Jan 2012 - work begins on turning what was a former carpark into a productive, sustainable and ecologically mindful garden, that compliments well the environmentally influenced self build house that it surrounds.
Jan 5th - After a chilly marking out of the design's pathways and structures and quick excavation of groundworks it has become apparent that the former carparks presence will play a key factor in the development of this garden space.
Rather than seeing this as a problem, with a little taking-stock and thinking about the benefits presented - a plan to re-use the substantial hardcore material is developing, along with a plan to develop a great central herb bed using the free-draining sandy qualities.
A key aspect of this garden's design brief is no flowers for flowers sake - more an emphasis on productive / useable plant material, whether fruit, herb or veg....etc
Recycle,re-use + reduce gets underway....
9th Jan Levels set and edging trenches in, it is now a carefully organised pile of wood, soil and bricks.Now begins introducing the basic structure of the garden in the form of natural edgings using recycled wood and sandstone plus other materials in places.
11th Jan T
he beginnings of a hawthorn hurdle edging that serves as a great boundary for the future herb bed as well as garden divider/shaper.....
the hawthorn is the remains of a former clients hedge required to be removed.At 25 years+ of age, it deserves further use beyond shredding/composting. Here i have it lifted off the ground to keep it dry and airy using left over larch battons from the self build. These will now be concreted in for added strength and then the branches smoothed/ de-snagged for the unwary passer-by...
A proper frost arrived this week 14th Jan, turning this Edinburgh garden space into an ice cube. There is always something of benefit that can be done however and today it was smashing the large clay clods I had set aside for such a day. Once the clods have shattered the surrounding mushroom compost will get in amongst them preventing them from reforming,this allows the plant roots easier access to water and nutrients.Frost itself does a similar slower version all on its own.
jan 16th - works are well underway creating a woodland work area for the shed area of the garden. The ecobuild uses a wood burning fire to heat the house along with heat capture design, therefore this garden needs a good wood working and storage area. This has been constructed out of left over off-cuts and pallets from the self build house construction.
I am starting to tag this landscaping approach as "hillbilly chic" as it is in essence the re-cycle and re-use often utilised by self-sufficient groups. I am trying to do it along with a keen eye for good garden design aesthetics, so the end product has a coordinated,balanced and chic feel.....a quick google search showed (as always) I am not the first to use this phrase for garden design, maybe the first in Edinburgh though?
I am very happy with the recycled-pallets garden divide, which seperates the work area from the garden whilst also protecting the logstore from the elements(as well as providing some shelf space for potting up plants etc....) material costs are minimal for this part of works( there is some crafty labour costs!)
24th Jan excavation of circular patio area ....by hand. I know that approximately half the area is loamy woodland topsoil and the other half is former carpark sub-base. I excavated the good topsoil removing perennial dandelions,docks and nettles etc and put aside on previously prepared bed areas.This is slow, steady and satisfying work, because I am gaining great topsoil for future planting ( making that job when it comes, a lot easier). I am also learning what the topsoil,sub-soil and woodland "weeds" are, which is invalueable knowledge (and lost to those sat in a digger).
I then utilised the hardcore substrate of brick+concrete (dug up preparing the bed areas previously and set aside) to infill the excavated area and form the beginings of the patios sub-base.( I seperated of all the best looking full and half bricks just incase they may prove useful later in the project) all materials have moved 20 metres max as opposed the 100 m, if they were to go in a skip.
path from decking is now clear of rubble and the deep patio excavation now filled in with large grade hardcore (ready for finer grade substrate to bind it all together and make a solid base). The other half of the patio area was a former carpark, and is already a good base for a patio ( once mud and stuff skimmed off surface) This 'old for new' design approach took 3 hours labour with no material costs, and produced two tonnes of good loamy topsoil. A 'new for old' approach would have taken about two hours to dig off and skip the soil/weeds/debris ( even with a digger, as it stays put with the skip around the front,still needing the stuff barrowed to it) just under an hour or so to replace dug-off topsoil with two ton of type 1 hardcore - material costs at least £250 up to £400+ once digger involved.
I am not against using diggers, just unnecessary use of diggers. I watched a guy in a JCB build a fantastic looking drystone wall in an afternoon, that would have taken me 4-5 days(with another person helping to lift the largest stones).
Either way - today (like a good accountant) I paid for myself with my actions. I now also know far better ( having touched, smelled and accidently tasted the soil) what the growing and 'weed' conditions are likely to be over the new garden's first couple years....
Jan 27th
Before After
Work is all but complete on the new wooden fence along the original security fence shown in the first photo. This fence is constructed of leftover timber and pallets from the house build. It still needs to be sanded and few finishing touches ( one more batton along trellis top section etc) but it is as good as done. It has been the hardest aspect to craft-together so far! The reason being is there is a lot of different wood being used in the garden overall now, and this fence does not sit well with the builders hit/miss fence along the two boundaries.The overall design is on the edge now of looking ' hillbilly cheap' as opposed the 'hillbilly chic' i am aiming to achieve.
