It's an age old dilemma. How to design a front garden which provides the practical storage required from a front garden, but also provides privacy and looks appealing from the street and house?
My clients wanted to improve the overall look of their South-East facing basement front garden and steps but also needed storage for bikes. The existing space had no planting at all and the existing steps were very uneven and too close to the bay window to make turning with a bike comfortable.
My design seeks to improve the look of main entrance steps with a striking black and white Victorian style quarry tile design on the top step and black quarry tiles on the other steps.
The basement area is defined and lightened with bullnosed Gea Porcelain steps and paving on newly built steps on a gentler gradient.
A custom wooden clad bike box with a sedum roof is sited behind custom made steel trough planters which contain Pittosporum hedging to provide some privacy from the road. This along with a Betula in a cube planter and herbs in a cream coloured window box soften the views from the street and kitchen window.
And just to compare, this is how the garden looks now.
I look forward to seeing this design becoming a reality later on this year.