Get In Front With Your Front Garden
Front gardens are really important to us here at Vialii and are often over-looked in favour of their big sister, the back garden. But they have so much potential and this blog will tell you how to “get in front” with your outside space…
Why is a front garden so important?
Well, there are a LOT of reasons why we think front gardens are really important and here are some of them:
- Your front garden gives you a warm welcome home and can give you fuzzy feeling inside. Coming home to a mono blocked driveway doesn’t give that same feeling so create something lovely which will improve your mental health and well-being.
- Add kerb appeal! Your front garden is the first impression people will get about you and your home, so make it a good one. And it can potentially add value to your home too.
- Create an additional seating area. Your front garden may have the perfect sunny spot to sit outside in the evening. It can create a more sociable area too, where you can interact with neighbours and improve community spirit.
- By reducing the amount of hard landscaping and adding planting you will have a positive impact on pollution and flooding as well as creating more habitats for wildlife.
- A well designed front garden can add screening and improve privacy.
- It can provide additional growing space for fruit and veg. Perhaps you don’t have space in your back garden or want to use it for something else. The front garden can be the perfect spot for growing edibles and dot in some ornamentals (or edimentals) for the best of both worlds.
- By adding to plain lawn/hard landscaping, a designed front garden will stop people walking across your front garden or taking the wrong route to your front door.
- Create an infrastructure which works for parking, access to front door, back garden and bins, whilst softening it with planting.
- Consider alternative parking solutions which look great and are better for the environment. Permeable finishes and planted borders for water run off can really help.
How do I go about re-designing my front garden?
Think about how you want to use your front garden and what things are on your wish list. Do you want parking, seating, paths, lawn, planting, raised beds etc? It can be difficult to fit in all that you want and to not do something against local planning rules. Please get in touch for a free garden design consultation, so we can help transform your front garden.
Thanks for reading
Vialii
A Terraced Garden Makeover
Our clients in Stirling have a sloping garden which wasn’t practical for their young family so they got in touch with us asking for some help to make the garden much more usable for them. They wanted a sunny seating area, new levels that were easy to move around and flat areas for children to play on. There was also the matter of some poor drainage to tackle too – queue Vialii for a terraced garden makeover!
We designed the garden using beautiful sandstone to create a morning patio at the back door linking to a path along the back of the house. A path takes you down to the main dining patio in a sunny corner of the garden.
We used vertical sleepers to create a retaining wall which allows for two new flat grassy levels.
A gravel ditch at the bottom of the garden creates a space for the water to run down to.
The new terraces 
The new paths link the garden 
The new morning patio 
Levels areas to play 
The dining patio 
Steps lead down to the main patio
The bottom fence was replaced with a new double slatted fence providing privacy for the family.
For more sloping garden inspirations check out these garden makeovers:
A Contemporary Terraced Garden
If you have a garden which isn’t working for you, please get in touch for a free design consultation.
Thanks for reading.
All at Vialii
Top of the Pots
As garden designers, it’s important for us to consider all potential features in gardens and which work best with a client’s brief. From pergolas and water features to garden sculpture and lighting, there are many elements to consider and every brief and garden is unique. One of the features we love adding to gardens to add height, interest, different planting considerations and colour is garden planters. The good old garden pot. In this blog we have pulled together some of our favourite pots we have used over the years to showcase why they can be a great addition to the garden and why they are “Top of the Pots”…
Frame a doorway
Garden pots can make a real statement when they frame a door way. Two matching planters, particularly if they have height and stature can make a wonderful first impression of your home. We love these tall, tapered zinc planters in a contemporary teal finish, the perfect finishing touch to this front garden design we completed in Bridge of Allan.
Zinc pots planted with box balls give a contemporary look
These tall copper planters have been planted with ilex topiary, making a real statement. The Christmas wreath complements them perfectly…
Tall copper pots with cloud topiary creates a strong look
More copper planters, this time in a rectangular shape to complement this front garden design in Stirling…
Rectangular copper planters create a warm welcome
Adding height
Tall planters are a great way of creating height and interest in a garden. We particularly like to group them to make a strong statement. In this front garden in Stirling we grouped three together in front of the client’s window and planted them with grasses so she could enjoy them all year round.
