Sunday, April 14, 2013

Garden makeover with a raised Indian sandtone patio and raised beds,new turf lawn ,Tyrellstown Dublin

Original garden with poor lawn and deteriorating deck

Garden with little visual appeal but bags of potential

Garden design 

Raised Indian sandstone patio

Raised beds and new turf lawn with newly painted fence panels and shed

Colourful,and comfortably sized patio area

Patio with stepping stones to shed.





This garden in Tyrellstown co.Dublin was in need of a complete makeover. Its lawn was in a poor state and infested with weeds. The deck area had been installed a number of years ago but was now steadily deteriorating and becoming hazardous while the fence panels need a good painting to bring them up to par.
Its owners were a young family and wanted to make best use of the garden in a number of ways including : A play area for the kids ,for relaxing and eating outdoors while oversall the garden needed to offer a pleasant view form the house at all times of the year.
The garden also lawn sloped down to the house so it was necessary to create patio area that would take water away from the house. We did this by installing linear drainage at the edge of the patio and house.
We created raised beds for vertical interest with a mixture of evergreen and deciduous shrubs and cottage perennials for seasonal colour. While a brick mowing edge would surround both patio and raised beds so that no grass would grow up against the sides of the bed or patio to be strimmed. Our clients and us were delighted with the transformation.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Garden regeneration with an Indian Sandstone patio and new turf lawn, raised beds Nuns Walk, Drogheda co.Louth

Overgrown and unusable space
Slippery  slope and poorly supported edging.

Slippy patio area
Blocked views of garden

Garden design

Garden regeneration in progress

Relaid  Sandstone patio

New turf lawn,raised beds.

Bicycle shelter

New open space for family to use.
















This garden in Drogheda co.Louth had been constructed some 8 - 10 years ago perhaps by a enthusiastic DIY er or  poor tradesman.and had many issues. The area had been incorrectly paved with Indian sandstone which had been laid upside down and uneven with un grouted joints. The result was a poor slippy and trip hazardous garden with weeds growing in the joints and algae on the slabs.Their access points to the inspection chambers and drains had also been covered over which meant that they couldn't be accessed if there was a blockage.
Its new owners were a young family who wanted to have a garden with a lawn area for their young child and an area which they could use themselves for outdoor living and growing some vegetables.
We decided that their best option was to have the slabs cleaned and relaid to correct falls as they weren't in overall bad condition. New recessed covers for the inspection chamber were fitted with a linear channel drain laid against the house to protect the damp proof course.

A new adequately sized lawn area with mowing edge was designed to balance the paving with raised sleeper  beds for growing vegetables in. Trellis screening was fitted to raise the height of the low boundary wall and a bicycle shelter was constructed also to house their bicycles.
New beds with a Japanese Maple ,rosemary lavender and space to accommodate other kitchen herbs was allocated.
We created a new retaining support wall for the lawn with sleepers and new steps leading to the rear garden gate.
Our clients were delighted with their new garden.
New supported lawn and steps

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Garden makeover Bryanstown Manor Drogheda co.Louth

Garden design plan view
Garden  in poor conditioned due to the combination of  wet weather
and a large canine.
This garden in Bryanstown Manor Drogheda was a rental property. Its tenants had a large dog which along with the wet weather we have had  left the lawn in a poor state.  The owners of the property wished to rent  the property  out again so called us in to have the garden put back into a presentable and appealing condition. As well as a new turf lawn and a new economically priced patio and stepping stones which we installed we repainted the shed and fencing panels to protect and preserve them from the elements. Overall  we created an attractive relatively low maintenance family garden on a low                                          cost budget..
Mucky garden and poor lawn




New patio, lawn and painted fencing panels

Patio and stepping stone flags.


Regenerated family  garden.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Travertine patio and limestone gravel driveway Rossin, Slane co.Meath


Proposed terrace area
Original side patio area


Finished travertine patio
finished patio area and flower bed


Terrace side view

Our client here in Rossin, Slane co.Meath had recently extended their home and in doing so they had also created vistas from their home into the beautiful surrounding countryside. They wished to have these views maximized by creating a large contemporary terrace which would also complement the design of their home.
They had chosen for the patio style a composite travertine slab which gave a soft and bright appearance to the proposed terrace. We gladly obliged in completing the patio for them and installing led lights in the patio which would give another outlook and style to the garden into the evening and night. The patio was then sealed with a propitiatory sealer to protect the slab and help keep it clean. The sealer we chose also gave a soft sheen to the slab which also looks great when the slabs were wet.

