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

Originally posted 2009-10-06 15:55:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Shed of the Year Competition Winner Announced : TreeHugger

Cheers

Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-07-16 14:27:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

We have now installed our chat facility at the GardenImprovements.com website so that new customers can contact us directly to quickly ask about our service before they proceed with their enquiry!  You can ask us if we work in your area, if we are available for a meeting, for quick tips, or for the name of reputable tradesmen who offer different garden services to our own – or whatever you want to ask!

Queries remain private from public viewing and you will always be chatting to me personally – messages are relayed to my mobile ensuring that I am readily available.  Messages will be accepted between 7am and 9pm Monday to Saturday.  If you want a query answered outside these hours simply drop me an email to studio@gardenimprovements.com and I shall respond at the first opportunity.

We were sociable before -and now we’re accessible too!!

Cheers!!
Nicky Patterson, Designer @ GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-10-05 16:11:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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 Robert B from Howwood near to Johnstone and Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland.His garden was a long neglected mish-mash of different ideas and DIY projects that didn’t quite ever gel together and had eventually been left to crumble and weed over.  It was a long and narrow plot

His brief is:

• To provide a large decked area suitable for hosting parties
  
• Tidy up the garden as a whole and conform it to an attractive design
  
• Provide a low maintenance solution for the whole space
• Provide some lawn areas for neices and nephews to play on
  
• He had a budget of £3-4K

My initial ideas for the garden design were to compliment the shape of the plot – Robert didn’t want the space to be divided up in the manner that it had been previously and wanted to view the whole area from the vantage of the requested deck area.  My use of diminishing circles accentuates the length of the garden certainly, but helps to lead the eye down and around the garden and take in the pleasure of the planting.  A path which leads to the shed will still invite visitors into the garden area.

The decking illustrated is quite large and provides plenty of space for tables, chairs, loungers and BBQ kits. Existing sandstone dyke beds will be left in situ and one of these will protrude through the deck creating a fantastic feature planter within the sun-bathing platform.  The mixture of sandstone and timber decking will look great!

The planting will be green and architectural for the most part which will burst through areas of beach pebble.  The circles will be concrete and painted in three shades of orange to suggest an exotic theme which will be reinforced by the planting.

The gravel path will provide a pleasant crunch underfoot as well as a nice contrast to the concrete edging and pebbled areas.

The lawn circles will help to soften and bind the whole garden together.  In the sunshine this garden will look superb and Robert will be keen to invite his friends and family round for BBQs and to enjoy the space.

Keep posted for the completed pictures of this project!

Kind regards

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

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[Folloe me to see the completed pics!]

Originally posted 2009-07-22 07:45:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Peter and Julie M commissioned this design in Kelvindale near Hyndland in the west end of Glasgow, Scotland.  Their brief required:

• Removal of the square shapes and lines already established in the garden
• To create a fairly low maintenance space
• A flowing and soft design, no rigid or restricting lines

The garden consists mainly of lawn and has a considerable slope towards the house. Peter and Julie would like to retain the apple tree near the back of the garden, which will fit into the design perfectly.

The new design alters the entrance to the garden: as you come from the original decking at the house (bottom), steps lead you up to a pale sandstone patio and a sea-flint path which runs almost centrally through the garden and up into a purple slate shale seating circle where the apple tree stands.

Some terracing has been introduced in the for of steps so there will be three levels, the patio, the circle at the shed and the seating circle. The Sandstone patio is certainly big enough to hold a large table and chairs and some informal seating created by the steps should help if anyone is left out!

Hugging the seating circle is a reclaimed stone wall which tapers to ground level at the entrance – reinforcing the flow of the garden. Using the reclaimed stone will enhance a rural style and should appear to have been there as an old feature, as will the old apple tree and the wild flower turf used to border the central shape

The central circle will have the gravel path cutting through it and on the shed side will be cobbled to provide a solid surface for potting and accessing tools from the shed.  Opposite, a green slate shale planting bed provides an opportunity to add some intersting specimen plants – here I have suggested a corkscrew hazel as a centre piece.

Shrubs and ornamental grasses will fill out the beds and wild flower turf will add some seasonal variation  – this will be virtually maintenance free requiring a cut only ONCE a year!

Bursts of planting through the Slate Shale will create more dimension to the shapes and will draw the eye from the house toward the seating circle and apple tree. The materials and layout of the design will ensure Peter and Julie acquire a relaxing, flowing country-style garden to enjoy whilst not having to put in too much hard work maintaining it!

