You have had such wonderful encouragement from the people on this site. I also love your courtyard. So British!! Please keep in touch and send us photos this summer.
PS And don't change anything - except cleaning the flagstones, some climbers and new plants and faffing around with the pots!!
Enjoy that wine this summer with your friends and family!
You have had such wonderful encouragement from the people on this site. I also love your courtyard. So British!! Please keep in touch and send us photos this summer.
PS And don't change anything - except cleaning the flagstones, some climbers and new plants and faffing around with the pots!!
Enjoy that wine this summer with your friends and family!
Thank you. Yes so much lovely support.
I will post an update when I’ve hopefully made some progress.
Hello @Peoniesandprimroses, I use stone cleaning products called Patio Magic or Algon which you simply dilute and water on, either using a watering can, a sprayer or just a broom. It kills algae and cleans the stone at the same time. Most GC's will stock them. I love your courtyard, reminds me of one I used to have.
That gate is divine and, as such, I would hesitate doing anything to it but might entertain going for a distressed, washed-out sage green look. Alternatively I might consider buffing it with teak oil if you were prepared to attend to it annually.
If it was my garden I would get rid of the ivy and replace it with a clematis or, if the conditions would suit it, a rose over the doorway. I would have Erigeron karvinskianus spilling over some of the low walls and try to get it to grow in the main wall as some other plants are already doing.
Less is more is a philosophy worth considering though I accept that to be at odds with the incipient cottage courtyard garden that is developing. Personally I would avoid almost all ornaments except maybe for one statement piece from somewhere like an architectural salvage yard and which might take a year or three to find. Meanwhile, and demonstrating once again my snobby prejudices, avoid at all costs resin Buddhas and similar from the Range. I like the mirror but be sure to position it in such a way as to cause birds no harm.
I am a big fan of terracotta and like the harmony that comes from having just one style of pot. Step back for a moment and consider what you are accruing. Do you think the range of colours and styles are complementary? I would be a bit ruthless and give away impulse buys (and yes, I am looking at the trough of what are possibly heathers!). Likewise I like to give much consideration to colour combinations but I know others are quite content to pair strong yellow with vibrant pink, for example. I’m not, neither in my garden nor in my wardrobe.
Do nothing and you’ll still have a charming space. Plan some changes and I think it will be the envy of all who see it.
Gardeners world on Friday featured a courtyard garden in Leeds. The chap used wooden decking tiles in his courtyard on top of the flags tones/ cement. It looked rather smart and had the added advantage of keeping pots of the ground during the winter to reduce frost impact. I had seen it before, it just clicks together and is really easy to put down.
@BenCotto, you beat me to it with the sage green colour on the gate, that was my instinct. This sort of thing I agree with what others have said, it's very pretty and characterful. My neighbour used patio magic and was pleased with it, it's not cheap but l think you will be surprised at what difference it makes.
I wouldn't touch the door, I think it's perfect. The courtyard doesn't strike me as tired or dull and it is good sized space - enough to be able to have a table. I think yes to mirrors and yes to terracotta. I like the ivy but yes, I would add long season repeat flowering rose (whichever colour most appeals), clematis and a scented climber for the evening.
If it's a bbq under the green cover, check that you use it and love it enough to merit the courtyard space.
Posts
PS And don't change anything - except cleaning the flagstones, some climbers and new plants and faffing around with the pots!!
Enjoy that wine this summer with your friends and family!
I love your courtyard, reminds me of one I used to have.
If it was my garden I would get rid of the ivy and replace it with a clematis or, if the conditions would suit it, a rose over the doorway. I would have Erigeron karvinskianus spilling over some of the low walls and try to get it to grow in the main wall as some other plants are already doing.
Less is more is a philosophy worth considering though I accept that to be at odds with the incipient cottage courtyard garden that is developing. Personally I would avoid almost all ornaments except maybe for one statement piece from somewhere like an architectural salvage yard and which might take a year or three to find. Meanwhile, and demonstrating once again my snobby prejudices, avoid at all costs resin Buddhas and similar from the Range. I like the mirror but be sure to position it in such a way as to cause birds no harm.
I am a big fan of terracotta and like the harmony that comes from having just one style of pot. Step back for a moment and consider what you are accruing. Do you think the range of colours and styles are complementary? I would be a bit ruthless and give away impulse buys (and yes, I am looking at the trough of what are possibly heathers!). Likewise I like to give much consideration to colour combinations but I know others are quite content to pair strong yellow with vibrant pink, for example. I’m not, neither in my garden nor in my wardrobe.
Do nothing and you’ll still have a charming space. Plan some changes and I think it will be the envy of all who see it.
This sort of thing
I agree with what others have said, it's very pretty and characterful. My neighbour used patio magic and was pleased with it, it's not cheap but l think you will be surprised at what difference it makes.