Front garden, Victorian terrace
twamleyk
7 years ago
Hi all,
We are dying to do something with the front garden of our Victorian house. Previous owners bricked it over in a really ugly and inappropriate yellow brick. We want to remove bricks and hopefully replace walls... Ideas gratefully received!
We have limited budget (£1000). I love Victorian path tiles, but our street only has them on top step, so we will do that and are replacing PVC door with reclaimed Victorian wooden door (separate budget).
The garden is south facing, around 5.5m wide, including path, and 3m deep. Access to car on drive seen in photo needs to be taken into consideration.
Thanks!
Katherine
We are dying to do something with the front garden of our Victorian house. Previous owners bricked it over in a really ugly and inappropriate yellow brick. We want to remove bricks and hopefully replace walls... Ideas gratefully received!
We have limited budget (£1000). I love Victorian path tiles, but our street only has them on top step, so we will do that and are replacing PVC door with reclaimed Victorian wooden door (separate budget).
The garden is south facing, around 5.5m wide, including path, and 3m deep. Access to car on drive seen in photo needs to be taken into consideration.
Thanks!
Katherine
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louisecampbell09
7 years agotwamleyk
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Help to make front porch more welcoming
Comments (47)Thank you so much for your comment after all this time. The colour you have suggested brightens the front door area beautifully and if the two red pots were painted in a tone to match, we think it would look great. Not sure if you can get Crestview doors in New Zealand but there must be something similar. We like the idea of going away from another cedar door - mainly because it would stand out too much while it was weathering. I don't know whether we would have been that brave but the tangerine works so well with the jade green of the joinery. I have re-laid all the stones and put a new wider front step in. The timber colour will soften down in time. I put a big pot in the garden to draw visitors to the front door and have added some colourful bromeliads to the garden alongside the house to make the area a bit more cheerful. We can't make a decision about what to do with a larger 'overhang' to protect the front porch yet - it is a project in progress. Thanks again for your post....See MoreWhat colour should we paint our pergola?
Comments (27)Thanks for all the great ideas everyone and sorry I didn't explain the polycarbonate a bit better :) This is along the lines of what we'll be using... http://www.psp.co.nz/building-brands/corrugated-sheeting/suntuf-polycarbonate The area is an absolute sun trap and we're hoping to use it as an extension to our living space, especially on rainy days! I've just sent my husband out to get a few pots of different stains for is to try - darkest brown (cedar) and a lighter brown (rustic oak) both by Cabots + the black we already have. Hopefully we can decide between one of those! I probably should have mentioned we will have black aluminium pool fencing running along the top of the second retaining wall - so the real question is do we keep everything black (pool fencing, horizontal fence, retaining walls and pergola) or do we go with a dark (or even light) brown for the pergola and retaining walls.... We just keep going around in circles at the moment. Decisions, decisions! Thanks again :)...See MoreCurb appeal indecision... advice please!
Comments (91)Sorry I am so late coming to your site - you are an inspiration to all, homeowners and advisers alike. For your planting advice, I suggest you call Merrifield Garden Center to see if they will come out your way. They currently have wonderful garden centers in Merrifield and Fairfax (both in Fairfax County) and a new one in Gainesville, but they may come further south to wherever you reside. (www.MerrifieldGardenCenter.com) Even if they don't send designers to your area, they are worth a trip to see their huge selection for a day of pleasure and inspiration, or to pick up some plants. Most of my clients are in the Fairfax and greater Washington area, but I am currently living out west below Front Royal, VA on the Shenandoah mountainside - wonderful views. cascio.offsite@gmail.com...See MoreNot sure where to start!
Comments (49)Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!...See More
Carolina
7 years agoHi,
I hope you can restore the wall. It would be nice to add an iron wall railing on top of the wall.
Keeping your budget in mind, I would keep the path and reuse the rest of the bricks.
I made a design sketch for you that leaves space to get out of the car.
You can adapt the plants to your liking of course, but I gave up you a few ideas too.
I thought you could do a block of evergreen Ilex crenata or box. Do a border with the grey pavers around that.
A topiary tree either side of the bay window, with blue flowering geranium under them.
Lavender with white shrub roses along the wall.
Hope it gives you some inspiration. Good luck with your project.
twamleyk thanked Carolinatwamleyk
7 years agotwamleyk
7 years agoCarolina
7 years agotwamleyk
7 years agotwamleyk
6 years agoFinally got to the front garden! Still more to do, but as you see we took up most of the paving stones - the footpath is still to be tiled. Total cost so far £460 - £200 on plants, £100 on top soil/compost, £80 to get someone to take away the rubble and £80 on the gravel. There are lots bulbs that you can't yet see and hoping to plant a few ever greens still.
Carolina
6 years agotwamleyk
6 years agoJacky Potts
6 years agoCarolina
6 years agoCarolina
6 years ago
kiwimills
4 years agoAMB
4 years agoCarolina
4 years ago
PROOnePlan
4 years ago
Patrina
4 years ago
Sonia
4 years agojanet_allen8
4 years ago
Resh
4 years agoPat Auld
4 years agoResh
4 years agotwamleyk
4 years agoAM JJ
3 years agotwamleyk
3 years ago
E D
3 years agoPat Auld
3 years agoCarolina
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
twamleykOriginal Author