Mill Park
Click on a photo to enlarge. Scroll down to have a read of the process involved!
Stuart and Vicky’s was a fantastic project which was initially challenging due to the small size of the garden and all the different elements they wished to have in it. But small garden design can be one of the most creative.
Sorting out the fencing came first and what a difference it made replacing that far side. Rather than the usual black, our clients opted for a bluey-grey colour which goes so well with the overall colour scheme. To frame the top of the fence we made a feature batten screen for optimum privacy which was a key factor, and they actually make the space feel bigger also!
The next phase consisted of digging out the existing lawn plus a layer of soil, marking out our lines and areas, bringing in scalpings and compacting them where the patio and paths would be.
Supplied by @_londonstone, our colour palette and materials for the hard landscaping included tumbled amber limestone paving slabs, mint sandstone setts and coastal red clay pavers. We laid the first two and they make up the dragon's tail patio, another seating area behind the fatsia and the path hugging the side of the house. With the setts we made a bit of a winding path to lead Vicky and Stuart from the house to the patio and back as well as a border for the new lawn.
It was a technical challenge to carefully cut into the pathway that we'd just laid to accommodate the ring of clay pavers that overlap it and form the last paved area in this garden. The outer ring is laid on mortar and this acts as a frame, holding it all together. As we lay the bricks, we would constantly check measurements and levels to ensure a perfect result.
Once the outer ring had gone off, we filled the inside of the circle with sand which was compacted, screeded and then laid on top with the clay pavers, firmly wedging them in place with mallets. Everyone pitched in different ideas, and we played around a little with the middle before settling on the final design. Adam cut the central limestone piece freehand and from the setts inwards we used mortar to hold everything in place. We continued with grouting all the paved areas using our favourite product VDW 850 Plus, and then sealing it all for ultimate protection against staining.
The lovely, rich, burnt reddy-orange and black colours complement the amber limestone and the mint sandstone nicely as well as provide a good contrast against the cool blue of the fence. We also love how textured the pavers are and how this makes them look and feel quite rustic.
Custom-made to fit the space and set upon staddle stones that add to the grandeur, the pergola has lovely, thick, tall oak posts and crossbeams that sit snugly across the top that make up the overall structure.
We planned the layout for this small garden design first, placing the staddle stones where we wanted them to be and drawing around them, this is because we then needed them to create a template for the base of the posts so that they would fit nicely on the metal rod of the staddle stones. We measured the lengths of our structural beams and cut them to size. Putting these parts together was a little tricky and involved everybody; there was lots of tinkering and pushing and pulling of the posts to ensure they were all truly upright according to the levels before screwing it all together.
Once this step was done, we had a super solid, free-standing structure to work from that wasn't going anywhere - it was tested several times with Adam’s weight. We then went about measuring, marking out and planning the lengths and cuts of the crossbeams that were to sit on top.
Sam designed the lovely shape of the beaks; he created a template to work from and with Max's help, went about cutting and sanding them into shape so that they would all be identical.
We finished off the pergola by aligning the crossbeams, slotting them into place (we made some really great cuts this day) and securing them all with screws. The overall garden was completed with Costa expertly laying the lawn. The choice of beautiful plants and actually planting them in the ground was all down to Vicky who is a fellow horticulturist and loves doing this herself; she was still tinkering with the layout when we popped by for some pics and the garden looked amazing!
Many bacon rolls and ice lollies later, this project was so worth the effort, time, and skill it took to create; we all loved working on this one. Stuart and Vicky were blown away and we are so happy for them. Before we arrived, they were not using their garden at all and found it to be quite a negative place – to have completely changed this into a private paradise that they’ve fallen in love with is just incredible.