Garden re-design - Do's and Don'ts

We finished renovating and extending our house a while back and are now getting around to getting the back garden done. I did most of the work on the house but don't have time to do much of the work on the garden so we'll get someone in to do the whole lot.

[broken link removed]were recommended to me and seemed good when he came for initial briefing. He's coming back with a computer-designed plan on Monday based on rough briefing we gave him and his ideas. Any experiences with them or recommendations for others are much appreciated.

It's a small garden at the back of a 3-bed end of terrace which has been extended to the side. Roughly 10m x 5m with a shed in back left corner (I'll post more details later). Our current plan is to have a small deck outside patio doors on left side leading up to the shed, with patio in the far right corner (as the garden is NNW facing and that's where the sun catches in evening) with some brick raised flower beds in a few places and fencing covering the walls. We also like the idea of putting in scene lighting in a few places and having a water feature in somewhere.

It's too small to have grass, though I wonder is there artificial grass that might be interesting? Our main concern is we don't want it to look like a plain deck running into patio so an ideas on how to mix up the surfaces would be great.

I think we know broadly what we want, but I reckon people with experiences in this area might know a few Do's and Don'ts that we could benefit from, so I'd appreciate any suggestions, warnings, or ideas. Thanks.

It's usually better to get a number of quotes, not just for cost comparison but also alternative design ideas.

Given the information outlined, I would question :

• viability of using deck at the main access/exit point to house. Decks perform very poorly in north facing gardens and otherwise demand regular maintenance, ultimately providing poor performance and poor value for money.
• brick constructed raised beds are an expensive means of constructing raised beds, perhaps a brick capping on rendered blockwork would be better.
• if you are installing Patio, check stone specification, sizing and how Manhole/AJ/Gulleys will be tackled. You will require access but a competent landscaper would use recess frames to conceal these necessary evils. How will joints be finished and what base is proposed for patio? I've seen awful finishes
• if using lighting what type eg spot, uplighting, downlighting etc etc, loading and how many switch wires. Avoid 'all on - all off'. Use Armoured cabling and good qulaity Junction Boxes, all flex from JB's to fittings should be ducted (fixed/flexible). Where possible use CFL's to limit energy usage. LED's are largely ineffective
• Water feature details also important, again key item here is pump and ideally the pump should be a 'run dry' type, ie capable of operating also in dry conditions
• you should be really consider using an acredited landscaper ie member of ALCI (see www.alci.ie) for details.

Could go on , but really the decking in your site is a poor start and go look at previous examples?

Would you consider letting any of the sunny bits over to some plants or veg, even some herbs?

Some great feedback there, thanks a lot. Should have mentioned that low regular maintenance is a priority (e.g. I don't mind repainting and re-treating a deck each year, but don't want to have to pay too close attention to flowers, plants etc.).

• Deck: should have mentioned that the most used access is a utility room door at the other end of the garden. Patio doors and deck will only be used in summer time. I like the idea of a small deck in this corner and it will cost €800 so it's not prohibitive .
• Brick flower beds: good point as they are quite expensive. Are you suggesting having bricks perpendicular to the blocks and then render the blocks? Imagine that wouldn't work out that much cheaper?
• Patio: it will be sandstone paving and he will recess the traps etc and use a hardcore and gravel/sand base. I'd appreciate any tips on what to ask for in terms of joint finishing.
• Lighting: great points on lighting. It will mainly be uplighting and it will be a friend who is an electrician doing this bit but I'll mention all this to him.
• Water feature: good to know to look for a run dry water pump. Any ideas on where to look for a good water feature - thinking B&Q, Woodies and Newlands Garden Center at the moment.

Image1 shows the blueprint of the design he came back with and the change we would make to put in a circle patio pattern with water feature in the middle.

Image5 and Image6 show the garden from the left and right respectively. We will paint the wall instead of fence it to reduce costs but also as we're not sure we'd like the look of all that timber in a small garden. It's a private access lane to the back so we need to put a door in for access.

Would love to hear more great feedback now that we have a proposed design (which we quite like overall). Thanks.

Not a green space left, or any considerable planting area.

Decking takes a serious amount of maintenance which equals time, that I dont have a lot of! But I did get 40 sq metres of the stuff. Big mistake with hindsight!

Thanks folks. lightswitch - how often do you have to do maintenance on your decking? We'll only have around 8 sq metres so it shouldn't be that big a deal.

We specified in the remit no grass to be included as it's a small garden so we could only have a small patch so it wouldn't be worth it for the maintenance, but we might reconsider. The raised flower beds will be about 5 metres in total so will have a lot of planting space. We have budgeted €800 for flowers/plants so will have plenty of potted plants around the place. We're toying with the idea of adding another flower bed in front of the kitchen window (though not against the house) or as an island in the middle of the gravelled area, though we're not sure if these would stick out as obstacles and so should we go with clusters of potted plants in those areas. All ideas welcome!

scraper is spot on with advice, I would also advise you not to put in decking, besides being high on maintenance its dangerous, inadequate light,heat on the north facing garden causes a slippery moss layer on the deck boards which can cause you to slip and fall.

Sandstone should be layed on plastering sand/cement mix, 6 to 1 is the spec, (on a whacked hardcore base) as gravel wont bond properly with slab.

