London Garden Design Diary – Week 18

Katrina went to present our garden design in Hackney on Tuesday and by the time she got home the clients had committed to the build. As the garden is quite shady the design is full of woodland plants. Katrina has produced an elegant family garden, incorporating a sandpit and integrated storage boxes beneath a decked platform, a fixed bench seat, a bike store and rendered raised beds. The build is due to start in late June if the persistent rain we are currently experiencing ever ceases!

Katrina then went to present a Walthamstow garden design. The client was looking to achieve a desirable family garden, including a children’s play area and bike store, on quite a tight budget. The space is small but has poor access and needs a bespoke bike store due to the limited space in the garden. Katrina worked hard to design something for the client which ticked all the boxes for both her and her children, and as a result the client commissioned the build the day after the presentation. The build is due to start in late August.

Katrina also went to conduct a design consultation for a client in looking for garden design advice in Chingford. The client has worked piecemeal on the garden herself for a few years, but recognises that she needs to follow a plan in order to get the most out of the space. She has 2 young sons and a huge trampoline to consider in any design. Her husband is very good at DIY and they plan to carry out the proposed works themselves over the coming years. We designed a sunken trampoline (with possible cover), a fixed bench seat and raised bed, as well as a series of archways to accommodate swings and other play equipment. An artificial lawn solves a waterlogged/muddy site and the raised beds will help to contain banked soil down each side of the space.

We are still plodding away with our updated garden design portfolio – Matt needs to sanity check Katrina’s efforts and then hopefully it can go to print next week.

Unfortunately Matt has been unable to get a lot of work done again this week due to the continuing bad weather. The site is still a mud-bath, which makes working with heavy railway sleepers quite difficult. Matt has been using the time to catch up on office based work instead.