We are very excited about this project and hope to get it under-way in the very near future so keep an eye out for the finished pics!

Kind regards

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

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

[Follow me to see the completed pics!]

Originally posted 2009-09-18 08:00:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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 Dougie and Judith B from a new-build Stewart Milne estate in ‘new’ Jackton in East Kilbride near Glasgow in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The garden is bare soil but has been ravaged by weeds and grass; it is short but wide and has a considerable slope up toward the back fence.

Their brief is:

• To provide an extension of their living space into the garden
• A simple “no-fuss” design
• A decked area that blended with the hardwood flooring of the house
• Some space for their 8 year old boy to kick a ball around
• Some degree of terracing to negotiate the steep slope of the plot

My initial idea was to provide a decked area outside of the French doors at the back of Dougie and Judith’s kitchen/living room, but had to play around with shapes and sizes until finding something that felt right.  I began with a cubic theme to the garden but then felt on reflection that curves would suit Dougie and Judith’s sense of style more.  Once confirmed the rest of the garden was structured around this circular deck which will be sunken to meet ground level.

To create the sense of space I’ve made a ‘fat’ end and a ‘thin’ end of the garden to offset the balance of the terracing required to deal with the slope by using a ‘football swerve’ curve for the retaining wall.  This is the ‘fat’ end and the terracing hugs the decked patio reinforcing the sense of comfort and security whilst also creating a sun-trap and wind sheltered area.

To create a focal point in the garden I have suggested a feature water-feature and rockery which will be planted appropriately with some yuccas, grasses and architectural shrubs.  This offers the garden a focal point whilst also providing some pleasant green foliage and the sound of trickling water.

The raised beds around the decking will give Dougie and Judith some eye-level foliage whilst providing some shelter and privacy and a suitable entrance into the lounging space.  The sloped lawn is a feature in itself but also removes the requirement for steps and offers some footballing adventures – two ticked boxes from the brief then!

The mixture of dark hardwood decking boards and the pale travertine paving cut to shape will be a fine contrast and the whole design is brought together by the white dry-cast walls through out the space.  A lavender bed will be planted beside the decking to mirror the hard-landscaping of the raised stone beds and also to merge the lower tier of the garden perfectly with the upper.

Unfortunately we did not win this contract, being pipped by one of our rival firms but one whom we are friendly with!  Dougie and Judith opted for a cubic approach after all!! Doh!!

Ah well you can’t win them all…but we will try!

Kind regards

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

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

Originally posted 2009-07-24 06:43:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

by Nicky Patterson

So in December, for the majority of garden design and landscaping firms the phones go dead and the emails come to a halt as people concentrate on the holiday season and their attentions are diverted to hosting family dinners and parties and visiting friends and relatives.  The cold enquiry front gets even cooler in the current economic climate when consumer confidence is at an ebb and the banks are defying to lend as to the government’s and consumer’s wishes.

However many will still utilise the mass of positive equity still retained in their property and apply it to improving and developing their current residence, to make lifestyle investments which will massively improve the quality of their useable property space.  Those more canny than others will know that January and February and March are the best times to have any major landscaping projects undertaken, ensuring that all the hard construction is cleared in time for the spring and for when the garden can be enjoyed to its fullest (why waste that precious relaxation time over spring and winter having your garden built?).

As we approach Christmas Day and New Years Day during our festive break from site-work I am working upon 3 different designs for prospective work which will begin pre-Spring.  The projects are all of moderate and conservative budgets, £5-£12K, but i am relishing the prospect of getting back to work and further enhancing our design portfolio.

I am enjoying this break, spending it with my wife’s family in Portsmouth – where the weather is eternally warmer than my native Glasgow, but i am also looking forward to welcoming any new commissions or contract proposals for what i see will be a fruitful 2009 despite the delicate nature of our current economy.

So a Merry Christmas to you all and i look forward to seeing you in 2009!

Nicky Patterson

GardenImprovements.com

PS. Don’t forget our fantastic Winter offer of 20% off drawings and labour for kitchen gardens!!

Originally posted 2008-12-24 10:18:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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

Originally posted 2009-07-14 11:29:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

by Nicky Patterson

Come To Scotland For Your Holidays!

So I’m back at the Bat-Cave now after a lovely past few weeks and I am working my way through all the mail and emails that have mounted up on my desk and desktop resepectively.  I’m a little bit annoyed that my last post’s optimism had it’s wing shot by the announcement a few days ago that the price of fruit and veg and general groceries is to increase by 20% in th UK in 2009.  Is it just me or is the media determined to make all this seem completely insurmountable to even the most optimistic of us?

