Here at Warnes McGarr & Co, we are incredibly pleased to have been shortlisted for the APL awards 2017, in the hard landscaping category.
The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) is our gardening and landscaping industry body, so any award or recognition from them is a great accolade for our fast-growing garden design and landscape business.
At last year’s award ceremony, we were awarded a commendation in the ‘Gardens under £20,000’ category for a fabulous garden we designed and landscaped in Wigan, Lancashire.
We were massively pleased with the garden design we submitted for the 2017 awards – and luckily so were our clients! Our client really loved our signature outdoor living and eating spaces, which we are really becoming well known for in both show gardens and residential gardens. The couple had just had a new extension and wanted to continue their living space outdoors and enjoy a low maintenance but highly attractive garden.
The garden was on a steep incline, which of course, had to be taken into account with the planting scheme and how the client could use the space. We created a large stepped area up the incline, which was paved with a high quality porcelain, which contrasted with the timber composite decking, and a gravelled planting area in keeping with the ultra-contemporary appearance.
To soften the hard landscaping elements, we included some colourful textural planting and edible planting, with plenty to provide birds and other wild animals with food and shelter.
We also designed and built a living wall at the bottom of the garden to provide screening, as well as space for nesting birds, as well as a strong framework for raspberry canes and other soft fruits. In addition to this, there was an unattractive fence to the side of the garden, which we covered with the tall grass Miscanthus giganteum as a contemporary hedge.
The permaculture planting scheme included alliums, raspberry canes, cut-and-come-again salad crops, rosemary and thyme. This was complemented with large number of native grass Luzula nivea, Verbena Bonariensis and Fennel for powder coated steel raised areas. Bulb planting of bright orange Tulipa Ballerina and delicate Narcissus Thalia were also added for early spring colour.
We also planted a number of Acer campestre, otherwise known as field maple, through the garden. These were chosen to provide shade and height to the planting scheme, but also with the knowledge they wouldn’t outgrow the small space. The trees are uplit with an LED remote lighting system so the homeowners can enjoy the garden in the evenings and through the windows all winter.
We are really looking forward to the awards ceremony in London next year, where we will find out the winner of this category. We’d better dust off our tuxedos!
