A team effort

Last November I went to see prospective clients on a site near Cheltenham, and knew straightaway that this project was one that I very much wanted to be involved with. The house was very contemporary, with curved facades and large areas of glass. Inside the style was personal and distinctive, with a large collection of mainly North American art. The big windows gave great views out onto the garden, and the clients were keen to really transform the currently uninspiring garden.

Above: the back garden before work started; TPO'd Yew tree in prominent position

To my delight the meeting went well and my quote was accepted, and I started work on the design soon after. I used Sketchup to really understand the level changes and  the relationships of the spaces to each other, as well as the views out from the house, and the movement of the sun around the garden. The curved architecture of the house gave me a strong starting point for the design. There were also several mature trees on site, two of them protected by TPOs, and the constraints of preserving the existing levels around the trees also helped to generate the final design. My clients proved to be wonderfully adventurous and open to ideas, and agreed to incorporating a feature curved wall made of rammed earth, two substantial water features and a summerhouse with a green roof. They were happy with specification of high quality materials including Quercus woven oak fencing, low retaining walls made of chunky green oak sleepers set vertically to form curves, and sawn yorkstone paving.

Above - positioning the formwork for the curved rammed earth wall. Quercus fencing looking great on the boundary.

Once the full tender package had been drawn up and prices returned, we were able to appoint Jim Steed from Outdoor Living Space, a choice I was very happy with as he had built a garden for me before and I had been impressed with his workmanship and attention to detail. Work on site started in earnest in July, and has been going very smoothly (except for the issues with restrictive covenants and withdrawn permitted development rights, which are another story altogether...). The water features are being built by Sam Clark from Landscaping4u, so it is a collaborative effort, and this seems to be working well. All the contractors are very happy to be treated to regular deliveries of buckets of tea and home made cake from the clients! (Sadly I always seem to miss the cake break...)

Above - setting out the lines of setts which will cut through the yorkstone paving, and looking to the split levl pool beyond

As ever it's exciting to see my design taking shape, and this project is particularly enjoyable because of the great clients and team spirit from all involved. Can't wait to see it all planted up!

Above - pool going in next to the front door. I'm looking forward to seeing the effect of light reflecting off the water into the walls and ceiling inside.

www.chameleongardens.co.uk

 

 

 

Votes: 0
E-mail me when people leave their comments –

Comments

  • PRO

    Looking forward to the next instalment Rose. 

     

    The quality of workmanship is immediately evident.

  • PRO
    superb Rose, I look forward to seeing photos of the completed project
  • thanks all - will post more pics as the work progresses.

  • A lovely job to get! Good luck with the rest of the build. Did you Survey yourself?

  • Thanks Phil. Survey was done by Sitech in Cirencester. I do have the kit for levels surveys but it's not really what I want to spend my time doing, so I recommend professional surveys to my clients on anything other than small, straightforward gardens.

  • I like to have all the levels absolutely spot on so normally would recommend professional surveys too but increasingly I'm finding that it way too expensive compared to the overall budget. Do you find it difficult to persuade clients to pay for this service?

  • I agree Phil, professional surveys do seem expensive on top of design fees. Perhaps that just shows that designers are not charging enough! I think since I became MSGD, the sort of enquiries I get through the SGD website are from clients who see the garden design process as equivalent to paying an architect to do design work on their house, and also understand that other professional input may be needed eg engineer, surveyor etc. But yes, for many schemes/ clients, the cost of a professional survey is offputting...

  • This has been a fun project to be a part of.  After days of fibre glassing i am looking forward to seeing the pools filled with water and the fish go in. It is good to be part of building such an exciting design.

This reply was deleted.

You need to be a member of Landscape Juice Network to add comments!

Join Landscape Juice Network

Open forum activity

Pete Henchey replied to T &T gardening services ltd's discussion Mulching Mowers
"Ah ok thanks for the advice"
11 hours ago
Si Al updated their profile
yesterday
Billybop replied to Adam Woods's discussion Coming to a large garden near you!!
"yes these robots are most welcome to take any of my lawn jobs"
yesterday
David Benson replied to Adam Woods's discussion Coming to a large garden near you!!
"very good but there will still be a need for the strimmer and lawn edgers "
yesterday
Adam Woods posted a discussion
Yesterday I went to a client to see this - there are two of them, and have been sold to keep their 2 acres of lawn comprising of 3 massive lawns, with hills,scattered trees and shrubs, together with a traditional square lawn near.  the house. TO cut…
yesterday
Graham Taylor replied to Ag's discussion PA1/6 Applying Bacteria based Moss killers for Lawns
"Just do it................ commonsense says its ok even if mindless bureaucracy suggests not. .  If we've got it wrong, whoever is going to report you +  its not as though you'll be going to prison! "
Tuesday
Vicky Braddock and Cameron Price joined Landscape Juice Network
Tuesday
Cameron Price updated their profile
Tuesday
Fusion Media posted a blog post
In the world of football, the quality of the playing surface can make a significant difference in the game's outcome and the overall experience for players and spectators alike.While top-tier stadiums often boast pristine pitches, grassroots clubs…
Tuesday
Liam Healy posted a discussion
**Posted with admin (Henry’s) permission - Thank you, Henry.** I am selling a custom chipper and trailer set-up. Ideal for small/one person landscaping/gardening. The narrow access means it can pass through most side/garden gates and you can chip…
Tuesday
Peter sellers replied to T &T gardening services ltd's discussion Mulching Mowers
"We tried the grin but massively overpriced, the mulching performance no better than our 537HRX HY'S, not tried the Etesia but the HRX gives us the ability to collect when we need to without messing about with mulch plugs or swapping blades"
Tuesday
Pete Henchey replied to T &T gardening services ltd's discussion Mulching Mowers
"Thanks Peter, so do you have experience with the Etesia and Grin mulching machines?"
Tuesday
Gary R replied to Ag's discussion PA1/6 Applying Bacteria based Moss killers for Lawns
"I'd say no. Unless it's a herbacide or pestercide I don't think you'd need a PA1 / PA6"
Monday
Billybop replied to Andrew Betteridge's discussion Ego hedgecutter recall in Australia
"Cheers for the heads up Andrew, am a big fan of some of the Ego kit, but even without the safety issue the performance of that design of hedge trimmer is totally underwhelming anyhow"
Monday
Andrew Betteridge posted a discussion
Some Ego hedgecutters have been recalled in Australia due to starting unexpectedly. https://7news.com.au/news/ego-power-cordless-brushless-hedge-trimme...
Monday
Si Al liked Adam Woods's discussion Box blight?
Monday
More…