I had been encouraged by some of the commentators debating that the public sector would keep alot of SMEs above water, but 20% added onto shopping bills is a fair whack and can only further dull consumer confidence.

On top of this English, Welsh and Irish gardeners are experiencing the, by now notorious, ‘Arctic Chill’  right now (in Glasgow we just call it winter!) while in Scotland we are experiencing relatively (but only relatively) milder weather; even though spades are still bouncing out of the ground!  At any rate, the big kick-off to the new season has been somewhat ‘put on ice’ and left alot of us thumbing through our paper-work and trying to invent new sources of enterprise for the coming months (perhaps some are finally getting their tax return underway – who me?).  Anyway this silly weather isn’t exactly the worst news ever because obviously things will warm up as 2009 shakes off the sleep and we can all get digging, building and planting again.

I have in fact had some good news recently and I shall be sure to gloat about it once everything is finalised but I was thinking how fortunate I was here to be presented with such an opportunity at what is proving to be quite a low-point in my short career as a businessman.

2008 has been my worst year by far.  Business was actually very good but I was badly let down by staff who took advantage of my absence (while concentrating on design demand, networking opportunities and expanding the business) to cut corners on projects and take prolonged tea-breaks in full view of clients.  This lost me some well founded client relationships and cost alot of money where work had to be re-done.  A steep learning curve.  I am glad to have pulled through it though and have made amends to most of those clients as best I could.  The expansion plans are in the bin and like many the focus is on streamlining and improving quality.  These are my plans for 2009.

At any rate I have learned some valuable lessons but one more than most which is reaping rewards even now – to keep my head up, chin up, keep my eyes peeled and my ears open; keep on top of it all and opportunities, when they come along – like this one, can be taken in stride.

So for me the only possible way is up and while I fully expect some downturn in business; at the moment I am relishing the challenge and I am ready to take those unexpected opportunites.  And, like my dad always says – and I appreciate that it is a cliche, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

All the best for 2009 folks, I hope it turns out a good one for us all.

Nicky Patterson

GardenImprovements.com

Originally posted 2009-01-06 21:10:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The design was commissioned by Mark R from Williamwood; in-between Clarkston and Giffnock in the southside of Glasgow in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

His brief is:

• To provide a garden area that will look great without the requirement for heavy maintenance
• Build several seating areas to use different areas and aspects within the space
• A simple water feature
• Create a space suitable for hosting parties and for relaxing in
• A budget of around £10K

The original space is overgrown and scarred by the recent building work on the extension to the house.  The couple have installed concertina doors which open the full length of a stunning living room to bring the garden and the house together – so it is important to get some good angles and areas within this plot to befit the quality and finish of the recent build.

The colour palette indoors is stylish, simple and monochromatic – a scheme I am keen to replicate in this outdoor room.  I have drawn inspiration too from the furnishings indoors which were cubic and rectangular and I have developed this into the shapes and form used in the constitution of the garden elements.

The structure follows a simple journey path through the space from the living room, embellished by the wants of the client where desired.  A large slate terrace forms the main functional element within the garden – perfect for entertaining in numbers.  From here we can view the visual feast waiting within the rest of the garden; a reflective pool with it’s ‘floating’ path and bursts of green shoots creates intrigue and a pleasureable hop across reveals an inviting ‘lounger’ patio – host to a cascade water feature which brings the garden to life and movement.

This geometric approach to the design ensures that each element within the garden can be seen as a feature in it’s own right as no two shapes will be the same and each will be offset and balanced by another as can be seen in the constitution of the paths and patios here.  This ‘journey’ method is of course contrived but is a useful device when matching some purpose with the client’s design brief.  Sometimes an artificial journey will work better than a natural one because the user will sense value in something being created especially for them.

The cascade water feature pools into a rill which follows down into the reflective pool.  The rill heightens the audio and visual qualities of the garden – and will also act as a handy wine and beer cooler!!

The chunky and purposeful rectangles of the hard landscaping are offset and soften by the slender and elegance of spires of cypress, some chamomile strips (accross the path) and the horizontal lines of the new fencing that will surround the new space bolstering the coninuity,

The chamomile strips are mimicked on the opposite side of the pond by strips of dark granite setts which will create some curiosity and delight for the user.

These raised patios will be enveloped in planting creating a lush and cosy environment in which to relax.

I am looking forward to getting this project underway later this year!!

Kind regards

Nicky Patterson, Designer @ Gardenimprovements.com

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

Originally posted 2009-10-04 09:00:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter