Kerb Appeal

Small front gardens are often overlooked for the sake of practicality. The domain of the car and the purveyor of dull hard surfaces. However, it needn't be this way. Gravel can be a great option to give a more naturalistic look while providing a permeable surface to grow plants through. Quite simply wherever the car or pedestrian access isn't needed you could grow plants to create some interest and soften those hard edges. For best results grow plants that will tolerate the poor soil you're likely to find under old drives. Classic Mediterranean plants such as Lavender, Rosemary and Euphorbia work well.

This small, unappealing drive not only looked dull, but was also built too high up against the house causing damp issues in heavy rain. The brief was to design a small garden that looked appealing and sorted out the practical problems.

The wall was painted black to create a striking contrast and the area around was planted up with perennials, grasses and Pinus mugo.

The ground at the front of the property was excavated and small retaining wall was built to split the levels.

The finished project - look forward to seeing it in the spring when the perennials start making an appearance.