Chickens have made a comeback recently as the animal of choice for the medium-sized urban garden. Come to think of it, apart from ducks, there is a limited choice when it comes to farmyard species, although I did once visit a small garden in Easton to be confronted by two pot-bellied pigs happily fighting over a bucket of kitchen scraps! However, one thing people underestimate about chickens is their ability to reduce a garden to a complete mud patch within a few weeks.
In this garden, the chickens had long gone, leaving a patch of ground looking for a new use. The main garden is overshadowed by trees and this small patch gets the best of the afternoon sun, and so it was proposed we turn it into a family chill-out zone. The space is on two levels. The main area is accessed from the garden up a flight of six winding sleeper steps. A further flight of stone steps gives access to an upper level to the rear, which has a shed in the far corner and a large plane tree. We designed an oak sleeper bench to surround the tree base and the shed was converted into a playhouse for the kids. The rest of this area was laid with bark.
The lower garden narrows towards the back, so here we created a raised stone planter, which forms a seat. Continuing this theme, we built in oak sleeper seats along either side of the wall, which provides sitting space for a small crowd, if needed. The space was then paved with a combination of Indian sandstone and small stone sets that were left over from the driveway and all laid in a radial pattern around a central fire pit. The fire pit has a circular stone cap, which can be fitted when the fire is not being used. Providing a focus for social gatherings during summer evenings, the area around the fire is complemented by subtle lighting positioned under the oak sleepers, which casts a wash of light across the stone paving. The steps up to the rear play area were rebuilt and a round-pole pergola constructed, which will have a wisteria climbing over it and along the handrail to the rear.
We built a fan-shaped pergola into the sharp corner of the garden, over the raised bed, and behind this, set at a lower level, is a small play deck. The kids can climb on to this from the bark area and, when the climbers have grown up around the pergola, it will make a hidden “tree house” space where they can make a camp. This is a large urban garden and there is a larger patio next to the house, but by creating an area with fixed seating, atmospheric lighting and a central focus (in this case a fire pit, but it could be a small pool or water feature), we built a popular, useable space which could easily be fitted into a smaller urban garden.
http://www.allgardendesigns.co.uk/
In this garden, the chickens had long gone, leaving a patch of ground looking for a new use. The main garden is overshadowed by trees and this small patch gets the best of the afternoon sun, and so it was proposed we turn it into a family chill-out zone. The space is on two levels. The main area is accessed from the garden up a flight of six winding sleeper steps. A further flight of stone steps gives access to an upper level to the rear, which has a shed in the far corner and a large plane tree. We designed an oak sleeper bench to surround the tree base and the shed was converted into a playhouse for the kids. The rest of this area was laid with bark.
The lower garden narrows towards the back, so here we created a raised stone planter, which forms a seat. Continuing this theme, we built in oak sleeper seats along either side of the wall, which provides sitting space for a small crowd, if needed. The space was then paved with a combination of Indian sandstone and small stone sets that were left over from the driveway and all laid in a radial pattern around a central fire pit. The fire pit has a circular stone cap, which can be fitted when the fire is not being used. Providing a focus for social gatherings during summer evenings, the area around the fire is complemented by subtle lighting positioned under the oak sleepers, which casts a wash of light across the stone paving. The steps up to the rear play area were rebuilt and a round-pole pergola constructed, which will have a wisteria climbing over it and along the handrail to the rear.
We built a fan-shaped pergola into the sharp corner of the garden, over the raised bed, and behind this, set at a lower level, is a small play deck. The kids can climb on to this from the bark area and, when the climbers have grown up around the pergola, it will make a hidden “tree house” space where they can make a camp. This is a large urban garden and there is a larger patio next to the house, but by creating an area with fixed seating, atmospheric lighting and a central focus (in this case a fire pit, but it could be a small pool or water feature), we built a popular, useable space which could easily be fitted into a smaller urban garden.
http://www.allgardendesigns.co.uk/