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The Greenfingers Garden: The Brief
In May, Tina Mantle
of Kidderminster won our competition to receive a garden
makeover worth £20,000. Planning has begun and, in her
second column on the garden, designer Ruth Chivers outlines
how the brief is taking shape.
At Greenfingers, we’re not in the business of
rushing into a quick fix, build in two days type of
makeover. Our aim is to balance the new design with
Tina Mantle’s existing achievements, adding elements
that suit her garden. The overall brief for the makeover
is to add good-looking, lasting features for the whole
family to enjoy. Tina and Roy have four grandchildren
under ten years old, who visit their garden regularly.
On our first visit, the Mantles agreed their conservatory
could go – they have a friend waiting to take
it away! Removing this opens up the area behind the
house, creating more possibilities for the new layout.
We decided to concentrate our makeover plans on this
patio space, the first of the existing terraces, and
the area beside the house.
In addition to the checklist in last month’s
column, I added the following to the brief:
- add the sound
of water – Tina and Roy to decide if pond and
fish still required
- rebuild the
existing steps
- widen the
pergola, but retain the wisteria on it
- add new steps
between the middle and top terraces
- move the lamp
post to the front garden, but replace with a new light
that suits the new scheme
- remove the
conservatory
- remove the
brick barbecue
- make more
planting areas, both at ground level and as raised
beds
- retain the
topiary on first terrace
- retain the
Japanese-style area
- new paving and
decking
- hot tub –
if budget allows – great therapy for gardening
aches and pains
 After drawing up the survey, the new design has to fit
these elements into the space. Practicalities are important
in garden design. Useful patios for eating at a table
require generous space – allow 3.5 x 3.5m for
comfort. Here, removing the conservatory makes this
possible outside the patio doors. Making raised beds
in a new courtyard beside the house will be in tune
with Tina’s interest in container gardening. But
the paved area must remain large enough for her existing
wrought iron round table and chairs to be used.
Tucked to one side, the existing steps are a bit hard
to find. I plan to rethink new ones. Garden steps should
be less steep than indoor stairs and wide enough for
the path they lead into. They should have risers of
uniform height, with treads the same depth throughout.
A formula for getting the proportions of steps correct:
twice the height of the riser plus the depth of the
tread should equal 62–68cm. Using an average length
of stride, the ideal outdoor step should have a 15cm
riser and a 37.5cm tread. A lot depends on space, but
a good general rule is to make risers no lower than
12.5cm and no higher than 20cm, with tread depth no
less than 27.5cm. Visit any garden designed by the great
Edwin Lutyens, and notice how comfortable the steps
are.
Adding a new set of steps between the middle and top
terraces will make a circular route around the Mantles’
garden possible, and fulfil the strong desire to leap
down from one to the other. A sure sign that a pathway
is required.
Related workshops:
How
to set out a garden from scratch
How
to install a decking tile patio
How
to make a paved or brick path
Articles
reprinted with premission from Greenfingers.com
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