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help with back garden
sjwilliamson210620801
Posts: 1
We live in a 1970's estate just south of Durham. 
Our house in in a cul-de-sac of 6 and our back garden in fully enclosed and in the middle (so no rear access - everything has to come through the garage & utility) the garden is north facing and we have houses at the back which overlook us. We have put in some raised beds on the east fence side and are in the process of putting up a pergola on the west side, we have a patio which runs the full width of the house, our problem is what to do with with top part where we get most of the sun in the summer months. We need somewhere to sit, but to feel secluded (I sometimes feel I'm sitting in a goldfish bowl!) Thinking of some sort of planting and paved area, also the shape of the lawn, it's a squareish garden, its sort of oval now, do we we have straight modern lines or go for a circular lawn? It's driving me crazy not knowing what to do. We are very capable of doing any work ourselves. We like contemporary styles.
If anyone can help us, we would greatly appreciate it.
Suzie
Our house in in a cul-de-sac of 6 and our back garden in fully enclosed and in the middle (so no rear access - everything has to come through the garage & utility) the garden is north facing and we have houses at the back which overlook us. We have put in some raised beds on the east fence side and are in the process of putting up a pergola on the west side, we have a patio which runs the full width of the house, our problem is what to do with with top part where we get most of the sun in the summer months. We need somewhere to sit, but to feel secluded (I sometimes feel I'm sitting in a goldfish bowl!) Thinking of some sort of planting and paved area, also the shape of the lawn, it's a squareish garden, its sort of oval now, do we we have straight modern lines or go for a circular lawn? It's driving me crazy not knowing what to do. We are very capable of doing any work ourselves. We like contemporary styles.If anyone can help us, we would greatly appreciate it.
Suzie
0
Posts
The shape of your lawn comes down to personal taste, but geometric shapes are easier to put in place if you're doing it yourself. If you want a circular or oval shape, it's not too difficult if you can mark it out successfully, with pegs and ropes, and then cut the turf out and/or fill in the gaps. That will give you a bit of extra planting room, but any shape will offer that if the size is right. Another option is to have a rectangular shape, but put it on an angle - ie diagonally. That can also give the impression of a wider garden.
Your pergola will also give some privacy, even at the end section. It's worth sitting down there, but marking out the positions your new pergola uprights will be in - canes etc will do, as long as you can visualise the proper height of course! You can then add some borders for planting -a curve to follow a round/oval lawn, or straight ones if it's square or rectangular. Various plants - a mix of shrubs and perennials, will then create a screen, to give you a little hidden spot for sitting, or you can put in a physical screen and have some climbers. The height of that planting will need to suit the amount of sun/shade you want, but your raised beds on the eastern side can also have planting of enough height to help with the screening.
Bear in mind that if you're sitting at that end, the houses behind you will be blocked anyway, so you may not need much planting along the back fence. I think there are quite a few apps etc that allow you to play about with different layouts, or you can simply do a scale drawing [or as near as possible to scale] make copies, and play about with the good old fashioned method of pencil and paper
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...