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…
Mirrors are a great way to brighten up any garden and add that extra added and varying dimension to your space outdoors. The following are 5 examples of how I have used mirrors in gardens to change, for the greater a gardens space.
If you have an area which needs that little something to brighten it up, this should get the mind flowing and maybe thinking in a slightly different light.
1. Surrounded by Walls on all Sides
This garden area is walled in on all four sides making available light almost at a premium. To change that, three of the walls in this garden were painted white whilst one was covered with three full length, slightly separated mirrors. The light increase now as the sun moves around is phenomenal. More than that, it made the garden interesting and the views so different depending on where you stood. Brighter for the better on so many levels.
2. Low Level Light Reflection
With lights installed at ground level a 4 metre wide paved area separates the light source from the mirror surface installed on the far side. This allows the light, as you see it in the image, to be viewed from a very different angle. Extremely effective at night and made even better by choice planting which dappled the lights shadows as the winds movement caused it to appear to flicker.
3. The Small Courtyard Garden
This small courtyard is around 1 metre by 3.5 metres in size. Raised beds in place the mirror choice allowed the transformation from a dull and non descript potential no mans land to one were dappled planting gave it just that extra added dimension. The photograph was taken from inside the kitchen area and the rain at the time dapples the image captured slightly.
4. Mirror Garden Surface Furniture
Sometimes less is more and this table top covering was just enough to create a little intrigue from one point within the garden. On a non garden design side note, the use of mirror here also ensured a clean easy of the eating area. That aside, personally [and although I might have been told off for it in my youth], I liked it most when my elbows rested on it.
5. The Narrow Garden Space
Just at the point where the garden narrows and the design may appear like it has just, well… ended. In this case this garden very simply needed that something to take ones eye away from a path that I was not able to change nor move – [client is king]. Note the distance it created as you look at it. Simple, yet effective.
mirrorn1 a sheet of glass with a metal coating on its back, that reflects an image of an object placed in front of it
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