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Landscaping Dublin: Small Back Garden

dublin landscaping

If you have anything that might be considered a small, narrow or 3 bed semi D sized garden the golden rules to making it feel greater [in size], are really very simple.

  • Where possible, eliminate all symmetry – Think of it like a small bathroom or kitchen, the smaller the space, the smaller the floor or/ and wall tile you would use.
  • Make the back drop one colour and as bright as possible – The bathroom/ kitchen analogy in mind, despite what that dude on the fence painting advert does, you would never paint it dark green. Well you might, but logically brighter colours reflect light and darker colours absorb it. It is why leaves are green.

dublin landscaping in progress landscaping in progress

Through the ’80’s when the garden walls were block built, through the noughties as brickies costs when through the roof and then later as a result as fencing became the choice of divide; The problem with this is and was that the average fence panel measures approximately 2.2 metres in width and the average garden that came standard of a home through that era was approximately 8 x 10 metres. In short and to the point, I can tell the dimensions of your garden without even walking outside.

And that fact alone makes it feel like any other garden that may come flat packed complete with a deck, a shed and a Saturday morning highlighted only by ‘if I pull the curtains she might not ask me to cut the grass‘. Like being at a party with flat tonic water, no ice or lemons and being asked if you’d like gin with that. Someone get me a Cliff Richard album and my beige corduroys. Ferrero rocher anyone ?

dublin landscaping in progress

This garden does contain some symmetry, but it is in pockets and they are kept distant from the peripherals of the gardens space and from each other. And within that, there are hard surface changes within the patio, via the use of a natural stone and timber combined to break, soften and not allow the eye form a very simply calculation.

donegan garden

The pebble used here is 15 – 10 mm in size, smaller to feel larger and brighter if you will. Of note also the planting islands [?] are used to hide the corners/ meeting points of edges from view and thus creating an added feeling of distance.

All of this I should add is low maintenance in mind, it very simply just does not appear like it has been created to serve just that purpose alone.

And from inside, just as you are about to walk out the back door, on your left was a wee little no mans land, now complete with mirrors and raised planting.

dublin landscaping

Q’s [?] leave a comment below or drop me a line.

Peter Donegan:

donegan landscaping

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