Norwich City Gardens

Working on smaller city gardens can be extremely enjoyable.  It’s very satisfying seeing a small, unloved area turning into a beautiful and useable area for outside living.  This project, for David and Laila, was a great example, with a fantastic end result. This city garden retreat now provides a relaxing and unoverlooked area for city living.

Overlooked Back Garden

The back garden was overlooked and lacking in privacy when i first visited on a cold winters day. With a shed in one corner and overgrown lawn it didn’t offer too much inspiration.

The Garden Design

One of the challenges of the design was to integrate the shed into the garden as unobtrusively as possible.  We decided to move this to the back left of the garden, obscured by a wooden arch.  Painting the shed and fence black further served to de-emphasise these features.  This also helped to accentuate the plants in this lovely city garden retreat.

We also wanted to ensure that the garden felt as unoverlooked and private as possible.  Moving the seating area to the back part of the garden caught the next of the sunshine.  A wooden pergola around the border of the garden ensured a feeling of privacy.  Climbers would be planted all around to give vertical interest to the garden.

The video link below shows the value of producing a 3D garden design for the Clients before finalising.

The Planting Phase

After the contractors had completed the hard landscaping, I finished the garden with the planting.  I included three small garden trees  and a variety of shrubs, climbers and perennials.  The small, upright trees were Amelanchier ‘Rainbow Pillar’, Prunus ‘Snow Goose‘ and Malus ‘Red Obelisk’.  The climbers included a Wisteria, various Clematis and some smaller climbing roses.  A wall trained Chaenomeles ‘Nivalis’ was also used, with shrubs such as Fatsia and phormium providing architectural interest.

The Completed Garden

After the Clients had painted the shed and the fences, the garden was completed.  I returned after a month to check on how things were going. I was pleased to see the garden settling in well, with everything looking good.

Richard Walters 2023

Should your require assistance with your own grand design, or just a garden revamp or new mixed border, feel free to email or ring me (07801 252 972) for more information or an informal discussion about your requirements.