I have a good idea of what extra touch will bring all aspects of the garden structures and house together ( for this sustainable Edinburgh garden project) but will need to wait till Monday to try it. It could be the difference between a burach and beautiful....
My idea was to install a combined willow and heather screen to seperate the two fences with a diefferent texture and colour whilst maintaining the overall feel/style of the garden....
February begins - Part of my clients briefs was to help disguise the storm and waste water system which was required to be at 50cm height above general garden level as it needed to join existing system at these levels.
My plan is to work with this and disguise it as bedrock whilst maintaining easy access to drains in the future.... big rocks are needed and for that I went to brick and stone suppliers near edinburgh who can supply suitably large natural stone rocks....
4th Feb 2012 - Drains blend into garden landscape....
The two drain manholes are disguised amongst large rocks which will be planted and devoped to look like a rocky outcrop left exposed after house building excavations.... access to the drains is if anything easier now.It's all part of turning landscape problems into beneficial features.With all the wood used both in the house and garden the cool colours and hard texture of the rocks adds a lot to the whole garden design ( it also offers the oppertunity for some great little alpines - edible or useable of course...!)
7th Feb 2012
Freezing conditions arrived at same time as the large selection of bareroot fruit trees.The trees were kept in a garage over the wknd and also through monday - the roots should never dry out and allowing them to freeze is incredibly risky also( certainly do not move them if they are). on Monday work began around midday( once sun had thawed ground) to dig up all the tree holes, organic matter and root fertiliser worked into loose soil. I then refilled all the holes and placed hessian sacking over each of them and left them overnight.
Another freezing night and again work began around midday taking the bareroot trees out of the garage and down to garden, the roots were all soaked for 20 seconds and covered away from sun. I then dug up all the previously dug holes which were not frozen under the hessian and got trees ready. They were individually planted with 2ft high stakes located firmly middle of holes between bareroots ( best not done for pot grown) to support tree for first couple of years - great care taken to ensure soil used was loose and not clumpy or frozen, as this could produce air pockets around roots and risk loosing the trees through poor root health/growth.
All trees got planted by 4pm allowing time to mulch generously with bark to insulate area around the roots and tie the trees firmly to theit temporary stakes.I tend to secure pot grown more loosely to encourage the tree to root more strongly in response to less support, but bareroots have no support - certainly for the first year. Freezing again tomorrow but the large bareroot trees are in and fine and with plenty of time to establish before the warmer/drier months of the growing season.
The trees are a mix of apple,pear,cherry,plum and crab apple and have be planted sporadically at various points throughout the garden space ( generally near paths/patio for easier picking) they have been planted to bring some vertical height and depth to the garden and to introduce more privacy from overlooking properties, whilst maintaining maximum sun exposure for the sitting areas as well as the heat capture house this edinburgh garden surrounds.
The trees whilst providing fruit at various times of the year also work well aesthetically to help draw in the nearby woodland landscape, and if 10 years from now 11 fruit trees prove too many for the garden space, then some of them ( worst fruiting) can always be felled and used as fuel for the log burning stove - wood worth far more than their original bareroot cost....and smelling great!
13th Feb Almost balmy compared to last week and as such work gets underway on the patio area which surrounds a 'future' sheltered seating area (bench seating for now) - which ideally will eventually be lime rendered with a living roof).
The sandstone paving is already working well at giving structure and solidity to the overall garden and the soft sandstone hues are complimenting the various wood tones very well. Once completed as a circular patio surrounded by herbs and other useable/edible plants it should look, smell and taste great!
17th Feb - Now past expected completion time and a bit like a 400m runner coming of the last bend into the straight, i can now see what is required for the finish....and given it's February and early in the season it's not too bad!
95% of the structure is in, only a few sections needing soil work/conditioning, then after first phase of planting put down the pathway materials etc. There is a lot of little bits and finishes to do to really bring together the new garden and they all become apparent the closer to finishing i get - a case of lists, new lists....newer lists.... there is also a pile of great 2nd hand bricks dug up from the bed areas and ultimately not required in the construction of the garden - main reason being it would be likely one material too many.
Looking forward to sourcing the first phase of herbaceous plants on Monday with a brief to not have flowers for flowers sake but a garden comprised of useable plants - which may also have wonderful flowers at various times of the year ( there will also be a patch left for nettles and ground elder- if present - on the woodland edge as both are edible and useable)This Edinburgh garden desperatley needs some fresh green foliage now to break up the wood and stone and help it come together as a warm,vibrant and relaxing space....
