An existing ageing shingle driveway was given a new lease of life by scraping off all the old and replacing with a fresh layer of 10mm shingle.
A brick entrance pillar was moved 3ft and rebuilt to allow access for a large vehicle, new galvanized gates were installed along with the removal of a small shrub bed and laid to tarmac.
After Landscaping the last garden for some freinds, i was asked to landscape the new garden on the the recent house purchase.
Well ummm, who hid that huge 10ft deep swimming pool under the decking!!
Great project to get stuck into!
Everything was changed, two levels created allowing the best use of the land new fencing, raised borders , indian sandstone paving, artificial grass laid, shed base, storage area, and even the driveway was widened with new tarmac.
After grounding out the front of the car one to many times on the steep gravel incline the customer asked what could be done?
Answer… grade back the loose surface which was the problem, lessen the angle and install block paving stopping the build up of loose material on the entrance gradient.
The Drive way needed to be widened to allow a camper van to be parked, so the existing Kerbs were saved and re-laid in an opposite curve then filled in with a customer choice of blocks, although they dont match colour wise due to the availability the style is the same.
All existing cracked concrete was removed and replaced with a 20mm shingle incorporating a path and door step.
Rather too much plum slate on this driveway with a narrow side path way out of proportion, so the remedy… install a very pleasing light grey block with a dark grey outline, a percentage of graveled area was retained due to the property being at the bottom of a hill and can at times collect a lot of surface water. A couple of planting areas was incorporated to break up the hardness and soften the look once planted.
An unwelcome snow storm covered us overnight but was soon gone to allow progress.
An old gravel /tarmac mish mash of a driveway was dug out and replaced with a new more consistent one with a new front door step built, a strip of block paving was added to prevent the loose stone topping from exiting the property.
A congested street required the owner to make more private parking space.
The old existing Lawn was dug out to make way for this, however the we did not want to loose the permeable ground space the lawn provided for natural rainfall, so a permeable membrane was installed and covered with a MOT type 1 material which retains excellent flow through, a loose stone chipping was added to the top for decorative purposes, a small block paved area was installed across the threshold to help prevent any movement of loose stone onto the pavement.
Well, after 4 months (inc Xmas break) this very interesting project is finished bar some final detail around the pond, old concrete paving and borders were discarded and the new layout was constructed, a large area of lawn was changed into flowing shrub beds packed with a good seasonal plants, ( Planted by the ever hard working Jane ‘customer’, good work Jane! ) a pond was dug to approximate shape and levels by Roger ( Customer and very keen helper! before i arrived) from then on the pond was shaped, footings and concrete block wall’s installed by myself ready for Arron ( A B Aquatics ) to install the liner pump, and complete the pond stone work.
The new Indian Sandstone Paving ( Umbra Grey ) was installed to wrap around the house meeting the driveway, Purbeck stone was used throughout the project to build various walls hugging the paving.
My favorite feature of the lot has to be the stone circle created to give a seating area lapping up the evening summer sun!
Oak pergola frames have been installed by Roger mapping out a garden walk way.
Finally the driveway was cleared ( much to Jane’s delight ) and a layer of 20mm Quantock grey stone was spread.
A big thanks to my 2 collegues helping me out with all the work, and a massive thank you to customer’s Roger & Jane for there hospitality and help along the way.
More spring/ summer pics to be added…
