Of course it wasn't always like this. Our client contacted us earlier in the spring about the neglected yard in her duplex house in a new development in north Dublin.
The poor girl had inherited a featureless dreary space. What to do? She wanted a low maintenance garden and a small patio space. She didn't want a lawn to look after either. So we came up with the idea of creating a gravel garden with stepping stones running through and softened by planting.
Planting direct into gravel really softens the space and as the plants grow they will fill in the space even more. The stepping stones are set in a zig zag pattern and create a journey through the garden.
We created a small patio at the sunny end of the garden but left a border around it for planting. We advised the client to paint the dashed walls an indigo/denim colour as we knew the plants would stand out against it. To save budget, we recommended the colour and the client painted it herself in the evenings after work. I think she did a pretty fantastic job!
To add real interest and an instant sense of maturity we planted olive trees - our signature plant - against the indigo wall. The evergreen olive trees will look great all year round with the silvery green branches swaying gently in the breeze.
We planted another two olives trees up the other end of the garden. The shadier wall is planted with a screen of bays interspaced with red spikes of crocosmia and ferns at ground level.
The planting in the gravel is an interesting mix of grasses, phormiums and heucheras among other plants.
We are really pleased with the finished result and so is the client who can't believe she now has a beautiful garden to enjoy from her patio. If only we could get some more of that beautiful weather...
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