Sorting out my front garden!

Now that the hard landscaping on my back garden is nearing completion (hurragh!), I'm turning my attention towards the front, which currently consists of an ugly concrete driveway, a large rectangle of grass and a small rectangle of grass. I have added some hanging baskets either side of the garage door (not pictured!), but that's about it so far.

My aims are:

1. to improve the general look of the front of the property
2. reduce the amount of maintenence required (specifically lawn mowing!)
3. Soften the impact of the boxy garage protruding from the front of the property!

Excuse the naff MS Paint drawing, but here are my initial thoughts:



1. Block pave most of the area, but curve the paving from the front right corner of the garage across to the right hand boundary wall, as per the yellow line.
2. Between the paved area and the house/garage use slate chippings or paddlestones and some plants/shrubbery.
3. As per the other yellow line, leave a curved section unpaved in the front corner to plant a palm-type tree of some description.
4. Attach a trellis (red box) to the side wall of the garage and plant a climber of some description.

Firstly, I'd appreciate any thoughts on my plans or any other ideas people may have. I also have some specific questions and concerns. Firstly, the area in the corner of the garage and the house is very sheltered and gets little sunlight. The garage side wall is north facing and the front on the house is east facing. I am, therefore wondering what plants/shrubs would work in this area and also, what (if any) climber would work on the north facing wall?

 

looking good mbh lets all hope we get a good summer as it seems we all get more done with the sun on your back, the plans look very well the only thing i would say is have you ever looked at patterned concrete, the only reason i ask is last year i had mine done after a lot of building work roughly the same size as yours and next door had block pave and nearly all the street have said the block pave doesnt look as good as the patterned concrete..look foward to seeing how it all comes together does this mean your comin out from under the stairs

 

I've looked at patterned concrete briefly on the net, but never seen it in the "flesh". From the pictures I've seen, I'm not convinced it does look as good as block paving although it's difficult to tell just by looking at pics on a screen. I like the fact that it's more hassle free though (i.e. no issues with weeds growing between the blocks etc).

Do you know how much it typically costs in compasison with block paving?

 

I like your ideas. You can, surprisingly, grow lots of things up a north facing wall as long as they are frost hardy. I had a climber called Alberic Barbier which did well and a climbing hydrangea which also did well.In the really shady bits you could go for woodland plants but the rest of the east facing part it will be your soil acidity that limits what you can grow. Hope this helps.

 

no weeds but next door has :D see what you think

 

Very nice Ste but I'm not a great fan of patterned concrete myself and before you have a go at me good buddie it's not because I have block paving on our drive! :D

Its just that one of our nieces has done most of her front and also a patio in patterned concrete I think it cost about 6 or 7 grand and although it does look really nice it's incredibly slippery when it's icy (I should know because I slipped on the blooming thing)and also hers has started to crack an awful lot too something Bob was more than happy to point out to her.

I'm sure it depends if who you employ to do the job and it goes without saying if he arrives on a horse don't open the door to him. :D Hel.xxx.

 

We have just finished some hard landscaping on a similarly plain back garden using block paving for paths and a block paved circular feature on which we can stand pots - all surrounded with dwarf box hedging which softens the edges and helps the overall appearance.
Sorry I cannot show pictures as I am computer illiterate............

 

Pic as its known in the trade or patternd concrete is a fantastic surface IF properly done but can be a nightmare with cowboy firms, part of the problem is the binder laceur seems to wear after five years leaving traffic lines.

Personally id sooner have sets, tarmac or better still properly laid gravel.

 

Looks good

I'm not a great fan of beds that come to very acute angles - I always seem to wind up skinning my knuckles on the edges - so, if it were me, I'd keep the bed beside the garage a bit wider.

I can't decide whether this would work or not - if you're using membrane covered with gravel in the beds anyway, is it worth having more "borders" done like this so you can expand the planting if you want to? Maybe using different grades / some nice (empty) pots to add interest... I wonder whether the palm will look a little isolated down in the corner by itself?

We've a rose called "Mermaid" on the north facing wall of our house. Lots of fairly large, single pale yellow flowers. Seems pretty happy there, and was still flowering at Xmas last year! The clematis "Nelly Moser" is also often grown in shade as the flowers tend to bleach in the sun.