Also they wished to have their driveway gravelled and kerbs realigned and drains completed where necessary  We hard cored the existing driveway and compacted it with a large roller. Then a two inch layer of light coloured decorative limestone gravel was applied to the driveway to give a bright and clean finish to the driveway. The finished driveway and patio we completed during last summer truly complement there home and garden adding an aesthetic appeal and value to their property.
Once this was completed we created a wildflower and grass meadow in their adjoining garden which we look forward to seeing and  posting about  later after our return visit.
Unfinished driveway
Original driveway approach


Finished limestone gravel driveway

Friday, October 5, 2012

Landscaping,Creating an Indian sandstone patio, Balbriggan co.Dublin

Bare garden before makeover

Sunken patio where water pooled
Raised beds and sandstone patio

Indian sandstone patio
















































This garden in Balbriggan co,Dublin was experiencing some drainage problems. The existing patio was below the level of the lawn and when there was heavy rain water pooled on the patio and ran onto the path at the back door.
Our clients here wished to have this resolved and wished to have some low maintenance beds surrounding the lawn.
After some discussion on their garden I suggested that they have a raised patio constructed that would be higher than the lawn. This would be sloped towards a linear drain that would take the water away to the nearest storm drain.
After showing them some images of different patio materials and designs that we had constructed they decided that they prefered the Indian sandstone 'Camel dust' patio. This has a mixture of reds and orange hues through it and is a very durable sandstone.
We also suggested that some raised sleeper beds with a brick mowing edge would maximise their garden area while softening the edges of their garden and boundary walls..
Work started within a few days of consultation and we were finished within a week. Our clients were thrilled with the results and would no longer have to endure the water pooling  within the  garden.

Sandstone terrace and linear drainage

http://www.greenartlandscapes.ie/LowMaintain.html

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Circular Patio and raised patio, garden design, Roschoill ,Drogheda co.Louth

Garden before
Garden design


Finished garden

Circular patio and raised beds

Curvilinear design patio and garden

Raised terrace for entertaining
This garden in Roschoill, Drogheda had a great need for a garden makeover. Its previous owners had done some D.I.Y work on the garden creating some sunken paths and decking but it hadn't stood the test of time and had made the garden unusable and difficult to maintain.
Its new owners were a young family and wanted a low maintenance designed garden that would look good all year round and one that the whole family could use.
They wished to have two patio areas within the garden. One at the house for outdoor dining and  a second further down the garden to catch the evening sun that would also be a feature seen form the house.
Firstly i created a curvilinear(curved) design that would soften the garden with raised beds and patio with a second smaller circular patio at the end of the garden set in to the raised beds.
The planting here would contain some birch trees for screening the houses behind and a mixture of cottage perennials and shrubs for seasonal colour.
The patio was a Glenmore circular patio 2.4 m from local suppliers Oldbridge concrete while the terrace and raised were supplied by Tobermore concrete.
The existing lawn was lifted and leveled with tops soil and then a new turf lawn was laid for an instant weed free lawn. This simple design and professionally executed work transformed the garden form a drab unusable space to a beautiful low maintenance family garden.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Garden design makeover, landscaping Ballygall,Finglas co.Dublin

Garden before makeover
Existing decking and fencing

Garden design
 This garden in Ballygall, Finglas co.Dublin required a garden makeover. Our clients had a keen interest in gardening but needed some help in bringing some structure and design to their garden.
They wished to have a garden that they could use for entertaining family and friends and for growing some vegetables.
Their existing deck had become slippy and was starting to decay while though they wanted to retain some of the existing planting a lot had become overgrown. Their lawn which they had inherited was uneven and infested with weeds.
 We decided that we would create areas for plating vegetables and defined borders for their existing and new plantings. A new patio with Tobermore textured slabs and tegula brick  border  would make mowing the grass easy to the edges of the patio and raised beds.
Painting the walls a cream colour instantly took the cold ,grey look from the block wall. We sprayed the lawn with a weedkiller and after a couple of weeks removed it and relaid with weed free roll out turf.
There were two large awkward manholes in the centre of the lawn which we incorporated into the design by creating a brick edge surround and gravel area which would facilitate two fiber clay pots with architectural formed plantings of Astelia as  features.
The  other plantings consisted of climbers on trellis on the walls and mixed cottage and shrub perrenials in low maintenance beds.

Garden work in progress

New patio and raised beds

Defined beds and patio area

Raised vegetable beds and borders