Reused and Recycled Dublin Victorian Garden

A while ago I was  asked to look at the garden for the owners of a Victorian house in Dublin.   This is what I was  presented with.





Just a big load of rubbish?  Well not quite.  As we stumbled our way through the brambles and overgrown mess, we discovered quite a number of old Victorian red bricks that had been dumped in the garden and this gave us an idea.



Commensurate with our client's brief, we wanted to create a garden that while contemporary in feeling, would still  be sympathetic to the old brick Victorian feel of the back of the  house.  In addition, we really wanted to incorporate those red bricks into the design.





We developed a design based on two circular paved seating areas interlinked by a curved path in those reclaimed Victorian red bricks.  The larger circular patio just off the house would provide a nice space for relaxing and dining in the afternoon/evening sunshine.  The smaller circular patio would provide a secluded area with built-in seating for that early morning cup of coffee in the sunshine.

We provided the client with our artists impression of how the garden would look.







We also gave them a view of how the smaller seating area would look in more detail.  To add structural interest and a backdrop to this area we proposed putting in sleepers in a curve around the back of the patio.





The plan and visualisations allowed the clients to get  a pretty good idea of how their garden would look and they were happy with the overall design and approach.  They were enthusiastic about such a dramatic change in their dreary wasteland of a garden and wanted it to be put into effect.  We got started in mid autumn.
We finished the project in late autumn which is not the optimum time to show a garden at its best but the clients were very happy with the results.  They could see how they planting would provide colour and interest even in autumn and winter.





The red of the sandstone circles compliments those red Victorian bricks in the curved path.  A raised planter bed painted down in black runs around the left hand side of the bed and is planted with a mix of low maintenance plants to give year round interest and colour.  A built-in seat provides a handy spot for a quick nip out with a coffee or a late glass of wine.
A space was provided for a shed in the top left hand corner which is to come later with planting already in place to help camouflage it.





The sleepers running around the smaller circular patio in increasing heights provides the sculptural interest and a focal point to the end journey of the brick path.  We put little square mirrors on each sleeper which catch and reflect the sunlight as it travels around the garden during the day.  Another built in seat painted down in black is unobtrusive and encourages the visitor to journey through the garden and view it from the end.
The brick path is pleasing and in harmony with the  rest of the garden