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Open field view garden borders

jacque57jacque57 Posts: 4
in Garden design
I have a small south facing garden approx 40ft wide between 6ft tall wooden side fences with open post and rail fence at rear to livestock field.It can get windy. It is just grass depth about 25 ft with an ornamental cherry tree in one corner and narrow vegetable plot along one side. The house has a central sunroom allowing views. I need advice on making this more interesting. Thanks 

Posts

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Hello Jacque,  I actually think your garden looks lovely as it is - lucky you to have a rural view like that. I'm not sure I would add anything more to it. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hi @jacque57. Windy sites can be difficult  :)
    Do you just want to make your seating/dining area more protected, or the whole garden?
    You can do several things to protect the whole site - hedging, staggered lines of planting, especially on the angle, trellis with climbers to filter it etc, and those can all still give you views, depending on whether you want a fixed view from one spot, or multiple ones. Nothing can really be put in place to protect the whole site and still offer a full view. A very old design trick is hedging with 'windows' cut into it. 

    The seating area is easier in that a pergola, or some simple screening with climbers on it, can be put there, or some carefully chosen shrubs and beds. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • jacque57jacque57 Posts: 4
    Thanks Lizzie I do love my view and count my blessings but it can feel bleak in winter with veg plot under mulch and leafless tree. Even in summer patio seating area can be uncomfortable as side passage is a wind tunnel 
  • jacque57jacque57 Posts: 4
    Thanks fairygirl I had considered a hedge as I love hawthorn new greens in spring and the birds but wonder how this can be maintained as no access to field to trim other side. The cows are pretty good at eating anything on boundary but thought they might leave a prickly hedge. I was wondering about a false gate to break a hedge line and provide viewing point. A trellis screen to partially enclose patio might be a very helpful idea re wind exposure.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hawthorn is pretty standard as a stock hedge all over the UK.  You wouldn't really need to access the other side for trimming, the coos would do that for you  ;)
    You could even play about with it, shaping it like waves or 'cloud pruning' etc, depending on how artistic you felt, and how much time you had. As long as you could maintain the height, and your side, it would be fine. 
    A false gate is also a nice idea, and another design trick.  :)
    Play about with some sketches and work out the points you like best as a viewpoint. Then see what would work. 
    Any planting will filter wind, although it may not completely stop it. I have quite a lot of hedging and taller planting round my boundary, but it doesn't stop my garden being windy. The prevailing wind comes out of the south west and west, so I wouldn't be able to completely block it without having a solid hedge fifteen feet tall, which would then cause a lot of shade. Compromise  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    edited September 2020
    If the prevailing wind direction is on an angle, you could have a hedge on that half of the boundary to protect your patio and main garden area. Then you could leave a space at the rest to keep your view.  
    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • jacque57jacque57 Posts: 4
    Thanks thats reassuring to get a second opinion re hedge gate idea. Will work on this.

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