Rompox or pavefast are by far the beat method of sealing the top of the slabs, its basically a sand you brush between the joints that turns into concrete in a couple of days wihout staining the slab

Hi there - just looking for some advice from anyone in the know. I live in a mid terraced house (no side entrance) and have a prounced slope upwards in my back garden. The garden is south facing, narrow and long (15' x 45' approx) but the slope is the main issue. It's approx 6' incline from start to finish.

When I first moved in I dug in at the nearest and furthest parts of the garden. Outside the back door I put in a patio, and at the very back dug in and put in a raised flower bed. I used sleepers in to keep some of the slope as "banks" and flower beds. But the rest of the garden I kept as grass sloping upwards - until this summer. I want to level it off so drew up some plans involving sleepers etc and started digging it out! The only problem is that it's taking me ages!!! With the bad weather we had up until recently, I'm only now doing it (usually myself) at weekends and evenings. I'm now seriously considering getting someone in to do it for me quickly so I can enjoy the summer outside (instead of dreading more digging)

I was going to see if any of you had used general labourers who could come in and dig, and maybe lay a few sleepers etc? It would surely be alot cheaper than using a professional landscaper? I am fairly handy at this myself but just don't have the time and hours to get it done before the summer has passed (I fear...)

I haven't used a landscaper before so I get this impression of Diarmuid Gavin and a high cost! Is the cost associated with the design mostly, or the labour part? I have a nice design made out, and I don't have acres of garden to dig out - it's about 15' wide and there's about 30' backwards up a slope.

Can anyone recommend some trustworthy lads who might dig it out and level it a bit for me? And ballpark price? Or should I just go with the landscaper?

(By the way - I live in Dublin - at the foot of the Dublin mountains!)

Thanks!

Great feedback as always, thanks (and a nice spot of thread-hijacking to boot!).

Based on feedback, we have decided to change the pebbled area for a grass area as it should soften the appearance and give a nice contrast against the patio. We will also dedicate a portion of the flower beds to growing herbs (though we don't have a whole lot of space).

Some great insight on approach for paving there Horticulture - I'll be sure to hold him to those standards.

During the building I kind of had a vision of walking out the patio doors to a nice hardwood deck with a BBQ on it during the summer, so that attachment is making me lean towards keeping it. As that area gets zero sunlight I'm stumped for ideas of what could go there instead (I think continuing with the paving would be too much of it and look cold) - any suggested alternatives?

Composite Deck board might be an alternative to cedar/spruce decking. It is very expensive but can offer another dimension to the mix.

I wouldn't be too caught up on mixing in too many material types.

I had a look around and that composite decking does seem interesting so I'll look into it, thanks for the tip, though it is quite pricey.

I'll be dropping into Brooks in Sandyford to see what hardwood decking they have - I came across [broken link removed] and it seems quite interesting.

Not sure what you mean about too many materials - are you saying deck, grass plus patio is too many materials on the ground or saying not to worry about adding in more materials?

I really can't think of anything else to do with that corner so in the absence of anything to get us off it, we'll go with the gut feeling and put a deck of some sort in.

Any thoughts on the rest of the garden - I'm pretty happy that putting grass is the right thing and with that think it's a good layout with decent room for plenty of planting in the beds, a bed on the deck, and scattered about in pots.

Just to add, on the plant aspect, obviously ensure correct plants are bought for sun/shade and ensure you know what height/spread they will all grow to.
You also mentioned having a lot of plants in pots which goes against your 'low maintenance' theme as they'll need a lot of watering in summer. Put them in beds as much as possible.
One other thing - I'd try not to have too much going on, otherwise things will look too crowded. My vote goes to having two paved areas rather than the deck.
Also have you got children/animals to consider?

Thanks fme, we don't have kids or pets to think about, though one of the factors in deciding to go with a small (and it is really pretty small) patch of grass was that I'd like to be able to lie out with my baby nephew on a mat on soft ground, and it will be just about big enough for that.

Work got underway last Thursday and is nearing completion and all is looking well. We went with the hardwood deck in the end and are pretty happy the overall flow and layout. We have never really seen the garden cleared out and levelled off as it was a jungle when we bought it then filled with building materials. So to us the size definitely feels plenty big and bigger than we expected.

The back wall was ready to fall over when pushed so we decided to knock it totally and rebuild with concrete posts supporting betula fencing. Pleased with how that turned out and it is joined betual fencing so is quite solid, though we also put it on the adjoining wall and with everything bare as planting was beginning today it looked like too much timber. So we'll have to ensure planting and pots are placed smartly to break it up.

Will post photos when its done.

Just remembered to post back with some photos of how the garden turned out. We had it done back in May and we're quite happy with it as it's not a big garden but the different surfaces are well proportioned and it actually makes it feel bigger than we thought it would. And the timber fencing gives it a very soft and private feel (a surprising amount of privacy for an end of terrace) and the timber, paving, and bricks actually look lovely when wet, which let's face it is all too often.

I have to get the extension pebble-dashed and touch up spots on the back of the house and then finish the painting and it's all finished (reverse order I know but that's how things turned out).

Thanks again for the input.

Picture 1
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Picture 3

Looks lovely. Did you BBQ on Sunday - about the first day you could this June/July!

I see you kept the grass. Why did you change your mind?

Oh for sure we had a BBQ yesterday, we've snuck plenty of them in between the rain drops in June!

We decided (after lots of good advice) that going without grass would look too harsh and the grass definitely softens things up and there's the bonus that my baby nephew can lay out on it on a play mat too.It's more hassle to maintain but definitely worth it.