The following are a selection of private back gardens that I made over the last year or so. There’s no apparent reason why I chose the following 8 gardens, apart from the fact that they all are quite different in their finish, their budget and also what they were before I got to them.
After 14 years creating gardens as Donegan Landscaping, naturally, I have seen just a few more than that and the following might just get you thinking in the right direction.
There’s a link below each pic if you want to read a bit more about them and see some before and afters.
Re the pic below; of course I don’t go making gardens in my Sunday best. But the day that one was taken by my mate John was a grand day and St Stephens Green behind me always looks superb. Even in autumn. As a good gardens should. Anyhow for now…
note: this was garden was done last week as part of an overall back and front landscaping project. Due to my hands being covered in compost the last days I’m only getting around to posting it now.
As front of home garden driveways go, there are two immediate options that may come to mind when we think of a final landscaped or now in this case existing finish:
like a teepee with a chandelier, it just doesn’t sit right and stands out for all of the wrong reasons. You gain extra double points here if it jumps out like a sore thumb when contrasted alongside its fellow home fronts.
It’s final finish is that it fits in with its neighbours and maybe is a little of the usual lemon shirt and tie set at Christmas time, complete with pink jumper for Dad. A sort of sure that’ll do him, if you please.
Or and finally, in the brand spanking new garden department, it should have a certain je ne sais quoi. And by default really it should also stand out ~ but for all of the right and very tasty reasons.
Fair enough, that’s 3 options, but you get where I’m coming from, right ? Right. Also tasty. That word in my head is double underlined. I’ll get back to that in a little bit.
Intro the before Peter got his hands on it pictures ?
Simple as it may sound, the key to any great space is the creation of a feeling. One that suits, fits and just sits rightly with you, within your outdoor space called home. Maybe that’s the hard bit ?
To explain; Some gardens, I find, can be a little like listening to Daniel O’Donnell, with your Father in Law, complete with that cup of lovely Darjeeling tea. And that’s grand. But sometimes you maybe are more yourself, relaxed and mind-less of the toils of everyday life that one should escape, when you are seated in some old Sheebeen with your best mate and a pint of plain; or in this case your garden, if you get me. That in mind this space, exuded everything that is the ultimate in absolute and pure escapism.
There are days when I can only but wish I had a doppelgänger. Just so he can pat me on the back for another fine job well done. Big headed much, you may say, maybe. But I really, really like this garden.
I will admit I did make more changes in my mind on this one more than any other space I have created over the last 3 years. But creative and good-looking as the end result, the mild edits in my head were proven wise in the end. Far, far more important, the client [I hate that word…] was happy.
To the garden: In the off centre middle of all this outdoors lies a lovely natural matt black natural stone patio of 16 metres squared, wrapped around and entirely softened with of instant height plants. To the harder surface, I like the way this stone goes from matt to almost a gloss black as the rain droplets make it dapple in appearance; something that never ceases to make me smile.
Behind the scenes, the stone runs spirit-level level against the terrain of the garden, yet from the outer it appears level because of how the planting wraps around it. More than that, I like the subtle understatement the stone makes and put simply, it is pretty darned tasty.
If it be the simple things, I love that the bin screen was not shop bought. And silly as it sounds, if there were awards for hand made timber screens, yup you guessed it, I’d get my doppelgänger to present me with one of them too.
In case you might be wondering, the brief also included a note for not all in the main season flowering plants. You may think that not a good thing [?]. Au contraire and far from it says this plants person, in reality, it just makes it different and in a good way. For me, it quite simply makes the choosing of the plants for their new home that little extra interesting.
Below: The obligatory before Peter got his hands on it garden picture
At this point you’re maybe beginning to wonder if Donegan Pants-Gaping believes he has any flaws at all. And though my photography is sometimes rubbish, my including of the image below is more to give you an idea of the journey that one must take to actually get into the garden. Take a scroll back through the images…. because you’ll see that one has to go the full length of the new space outdoors to get into the new room outside, within a new room outside… if you get me. And in the not one acre sized gardens department, that, is one fine trait to behold.
It is only after completing a garden like this, that I wonder why I wondered why. And though the garden will need a little time to come into its own and the plants a little time to find their orientation; one should never forget that gardens without people in them are pretty darned meaningless spaces. That in mind, I’ve got a really nice feeling about one. 😉
Q’s or thoughts [?] leave a comment below or drop me a line.
This has to be without question, one of them gardens I put together where the photographs will do most of the talking. I know, it’s unusual. But then there is fine logic behind my choosing to study horticulture and not non moving cinematography.
That aside, you may have noticed that the gardens I make, put together, create, see in my head…. can differ, or vary a lot. I find it good to listen to my clients the people who will use their garden and the newest addition to their home most after it’s completion. It’s also that variance that is that bit of my work [?] that I love so much, that makes no week or day in my and your great outdoors ever the same.
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