The Sketchbook and Shovel » Completed Project Portfolio Series

Glasgow South: Small Garden Design Giffnock

Nicky Patterson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:00:38 +0000

A contemporary and bright design for very small 7x6m plot in Glasgow’s southside. This space really was very confined and we were required to offer more than 1 patio as well as bringing in some style, focal points and a sense of space!!

Designer: Nicky Patterson

This project was commissioned by June N of Merrylee, between Giffnock and Newlands in the southside of Glasgow, Scotland.

June wanted a makeover for her drab and under-functioning garden. The garden is very small and square but required some space for sun-bathing, a lawn and some focal points.

The design offers June a small breakfast patio and a secondary sun-bathing patio against a baking wall.

Overlapping squares help create the sense of a multi-functional garden and work quite well to expand the usable space within the tight confines of the perimeter.

A mixture of materials further develops the theme of multi-functionality whilst also, crucially, reducing the maintenance for June – a hard working professional.

The splash of colour on the garage wall adds warmth and disguises an otherwise awkward and unsightly structure. The blue links with the colour of the cobbles used for the feature squares.

The planting scheme is deliberately low-key and offers, for the main part, a green code for the small garden without creating fuss with busy colour – critical to the client’s brief.

A small feature stone offers a simple yet well-scaled focal point for the whole garden.

Designer: Nicky Patterson

Built by: GardenImprovements.com

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

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Stewarton Garden Design on Youtube

Nicky Patterson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:00:34 +0000

Hi! This is the first of hopefully many of our garden designs and landscaping projects that we’ll be adding as YouTube videos. This project comes from Stewarton in Ayrshire:

To see a commentary of the design process for this project please click here

Kind regards

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

Please check us out and connect with us at our profiles below!

East Kilbride: Large Family Garden Design near Gardenhall – Complete

Matthew Thomson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:00:23 +0000

Welcome to another project article in our Project Portfolio Series. This garden has been designed by Nicky Patterson and built by the team of garden designers and landscapers at GardenImprovements.com.

The clients were Richard and Karen E from the Stewart Milne developement at Jackton in East Kilbride near Glasgow in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

To have a look at the original design process for this project follow me here!!

The clients were looking for a good space for their little ones to run around while keeping plenty of room for entertaining; they also wanted to undertake the planting by themselves over a period of time, so take a look at our photos of the completed hard landscaping.

Congratulations to the family on their new garden!

A little reminder of how the garden looked before the big kick-off, not much to look at yet!

Unfortunately we ran into some major drainage and soil quality problems (detailed in this article posted earlier this year) that neither the client nor ourselves had originally accounted for so we had to make some alterations to the design, above is shown the original design and below the amended design. The amendments were forced by the necessary replacement of 30T of topsoil, installation of drainage and installation of extensive concrete foundations for the patio.

So we dropped the breakfast patio and the pergola, simplified the lawn layout – but increased the paving to form two large patios.

Above is the original planned layout as prescribed in the design and below a representation of the amended plan – alot simpler but still very attractive.

Due to the dramatic change in design structure we also opted to change the paving materials from black slate tiles and silver granite setts to pale sandstone slabs and rosie block edgers. The original palette would not have worked in the new open plan scheme so we opted for these softer tones to profer more sympathetic tones.

Checking for undeground utilities before the machines get stuck in at a wet and muddy East Kilbride.

So wet and muddy in fact, our digger and dumper got stuck on the second day of the job!

Persistance pays off and we managed to get the patio base level down.

Some much needed drainage channels.

Patio bases installed and ready to lay on.

With the patio’s down and the topsoil levelled it was time to lay the turf on an unusually sunny day in east kilbride!

The topsoil that we got in was somewhat easier to work on with what we were used to in ek!

The finished lawn and patio really started to bring everything together.

Putting in the soft play bark and finishing touches

Here we can see the garden as a whole with the gravelled utility area to the left of the photo, the soft play area and the lawn. No more knee deep mud!

The play area is large enough for plenty of kids play equipment, with the lawn also sufficient size for a kick-a-bout if desired

A look from the left hand side of the garden shows a large area for planting and plenty of space on the patio for a table and chairs with room left over for extra seating, bbq kit and patio heater!!

The lay-out of the lawn and shape of the patio’s really makes the most of the size of the garden.

A closer look at the extensive patio, with two areas you could really throw a big party here, plenty of room for a dance or for the little ones to wreak some havoc!

A very happy looking family. Richard, Karen, Alex and Christopher are sure to enjoy their new garden, especially if the sunny weather keeps up in Jackton.

