Peddars Barn – Big Build – Part 2
With now the bones of the garden added – the Sleeper walls and designated pathways, now it was time to add more.
Self Binding gravel was the material of choice for the pathways, to create a firm footing when observing the flower beds. After layers of Gravel were added and compressed it was then time to pay attention to the greenery in the garden.
Adding green unsurprising gives lift and life to a garden, it’s a garden, not a construction project, so in many ways and most importantly the plants need to sing. The first priority was to add vertical structure, this is done through adding Trees – Silver Birch and a Flowering Cherry will give definition and structure to the route through the garden, acting as way markers around the intricate design.
Adding good nutrition and mulch to the soil will improve it’s health and in doing so will allow evergreen shrubs to flourish, these are what we added next. Choisiya, Pittosporum, Ceanothus and a Bay Laurel will all do their job and hold their spot in a border, giving us evergreen colour all the year round.
Hedging is also important as these ribbons of green will soften the harder edges of the pathways, Euonynous Japonicus Green Spire, yew and a Deciduous Beech edge will all do this job perfectly.
A secondary part to this project was the walkway running down the side of the garden, the arches where loose and not fixed to the earth. We had plenty of spare sleepers so we anchored these into the ground and in turn affixed the arches to those. In doing so we made use of more Oak materials, which in turn adds cohesion and consistency to the design of the garden, and has neatened up the pathway no end.
A wonderful project, much like the garden’s design, it is meandering and developing on each visit.