The Sketch Book and Shovel

When commissioned to design and landscape a new garden (especially around Glasgow) I am often asked to “have a look at the drainage”, or “do you think it’d look odd without a lawn, Nicky?” -  this is especially true for larger gardens or those which will be used by children or pets.

Lawn-care in the west of Scotland is a constant battle against moss, dampness and heavy clay soil; but still we all love to have that little bit of “green” in our gardens don’t we?  Lawns get muddy and need to be cut almost every weekend.  Lawns are nice but become a chore.  Not everybody likes chores.

So what about an artificial lawn then? Read the rest of this entry »

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

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

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I love eating outdoors – BBQs are a truly brilliant way of combining two of my favourite activities, cooking and messing about in the garden!  The time for BBQs and outdoor activity isn’t over yet – despite the chill setting in here in Glasgow; fire up that chimnea and get some of that air round your gills next time we have a clear blue Sunday!

Check out these alternative outdoor cooking ideas from the ever impressive Studio G:

Studio G – Garden Design & Landscape Design inspiration » Garden Tandoor; the Next Trend in Outdoor Cooking?.

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

The design was commissioned by Mr and Mrs R from Greenhills in East Kilbride near Glasgow in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Design by Nicky Patterson Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favourite websites: here’s an idea we can all try out!!

Studio G – Garden Design & Landscape Design inspiration » Before and After: Recycled Chairs to Fab Garden Bench.

Studio G explores these innovative concrete pavers from Sweden: they certainly are different and their use would be very specific – what do you think?

Studio G – Garden Design & Landscape Design inspiration » Swedish pavers from Oldsjö Hultgren Design.

If you’ve been out and about in the rugged countryside of Britain you’ll perhaps have spied a cairn or two on your travels.  These beautiful dry-stone sculputures are often built as memorials but are also used to mark other occassional feats of accomplishment or commemoration.  Here the Studio G team explore the possiblity of using cairns in the garden:

Studio G – Garden Design & Landscape Design inspiration » Cairns for the Garden.

I reckon I can sneak these into a trendy west-end or Shawlands garden design somewhere…

Studio G – Garden Design & Landscape Design inspiration » Rainbow Bright Garden Furniture.

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

Read the rest of this entry »