GARDENING – FEBRUARY v3.qxp_Layout 2 27/01/2023 14:50 Page 1
In with the new Elly West looks at how to create a garden perfectly tailored to your needs...
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very garden I visit as a designer offers different challenges. I see a lot of old, neglected gardens in need of renovation and rejuvenation, but at the other end of the spectrum I also see many gardens belonging to new-builds, which are total blank canvases. A typical new-build garden is levelled and turfed, perhaps with functional paving slabs at the entrance and exit points, and stark boundary fences to which the eye is immediately drawn. It amounts to an empty outdoor space rather than a garden, and this can seem overwhelming – particularly to first-time buyers who may never have owned a garden before. However, this offers the perfect opportunity to get creative. With local governments having to fulfil quotas to meet the housing shortage, new housing estates seem to be popping up everywhere. Although many of these houses look the same from the outside, the gardens are spaces that can be made individual and personal, the chance to start from scratch and tailor it exactly to your needs with plants and materials that you have chosen. Although this can be a good time to call in the professionals, there are many things you can do yourself to get your garden underway. One of the main challenges that most people want to tackle sooner rather than later is privacy, especially on new housing estates where space is at a premium and houses are built closely together. The maximum permitted height of a boundary fence is two metres, and most standard panels are 1.8m (six feet). A trellis fence topper could gain you a little more height and privacy, but be wary of just trying to raise the boundaries as a solution. New gardens, especially small gardens, can already feel very boxed in by the fences. Better to obscure 70 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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FEBRUARY 2023
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the boundaries with planting and create focal points within the space so your eye is not drawn straight to the neighbouring houses. Painting the fences a dark colour will help them to recede. Charcoal, black or dark olive-green make a good backdrop against which colourful flowers will pop. Fix up trellis or decorative panels, perhaps even an outdoor mirror, to break up an expanse of wooden fencing. A carefully placed pergola can help to create a more secluded feel, particularly around a seating area, and is another visual obstruction between you and your neighbours. Quick-growing climbers such as honeysuckle, passion flower or evergreen Clematis armandii are ideal for covering bare fences or a new pergola or arch, providing screening and obscuring and softening the edges. Plant climbers at least 30cm away from the fence, or 45cm from a wall, to enable them to get enough moisture, and fix a simple system of vine eyes and wires between your fence posts to give the plants support. Pleached trees are another option to give you more height and screening, if budget allows. These have a clear stem, usually to around fence height, then the branches are trained on a flat, square frame above. They may cost several hundred pounds each, bought at a good size and ready-trained, but make beautiful living screens and are ideal for small spaces, as they don't take up much border space. Another common challenge with new-build gardens is the state of the ground. There may well be rubbish and rubble left behind, and the soil is often compacted and of poor quality. Once you’ve decided where your planted areas are going to be, it’s time to get digging. Remove any rubble and dig it over to at least a spade’s depth to break up compaction. Add in soil conditioner such as well-rotted manure as you