Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Mar 16, 2007 7:52 pm Hi all ,
I have a dilema and could do with some advice from any budding gardners/landscapers. After my house is built there will be a 6 metre width vacant area running for 20 metres along the side of the house, and don't know what to do with it. I will have no doors on that side of the house. The intention is to add value to the house as I may well sell and move on in a couple of years, so I guess a lap pool is out of the question. All I can think of is creating a vegetable patch...but don't want that for the full 120 sq metres!! Much appreicated for any advice. TC Re: What do do on side of my house? 3Mar 16, 2007 11:00 pm How about a series of "rooms" with a path running through them to connect them all...eg a wee courtyard in one with table or hammock & one "theme" of planting (eg tropical plants or ferns or formal planting, etc - whatever works well in the climate)...path leading through to another "theme" of planting complete with one or two statues or a water feature...path continues through to a small edible garden...etc. No walls but different spaces created as the path progresses. If that makes sense?
If different rooms in the house look out on the space, you could design it so different rooms get a different "themed" space & thus a different view unique to each room. Re: What do do on side of my house? 4Mar 17, 2007 9:08 am epiphany How about a series of "rooms" with a path running through them to connect them all...eg a wee courtyard in one with table or hammock & one "theme" of planting (eg tropical plants or ferns or formal planting, etc - whatever works well in the climate)...path leading through to another "theme" of planting complete with one or two statues or a water feature...path continues through to a small edible garden...etc. No walls but different spaces created as the path progresses. If that makes sense? If different rooms in the house look out on the space, you could design it so different rooms get a different "themed" space & thus a different view unique to each room. That's a great idea Epiphany...thanks!! Now my only concerns are how much this would all cost and whether this would add value to my home. Re: What do do on side of my house? 5Mar 17, 2007 2:07 pm My personal opinion is that a nice garden adds value to the house but if you're going to sell soon, there's no point in investing a lot of time & money into this one. The trick would be to do something effective for as little as you need to spend to get good quality plants & a great look (no point in going overboard though).
You can make a nice path out of gravel with a few pavers set in it for variation (but do remember to put weed mat under the gravel or the new owners won't be thanking you for all the weeds that come through)...it'll be cheaper & quicker to do that a fully paved/bricked/concreted path. Or you could scrounge around for left over or recycled bricks for edging. You might be able to get second hand pavers from the Trade & Exchange...etc. As for the plants, if you're intending to sell in a few years, the idea would be to get ones that will look their best in a few years time. So you can afford to get smaller (which equals cheaper) specimens of fast growing plants...maybe one or two more mature specimens of, say, trees or other slow-growing plants (but bear in mind, they'll be much much more expensive). But do shop around because prices & quality vary considerably. And don't rule out planting seeds - some plants like lobelia or panseys make nice "filler" plants & grow quickly from seed. En masse planting looks very effective...so don't plant one of everything...plant several of the same thing - groups of odd numbers look more effective as well. Also consider whether you'll be able to easily propagate more plants from the ones you buy - eg you could easily double your number of irises in a couple of years & you'd get even more from succulents as both are *really* easy to divide & they reproduce quite quickly. Friends & family might also have good plants you can take cuttings off. This would reduce the total amount of money you'd spend in a garden, if you want to spend the time doing it. Don't forget mulch. Yes, it's a bit of an expense initially (especially for a garden your size) but there's no point in putting in all these plants & then having them die from lack of water. Mulch helps reduce evaporation & keeps the weeds down. And can make the garden look more attractive, depending on what you use. Good luck. Have fun Hi HomeOne, I'm in the midst of landscaping a cat run down the side of my house, and the recent rains have me wondering if I need to install some sort of drainage. I've… 0 9172 Thanks for the photos. You need to know whether the inflow or the overflow pipe is leaking and this is a simple process of elimination. INFLOW: The vertical riser… 4 3877 The bottom of the downpipe has been taped (see the black tape) to seal the necessary gap between the downpipe and the adaptor that would normally prevent the downpipe… 3 3327 |