Despite some rather harsh weather conditions, not to mention the major design changes, we have produced a fine garden for the whole family to enjoy. We hope the family have many happy days and nights in their new big family garden area!!

Thanks for now

Designer: Nicky Patterson, GardenImprovements.com

Glasgow South: Busby Garden Design Complete

Nicky Patterson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:59:56 +0000

You may remember reading about Matthew’s first successful design which was for a small sun-lover’s garden in Busby? If not then you should take a look to see his approach to the design but anyway here is the finished garden – minus planting which we’re doing next week!!

This garden was built in the Busby area, next to Clarkston in the southside of Glasgow, Scotland by Nicky Patterson and Matthew Thomson of GardenImprovements.com

Matthew’s design is fairly simple but simplicity is the key when we are working with a tight budget and a tight space. the circles will help to open up the garden.

Matthew’s vision (above) of the finished garden – bright materials essential to reflect light and lift the mood of this dreary garden plot (below). See Matthew’s design in full here.

Overshadowed by an overgrown conifer hedge, the space did not feel light and airy like a garden should – the existing paving was tired and dull, and the lawn was more or less swamped with weeds and moss.

One of my favourite parts of all projects is the part where we have ‘ripped’ out the old garden, have a blank canvas and are ready to begin constructing the new ‘outdoor room’. We were kindly offered access by Mary’s neighbour Theresa – which was a very good thing since we really would have struggled to get this done without it!

The new patio looks and feels alot brighter, a far more inviting area of the garden now! It has been built in a pale sandstone with strains of red through it which blend with the red edging cobble.

The new fence has been stained with a light cream to achieve a sea-sidey effect which marries with the beach pebble laid as a perfect low maintenance solution for a busy Mary!

So as per Matthew’s design the bed areas will be planted up with some grasses and sedges to reinforce that coastal theme. We will also include some specimen shrubs as feture plants to create a little more interest and focus where required.

The lawn confirms a link between the surrounding landscape – mostly mature trees and hedges – and also ensures that this small space doesn’t become too much of an outdoor stone box!

We always give our design clients something to help celebrate their new garden!

It was a pleasure to work with Mary on this build and we are looking forward to returning within the next week or so to get the planting scheme installed – an example of how we can implement projects in stages to help our clients manage budgets!

Nicky Patterson, Designer and Landscaper @ GardenImprovements.com

Landscaping Glasgow South: Thornliebank

Nicky Patterson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:59:45 +0000

Here is an example of a recent landscaping project we undertook in Thornliebank near to Giffnock in the southside of Glasgow. Andrew S asked us to landscape and revamp the front garden which had been left in a bit of a state by the builders who had recently put an extension onto the rear of the house.

by Nicky Patterson

As we are garden designers as well as landscapers we were able to apply some effective ideas to what was more or less a simple garden makeover. We replaced the driveway runway with some new slabs and installed some railway sleeper terracing to give the family more space to get in and out of the car.

Kind regards

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

Please check us out and connect with us at our profiles below!

Glasgow South: Busby Garden Design Film

Nicky Patterson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:59:42 +0000

Here is the completed project with plants from Matt’s small garden design in Busby from earlier this year; the second in our YouTube series! Let us know what you think!

To see a commentary of the design process for this project please click here

Ayrshire: Family Party Garden in Stewarton – Finished Works

Matthew Thomson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:59:38 +0000

Welcome to our very first article in our brand new Project Portfolio Series. This garden has been designed by Nicky Patterson and built by the team of garden designers and landscapers at GardenImprovements.com.

This project comes from Stewarton near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Scotland. This was a rather extensive build with a lot of hard landscaping and with a lot of hard graft we got the job done to a very pleasing finish. The photo below is a reminder of how it looked before we started.

If you want to refresh your memory of the design process for this garden build follow me here: Terraced Family Garden Design in Stewarton

The client specified that the slope on the left here was to be terraced to create some usable space, as well as to mould the rest of the garden into a space for entertaining and child friendly fun.

The original garden design plan for this project.

An impression of what Nicky’s plans were for the garden.

After the top area of the garden was excavated and levelled out with the digger and the retaining walls built we could then begin laying the block rings and laying the patios. All the materials here – including the concrete foundations – had to be “hand-balled” up the wall or barrow-hoisted up the slope. BIG EFFORT!!

With the drainage in place and the walls built we could start laying the patio’s on the lower level too. Aero the dog loved to lend a paw!!

The finished Sandstone patio edged out in a charcoal block (pre-pointing).