Three ceramic planters look great grouped together providing year round interest
Creating repetition
In this back garden in Stirling we repeated the same planter in different parts of the garden to create repetition and a modern finish to the garden design…
Tall stone planters create a contemporary look to tie in with the garden design and new house extension
Mix of styles
A garden can have a mix of different types of pots if they are selected carefully. In this large garden design we completed in Perth they had the space to carry off several pots including ceramic style filled with topiary, urn styles planted with phormium repeated around the garden and a beautiful art deco style pot to reflect the style of the house…
An eclectic mix of pots can work well in a garden to create features in different areas
Adding colour
Pots are a great way to add colour to the garden and there are some amazing plastic pots at great prices available. These pink pots provide an immediate splash of colour as well as making a statement by adding several into an area. Pots are also a great way to plant something you might not be able to plant in the ground. These pots have blueberries in them which require ericaceous soil as well as protection in winter – no problem when they are in a pot!…
Pink plastic pots are a cheap but effective way to add colour to a garden
If you want some advice on how to add some new planters into your garden and what to plant in them then please get in touch.
Vialii
How Does The Garden Design Process Work?
Most of the potential clients who contact us have never had a garden designed before and have no idea how it all works. We appreciate what a daunting thought it can be so we thought we would explain how our garden design process works…
Initial garden design consultation
At our initial consultation we will discuss your requirements in depth
When you contact us we will book you in for our initial FREE design consultation. We normally have a waiting list for these consultations so you may have to wait a wee while for us to come out. We always recommend clients think around 9 months ahead if possible to give us time to schedule that initial meeting, do a design and then book in our busy landscaping team. At the initial consultation, which normally last 1-2 hours, we will discuss all elements of your garden. Have a think before we come out about things like:
- what do you want to use the garden for?
- who will be using the garden?
- what sort of styles of garden do you like?
- what sort of materials, plants do you like?
- would you like any garden features such as sculpture, water features, lighting etc?
- will you need a laundry area?
- where will bins go?
- what storage is required?
- what is your budget?
Once we have collated lots of information and shown you our own portfolio of gardens, we will take lots of photographs of your garden and survey it. We can then send you our quote for designing your garden.
Interim meeting
At our interim meeting we will show you two different garden design concepts
Once you have given us the go ahead for your design, we start to make the magic happen. We CAD up your garden on the computer so we can see the layout, aspect etc and then we start doing some pencil sketches. We will normally do two different concepts to show you different ways your garden can work. More than that just creates confusion. We will then meet with you again to discuss these concepts and get your feedback. Sometimes one concept is exactly what a client wants. Commonly elements from both concepts go into the final design. At the interim meeting we will also have some rough costs for how much it will be for us to build your design for you. At this interim stage there is loads of flexibility so you can amend the design to suit your taste and budget as much as you like and we can discuss phasing your garden build if required. Once we have your feedback we can then do your final design pack.
Final garden design
Your final design pack will include a full colour, scaled drawing of our new garden design
Your garden design pack will include:
- A drawing of your existing garden for your reference
- A full colour, scaled design of your new garden
- A mood board giving a feel for the materials, plants, features etc proposed for your garden
- Detailed drawings where required for items such as construction drawings, elevation drawings, lighting layouts, planting plans etc
- Full costs for Vialii Gardens to build your garden for you
- Your invoice – you don’t need to pay a penny until we complete your design for you
Thereafter
Our skilled in-house landscaping team can follow your garden design exactly
Once you have perused your garden design pack, we very much hope you will use the Vialii Gardens landscaping team to bring your design to life. By using our in-house garden landscaping team we can ensure the design we have worked hard to perfect is created exactly as per the plan. We won’t change shapes, materials or planting style and we will work to the highest standards to create the perfect garden for you. Once complete we will provide you with your own bespoke plant care sheets so you can learn to look after your own garden. Unless you want our garden maintenance team to do that for you too!
If you have any other queries about garden design please get in touch and we will answer them for you.
Thanks
Vialii
Garden Trends for 2019
Gardening used to have a reputation for being boring and something people do when they retire. These days it is trendy to spend more time outdoors and use your garden as an extra room. So we have our (green) fingers on the pulse and have brought you the big garden trends for 2019 which you don’t want to miss!
