work to what has so far been relentless back-breaking digging and removal of soil and overgrown ivy, and as there is no back or side access, all waste has to come through the house - so far, that has been probably ten tonnes or more of soil, and another one or two of Ivy. Thankfully, he will be able to use most of the rubble left from removal of the garden beds in the patio bases, and he has managed to recycle a few hundred bricks which he’s giving to a landscape gardener pal in return for a bit of consultation. A lot of the unwanted soil has gone to other people’s gardens too.
I thought perhaps finally sharing my plans at this point might be the mental boost I need, to remind myself of the end goal. So enough waffling, here’s the plan!
Right off the kitchen french doors will be a patio that extends just under three and a half metres out, and full width, continuing around down the side of the kitchen to the dining room doors.
There will be a step up to turfed section which will be just over eight metres long, with planting along two thirds of the sides, including, hopefully, two large olive trees compliments of some of our lovely neighbours. I say hopefully, as I worry about them surviving being transplanted, so fingers crossed and I’ll let you know when to pray for the olive trees.
Then there will be a second patio of a similar size to the first at the back in front of the glorious brick wall that separates us from the magnificent school building behind us. The school building dates to 1881, so presumably that wall is also a hundred and thirty nine years old. I tell you, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. We are so lucky to have that as our view from the kitchen!
A black metal lean-to pergola will sit atop that back patio which is the second most exciting thing about this project. It’s going to make that area feel like a lovely open air room, and be less exposed to the surrounding neighbours. It will be a focal point that will compliment, but not obstruct the brick wall. I honestly can not wait.
So, what’s the most exciting part of this project then? Well that would be the utterly divine terrazzo tiles from Otto Tiles that have actually been delivered this week having been made in Turkey. They have surpassed my always rather high expectations, and I’m obsessed with them. They’re called Pavement (part of their exterior terrazzo collection), though far more glam than any pavement I’ve ever walked on, and are two shades of grey. The paler grey is indented and slightly rougher, the darker one is slightly polished. Did I mention that they’re stunning? They feel so good underfoot and I can’t stop looking at them. When they’re installed, they’ll look like they’re laid in a diamond pattern due to the design even though they’ll be laid straight, and the concentric circles are going to look amazing!
Best of all, they got an instant and very enthusiastic YES from Ed when I showed him. Up until I found these he was very indifferent to every single thing I showed him.
For me, these are the perfect bridge as they’re ‘not boring’ (his stipulation), yet they won’t date immediately (my stipulation. Okay, one of my many stipulations).
They feel modern yet timeless. In fact, they have helped shape my design to a large extent - I’m a firm believer that when you find a major piece in a design puzzle that you love, it’s so easy to just flow from there, and these were it for our garden design.
The next phase as Ed has now finished the vast majority of digging and clearing, is the electrician coming to run cables for lighting and an outdoor socket. This makes me giddy with excitement as we’ve never had any lighting at all in the garden, and the idea of seeing it lit up at night fills me with joy.
While Ed is working on the patios, I will be restoring and painting the doors and windows that have been dreadfully neglected on the exterior side for the last twelve years. The woodwork is all going dark as is the already painted lower section of the house, though the exact colours are still to be decided.
I will also be slowly sourcing garden furniture, though I want to be careful not to rush these decisions, and make sure that whatever sofa and dining table we go for, will work on any of the three sections to make the space truly versatile, so I may well wait until the patios are finished to make the final decisions on those pieces. That said, I have my heart set on a few smaller pieces that I’m desperate to pull the trigger on, but probably should wait until I have somewhere to put them!
As far as planting goes, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to put where - ferns, grasses and jasmine in the side return section where a garden bed will run along the wall stretching the length of the house. Some climbers - possibly more jasmine, and some rosemary along the back wall where there will be another garden bed, then the olive trees, lavender and more rosemary and some buxus along the sides of the grass section. Maybe some big pots on the front patio with a lemon tree and a bay tree. I’m going to keep the planting pretty simple and low maintenance, though having stripped everything out, we definitely need to bring back some greenery as soon as possible!
Anyway, I have waffled on in this post WAY more than intended. Make sure you follow along with the sometimes painful progress on my instagram stories, and I will of course be sharing the finished reveal with you here too.
But before I go, I wanted to share a few things I’ve discovered whilst making garden design decisions:
My Pinterest garden board tells me that I love the look of a rustic garden with gravel, but my head tells me that I hate the reality of gravel - I don’t want to walk on it barefoot (we used to have it right outside the back doors and I hated it), and I know from experience that it doesn’t stay looking nice without lots of maintenance. We are not good at maintenance, so gravel is out of the question. Looks pretty though!
I’m obsessed with being barefoot outside. I don’t want to put shoes on to go into the garden. I’m sure I’m not alone here, but I don’t think this is necessarily the norm either. In fact I’m going to do an instagram poll out of curiosity once I post this! Is it a learned thing? Upbringing? I never had shoes on as a kid. I remember skipping along the streets barefoot as a kid and constantly stubbing my toes. And now it think nothing of running down the road with no shoes to drop something to a neighbour or to post a letter across the road. I have definitely been given some strange looks though, but I’ve never really thought about it til now.
I love a traditional cottage garden, but I also love the look of a pristine manicured garden! I also love a modern garden to an extent, as long as it’s not too clinical and generic. I am hoping I can borrow elements from all three and make it look cohesive and work for us!
I love real grass, but the reality of real grass in a relatively small London garden is means it’s more likely to be a patchy muddy mess for 10 months of the year, and I want to want to sit on it! We also don’t want to have to store a lawn mower (or buy one), so we will be sticking with artificial turf, which is actually looks amazingly real these days.
I love rustic wooden garden furniture (again my garden board tells me this is a fact!), but again I don’t really love the reality of it. I don’t want to sit on it or touch it. Splinters, soggy wood… am I a bit OCD with these things I wonder?
I think it’s wise to have a really good think about what you like the look of in a photograph, versus how that makes you feel in real life and be guided by it for your overall design of any space. I’m really trying to make decisions with my heart and my head, and get this right the first time.
This project will not only transform the garden, utilising the space but will really change the way we live in the warmer months. I’ve pictured my morning cup of tea on the patio for years - it’s finally about to become a reality, and I cannot wait!