New steps were built from the house and a block ring links between them to be filled with golden gravel.

The rings on the top level leading down to the steps to lower level. Once completed the rings were to be filled with gold gravel and surrounded with silver gravel to provide a contrast. Perfect areas for planting grasses and low level shrubs through.

The finished patio’s on the top level. There’s some great colours in the sandstone that contrast really well with the block edging and the gravel. The dry-cast walls provide some extra seating too.

A view of the finished upper level. You can just see the built-in bbq to the left of the picture. With the severity of the original slope it was an arduous job building this area but we feel we created a great space to host a party or two, or three…

A closer look at the built in bbq and fridge space, perfect for an evenings entertainment!

The gravel rings on the left hand side of the steps provide more space for additional seating with plenty of space for planting in the beds

Access steps to the upper level.

A view from left to right of the upper level: We managed to create a large functional space up here from what was initially a very steep slope – the neighbours didn’t believe anything could be done and though there is a lot of hard landscaping we are very pleased with the outcome. This side area retains the sunshine most of the day and so it made sense for us to get some use from it!!

The circular areas on the low level really integrated well together creating a flow throughout the garden.

We used the silver gravel to surround the patios and lawn on the low level to offset the colours in the Sandstone and to blend in nicely with the finish on the house itself.

The sunken trampoline fitted in well into the drainage sump to keep it as flush with the ground as possible and therefore much becoming less obtrusive within the garden – but rather integrating with the theme keeping the continuation of the circular notion flowing through the space.

The rendering on the walls and the silver granite gravel really help to brighten the low level up and with the right planting the whole space will come alive and will be full of colour.

This being the main lower patio we made sure it was large enough for a table and chairs but the retaining wall also makes for some great secondary seating – essential for these al fresco parties!!

This view from the patio shows us how much space there really is on the low level. Plenty of room for Ben (and Aero) to run around!!

From the side entrance to the garden you can see how the circular shapes really make the most of the size of the garden, opening everything up to get the most use out of the area.

Stan with Matthew and Martin enjoying a well deserved glass of wine upon completion (Stan kept us keen with the offer of a beer at the end of some very hot shifts – there was no beer left when we finished the project!!) , needless to say the trampoline was off limits!

We thoroughly enjoyed this project from start to finsh. We were presented with up some interesting challenges that we had to work hard on to overcome. Stan and Fiona were wonderfully hospitable and are over the moon with the final garden – and they’re keen to get the plants in too!!

Keep a look out in the near future for some more of our completed ’09 design and build projects.

Cheers for now

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ GardenImprovements.com

Ayrshire: Small Family Garden Design in Stewarton – Complete

Matthew Thomson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:58:10 +0000

Welcome to our next article in our brand new Project Portfolio Series. This garden has been designed by Nicky Patterson and built by the team of garden designers and landscapers at GardenImprovements.com.

This project comes from Stewarton near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Scotland. You can see the design process for this Ayrshire garden here and there follows the finished article as a landscaped garden!

The client’s have decided to go ahead with the planting scheme as per our design themselves over the next couple of years as they feel this is the part they’d enjoy – so the photo’s we’ve published are of the hard landscaping and we hope to recieve some fully planted up photos in the near future. Hope you enjoy folks!

A wee something for the happy clients from the designers at GardenImprovements.com

Just a reminder of how the garden used to look before we started. The client specified they wanted to get rid of the decking as it was a bit drab, hard to disagree!

A reminder of the plan (above) and how it should look (below).

The patio has plenty of room for a table and four chairs as shown here, as well as some extra seating if required. The green slate shale brings a nice contrast to the charcoal block in the patio

The step up to the patio can be used for informal seating as well as adding an extra dimension to the garden

The soft play area is large enough for some small kids play equipment and for the odd game of basketball. Sure to keep the kids happy!

Here we can see the different levels of the garden, stepping up from the house to play area. All the materials work very well together and when planted up it will really bring everything together

The utility area beside the shed is hidden from view from the rest of the garden creating a clutter free space

Looking from the patio area you can see how the fan shape opens up the garden creating different levels and areas. The utility area is almost unnoticable, hiding bins, tools, ect.

With the whole garden in view you can see how the shapes and levels really make the most of a small garden which creates more useable space.

This was great project to undertake due to the amount of hard landscaping involved in such a small space; the design we came up with really brought some new dimensions to the garden which we hope Angela and Kevin will enjoy for many years to come!

Cheers!!

Designer: Nicky Patterson, GardenImprovements.com