FUNK IT UP
As Bruno Mars would say, you need to funk up your garden! There are all sorts of ways you can do this from adding a rendered wall painted bright colours; add funky mirrors to the garden; do unusual stepping stones made from tyres and artificial turf. Let your imagination go wild and add things which are personal and mean something to you. You will love your garden all the more and will want to spend more time out there.
Funk your garden up in 2019 (Source unknown)
CONSIDER THE CLIMATE
Create a climate change garden by thinking of its sustainability and its impact on the climate. There are lots of small changes you can make such as:
- add a green roof to your shed
- make a bin store with a living roof
- add an irrigation system to save water or simply add a water butt
- add more wildlife friendly planting
- make sure your paving and driving is permeable and/or water has places to run off
- introduce more upcycled and reclaimed materials into your garden
COLOUR OF THE YEAR 2019
The Pantone colour of the year for 2019 is PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral. We LOVE this colour and it’s the perfect way to keep your garden on trend. Plants such as phormium, heuchera, kniphofia, iris, dahlia and peonia are just a few that come in gorgeous coral shades to add some warmth to your flower beds.
Pantone colour of the year 2019
TAKE THE INDOORS OUTDOORS
You will want to spend more time outdoors if you make it as comfortable as being indoors. There are lots to try such as:
- add an outdoor sofa and bean bags for lazing around
- add an inflatable movie screen for alfresco movie nights
- add art to your fences and walls
- paint blackboard paint on your fence or shed to leave fun messages (or to do lists!) for each other
- a tiled patio for the ultimate indoor/outdoor feel
- add lighting and heating to extend how long you can spend outdoors. Cool fire-pits and solar lighting are affordable and great these days
BE BOLD
It’s time to be bold in the garden and push the boundaries a bit. Introduce bold colours into your garden – this could be as simple as painting your shed a bright colour or adding in some oversized planters. Bold planting is on trend, either go for strong colours or go for large jungle style planting such as phormium, bamboo, fatsia japonica and dicksonia antarctica, all of which look exotic but will survive well in your garden.
Planting Dicksonia antartctica is a great way to make a bold statement in your garden
If you need some advice with what to do with your garden in 2019 then please get in touch.
All at Vialii
Spotlight On Garden Lighting
When we do our initial consultations with clients we have an extensive list of questions we go through to ensure we cover all aspects of gardens and deliver the garden of your dreams. One of the things we discuss is garden lighting. Lighting can transform your garden in the evening and extend its use. In our latest blog we explore some different options that are available which you may wish to consider…
One of the gardens we designed, lit up at night
Directional lighting
Lighting can be an important addition to the garden to ensure you can move around the garden safely once the sun starts to set. Lights set into decking, patio and paths can help you safely navigate your garden as well as create an attractive glow while you relax and enjoy your outdoor space. There are a wide range of lights available to suit all applications, environments and tastes from recessed LEDs suitable for decks and patios or post lights which can lead you up the garden path (so to speak!)
Landscape lighting
Careful positioning of lights in key areas can give your garden a wonderful new lease of life in the evening. Spotlights on focal points such as sculptures or in certain planting can make the garden look magical. Stringing fairy lights around a pergola can create a wonderful feel which will make you want to spend even longer outdoors.
Orbital” by Steve James, lit up at night in “A Sculpture Garden
Hard wired lighting v solar
Solar lighting has improved a lot in recent years and is worth considering in certain areas. It is certainly a better option if there are budgetary constraints or you are looking for a more environmentally friendly solution and solar spot lights can work well to light up planting such as a feature tree. If you are looking for lights for decking, paths or to provide a stronger, more longer lasting light we would recommend wired lighting.
Lighting built into walls and seating can look great
Other considerations
You should always consider light pollution, effect on wildlife, effect on the environment etc when considering garden lighting. There are various solutions to these issues such as using anti-glare, choosing the lamp colour temperature etc which we can discuss.
A garden lighting layout
Whatever your requirements we are happy to discuss this and the rest of your garden design with you. We can provide a lighting layout as part of your garden design if required. All lighting must be fitted by a qualified electrician (we can recommend one if you don’t already have someone you use) and good quality proprietary garden lighting should be used to ensure it will endure the rigours of outdoor use.
To arrange a free garden design consultation please get in touch.
Kind regards
All at Vialii