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Will a back to front patio work in a small city garden?

Dannyboy334Dannyboy334 Posts: 68
in Garden design
I live in a terrace house which is soon to be renovated. The back garden is North facing and is a blank canvas but currently suffers from lack of privacy. I had a Landscape gardener out a few months ago to help me solve my privacy issue as the garden is very overlooked. I had mentioned to him I wanted a low maintenance garden. He came up with the idea of a pergola over the whole garden which solved most of the privacy issues. Along the back boundary of the garden he suggested planting Carpinus Fastigiata trees as they grow upwards rather than outwards into the neighbours gardens. I lack privacy on the left hand side so he suggested a planter with shrubs such as Pyracontha/Euonymus/Cotoneaster. He suggested as the garden was so small to make the rest of it a patio.

Since his visit I have decided I need some storage for my single black bin and bike. I am also concerned by the amount of patio which will repeat too much and look boring in my eyes. I have also decided I do not want the garden table and chairs too close to the rear sliding door as it becomes an eye sore when looking out onto the garden from the dining table.

I have attached the layout of my proposed garden which includes a patio at the back and a blank canvas for the front section. I was looking for suggestions on what to place on front green part of the ground to provide interest. For example could I have a rock garden in the green shaded area or a low maintenance sedum garden. My worry is the space is not big enough for anything other than simple paving/wooden decking/stones considering I need access to the left and right sides due to the sliding door opening both ways. I am also worried about making too much clutter for the eyes to process.

In my attached photos I have also included the shed storage area for the bike and bin. I was wondering instead of making it from wood could I make it from brick and use that brick to grow climbers on? I was also thinking of placing wires between the pergola posts on the left hand side and using those to support climbers. My main concern is with having all these climbers are they going to create too much ongoing maintenance?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.



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Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    It looks to me as if your garden will be very shaded. Also will the downstairs room get much light?
    I would turn the shed around so that the long end faces the wall. You would then get more usable patio space
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think it's an open-fronted bin/bike store rather than a shed - if so, the open side should face the gate for convenience (and probably the OP won't want to be looking at the bins from the seating area). 
    I would also be concerned about blocking the light from the room. Maybe have the pergola just over the patio seating area? If you leave a bed between the walls and the patio and  put some supports by the end wall, you could grow climbers over it and you might not need the trees as well.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited April 2020
    Fastigiate hornbeam are too large (and not fastigiate enough - they end up quite broad). Amelanchier 'Obelisk' would be more in scale. They will need adequate soil which is open to the elements (rather than having too much of their roots covered by paving). 

    Unless you absolutely must not be seen by anyone in your garden ever (lol) I would scale back the pergola. Although it is a good idea placing it over your patio for a sense of privacy. Go out and have a look around, and try and be strategic about your screening - e.g. do you actually need to have wires along the side of the pergola? They'd be above fence height so presumably not actually providing screening.

    The planter box on the left would be ideal for Phyllostachys nigra or aurea, which would provide a sense of screening.

    Do you not want some paving by the patio doors so you don't step directly onto grass? In fact, why not pave the whole lot and call it a courtyard garden. Break up the space with planting beds, and a change of materials (stone slabs / brick / gravel).

    You could train climbers such as Trachelospermum up the face of your shed.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Grass won't grow well in that much shade, especially facing north.  It will also mean you're treading muck and moisture into the house except in very dry spells in summer.  It all looks too square to me and such a small area of grass will be a nightmare to maintain well and require storage for a mower.

    I would go for large, light coloured slabs, maybe laid diagonally to make the space seem wider and I would turn that bike shed round and leave planting holes on the side facing the house to grow climbers such as roses or a honeysuckle or clematis.  There are plenty that don't need full sun and even prefer shade.  

