We love country gardens.

Mature trees, the borrowed landscape, space ……

But perhaps the most rewarding task is giving urban dwellers a garden – that outside room they didn’t know they had.

Many urban gardens in Great Britain as well as Ireland lie behind the distinctive 19th century/Victorian terraced dwellings, often eaten into by bathroom and kitchen extensions.

What remains is a forlorn sidepassage, the repository for bins, leftover bricks and dying plants.

So this is the process whereby the client gained a garden for less than 10% of the cost of a bathroom extension.

Surprisingly the area measured 25 sq m – imagine gaining that much space inside your house.

We began by choosing the “flooring” – in this case,  warm pink granite flagstones, gravel and cobbles.

Then the clean-up began :

The old trellis was removed …

… and the walls could now be painted to reflect light into the dark space; the new trellis to be painted cream.

Now to tackle the “floor” ….

The new paving is installed …

Working to a strict budget, the dark green garden furniture is painted cream.

So that this scene

… becomes this :

The planting begins.

Where possible, some existing plants are retained – two red peonies and a camellia.

The beds are filled with spring-flowering bulbs – snowdrops, fritillaria, narcissi, and the warm tones of  Cosmos chocamocha and the foliage of Heuchera ‘Marmalade’ contrast well against the paving.

Some structural plants, such as euphorbia and pennisetum, are planted in the owner’s existing collection of pots.

Note how the central section of the garden has been pebbled, to create visual interest and contrast, and the bed recessed to create an illusion of width in the narrowest part of the garden.

So take a last look…. this is how this ….

… became this ….

But the scene is not quite complete…

The yellow door – drawing too much attention to itself – will be replaced by a cream one and trellis fencing will be added to the end wall, to train the existing wisteria and to distract from the scene beyond.

And then there are pots to be filled….

Do come back for another look later!

(All photography mine; feel free to use any of Jardin’s images but please credit and link back)