T. 01276 486 430 Longacres Landscape Garden Design and Build Home Our Services Gallery Blog Testimonials Contact Us Gardens Without Lawns Lawns are a fantastic, cost effective way of covering large areas of ground. If well cared for they look fantastic, feel great between your toes and provide a breathing space of calming monotone green that links areas of the garden together. Lawns also keep spaces cooler on hot summer days, soak up water when it rains and help to reduce noise and air pollution. However, busy life styles, smaller gardens and less than ideal growing conditions (due to shade, lack of water or poor drainage) can result in a muddy straggle of turf that is unappealing on the eye and unpleasant underfoot. The solution could be to ditch the mower in favour of a hard landscaping solution. This small back garden features many different surfaces; slate paths, cobbled surrounds, a patio for dining and a decking seating area. It relies on the strong circular geometry of the design to bring it all together. Paving Paving provides a hard wearing surface that is easy to maintain and allows furniture to be left in place all year round. There are styles to suit most tastes and budgets. However solid paving is not water permeable and costs considerably more to lay than turf. This courtyard garden with sandstone paving, rendered walls and feature pots has a Mediterranean feel. Relaxed country courtyard garden with crazy paving and gravel borders. Contemporary courtyard garden with trellis panels and obelisks Decking Well maintained decking feels great underfoot and it easily accommodates changes in levels. Wooden decking does require a bit of looking after to stop it becoming green and slippery in the colder months, so if maintenance is a concern you may prefer a synthetic deck. Decking can be great solution for gardens that have a change in levels. Courtyard garden with decking, gravel, paving and raised bed. Aggregates: Gravel, Pebbles and Cobbles Aggregates can provide a cost effective alternative to lawns. Gravel, pebbles and cobbles are easy to work with and can be combined with Mediterranean style planting to great effect. Fine gravel is best avoided in areas where there is a lot of leaf fall as a leaf blower is likely to send it flying. In this front garden we removed the lawn and replaced it with borders framing a gravel garden featuring a beautiful Japanese Acer in a large terracotta pot. Artificial Lawns Artificial turf is becoming increasingly popular and can provide a convincing alternative to the real thing. This is an ideal solution for households that love the look of a lawn but lack the time required to maintain one. It can be particularly useful for problem areas under shady trees. One note of caution, it can become quite hot underfoot when used in a suntrap. Contemporary garden with horizontal slatted fence and artificial grass Tagged on: aggregates lawns Jane Brownhill 26th January 2017 Decking, Front Gardens, Garden Design, Paving, Small Gardens, Steps ← Contemporary Garden Room with Greens & Greys Sleeper Terracing → Design & Build Our Services Gallery Blog Large Gardens Small Gardens Contemporary Gardens Traditional Gardens Front Gardens Sloping and Terraced Gardens Planting Outline Plans Planting Plans Copyright © 2021 Longacres Landscape Theme by: ThemeGrill Powered by: WordPress