    You could use large pots or more planting holes to grow climbers and other plants to soften the pergola and boxiness.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    Do you have photos of the garden, so we can get a better idea of the privacy problem and the light levels? The pictures don't make sense to me - why the trees are in the paved area? And what do you want in the green area - grass? I wouldn't do that.
    I agree with Obelixx, I would do a combination of paving and integrated beds. There are many low maintenance plants that would do well in raised beds to give you greenery and you could also add climbers and some free-standing pots.
  • Dannyboy334Dannyboy334 Posts: 68
    edited April 2020
    Just to note the other purpose of the pergola is to hide ugly extensions to my rear please see the below image. Only a full sized pergola hides that ugly tall extension directly in the middle. (it is around 8 metres high in total)




    I am hoping as the gaps between each plank are 1175mm and there are only 5 planks not too much light will be lost. I do intend to break up the pergola with climbers. This will give me a beautiful sky garden. Please see below images for the sun position during the day on the 1st of May last year.

    One thing to note about the sunlight is the evening sunlight is on the left where I need my screening the most.

    WillDB, I will now be going for the paving/gravel look and have scrapped my idea to totally cover that area with grass/greenery.

    Open to more suggestions.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    That's a much better idea, paving might be more practical (cats like gravel to poo in) and I would agree that paving on the diagonal makes a garden look wider and more interesting. I'd also agree on a bamboo in the big container. I think the pergola idea is good in theory but it does look rather oppressive in wood - what about a lighter structure, like metal? 
    The storage shed need only be as high as your bike and the long side could be fixed to the fence with a sloping roof to lessen the impact of an angular feature. Would you need the bike shed to be totally secure though?  
    The trees are a definite no-no, you just have to look at the out of hand birch next door to realise that, but you could try a small one in a very big pot if are you prepared for the constant watering.  You are likely to have to do constant leaf clearing from that birch.
    And finally, if you don't like looking at your current outdoor table and chairs, splash the cash (if there's any left!) and get ones you absolutely love that could be a design feature in their own right.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Dannyboy334Dannyboy334 Posts: 68
    edited April 2020
    Lizzie27 said:
    That's a much better idea, paving might be more practical (cats like gravel to poo in) and I would agree that paving on the diagonal makes a garden look wider and more interesting. I'd also agree on a bamboo in the big container. I think the pergola idea is good in theory but it does look rather oppressive in wood - what about a lighter structure, like metal? 
    The storage shed need only be as high as your bike and the long side could be fixed to the fence with a sloping roof to lessen the impact of an angular feature. Would you need the bike shed to be totally secure though?  
    The trees are a definite no-no, you just have to look at the out of hand birch next door to realise that, but you could try a small one in a very big pot if are you prepared for the constant watering.  You are likely to have to do constant leaf clearing from that birch.
    And finally, if you don't like looking at your current outdoor table and chairs, splash the cash (if there's any left!) and get ones you absolutely love that could be a design feature in their own right.
    Could I not make the pergola look less oppressive by covering it in growing plants up the legs and along the beams. This gives the added benefit of creating a sky garden.

    The shed needs to house the bin too which is 1 metre high and around 1.4 metres high with the lid open. I could have the roof slanted away from the fence thanks for that idea.

    Could I not get trees along the back that do not shed their leaves?, Another option is to have climbers all up along that back wall and have them meet the climbers on the top of the pergola creating a 2.8 meter wall of climbers. Or is that too much maintenance?
  • GreenbirdGreenbird Posts: 237
    Take a look a Juan Carlos' design on last fridays gardeners world.


  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    If you used tensioned wires or maybe metal supports designed for concrete (builders' merchants) instead of thick wooden beams it will be less dark and heavy but still support climbers and I think you could go for a small tree about 2 to 3 metres in from that back boundary and plant it between your beams or wires so that it softens the lines of that building behind, even in winter when the branches are bare.

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details%3Fplantid%3D5318 would give you spring blossom and autumn foliage and, as it develops, you can remove the lower branches to a height that has them above your beams.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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